Help needed for lighting nude hotel room photography

ndwgolf

ndwgolf

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Neil Williams
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Guys
I am traveling to Jakarta for a 3 day Photoshop class and while there I will be taking a model to my hotel room for a Boudoir/nude photo shoot. My question is this;
I was planning on taking a Profoto B1 head, small stand and small two way umbrella to light her up................
The guy who is doing the PS class recommends that I use LED lights instead.
#1 I really don't want to buy more lights
#2 I am comfortable with the B1 heads and not with LED lights
What do you guys recommend????
 
That's a real shame, I was hoping you wanted actual help in a hotel room with a nude :(

I'll start from the 'light is light is light' point, the difference between lights comes down to size, shape proximity and intensity (and their relationships to each other)

#1 the guy is probably going to use LEDs on the course, and he's possibly got a relationship with the mfr, he wants you to buy some, it'll make his life easier, you'd get more value from the course by using the same gear. But personally - I'd find a different course.

#2 you can stick with what you're comfortable with, you don't need any more lights.

A set of LED lights would be fun to play with though. :)

I know none of that was super helpful.
 
Phil V said:
That's a real shame, I was hoping you wanted actual help in a hotel room with a nude :(

I'll start from the 'light is light is light' point, the difference between lights comes down to size, shape proximity and intensity (and their relationships to each other)

#1 the guy is probably going to use LEDs on the course, and he's possibly got a relationship with the mfr, he wants you to buy some, it'll make his life easier, you'd get more value from the course by using the same gear. But personally - I'd find a different course.

#2 you can stick with what you're comfortable with, you don't need any more lights.

A set of LED lights would be fun to play with though. :)

I know none of that was super helpful.
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Are you offering to pose? Can't get that thought out of my head now :eek::eek::eek:
I'd use lights that I was comfortable using.
 
Nothing to do with lighting, but go careful.. Indonesia has some very interesting attitudes to nudity in art.
 
I wouldn't buy any more lights - use what you have - and see what results you can come up with. Before now - I've used a simple camera mounted flash and bounced it off the ceiling. Really depends on what effects you're looking to achieve :) And of course - you can also use wide aperture with regular room lighting and WB correction to get some interesting shots. I certainly wouldn't spend any more money. (Mainly because I don't have any)
 
ndwgolf said:
I am comfortable with the B1
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•
So am I…
And with the B1, you have enough power to overcome any other light source
in the room (and their °K) or play along with the ambient light if they turn off
the other light source. The TTL Remote will be of great assistance there!
 
Phil
The guy doing the PS class is a buddy and just told me to get some LEDs in KL so he's not trying the hard sell and he is also got nothing to do with the model shoot..........I am doing that at night off my own back with a model friend of a friend of mine.
I will just take one B1 light and go with that........ I'm also dragging golf clubs as well so I don't want to take too much gear :)
 
Kodiak Qc said:
•
So am I…
And with the B1, you have enough power to overcome any other light source
in the room (and their °K) or play along with the ambient light if they turn off
the other light source. The TTL Remote will be of great assistance there!
Click to expand...
Kodiak
I have both the Air Remote and the TTL remote for Nikon but I am taking Leica S so will be using just the Air Remote which is manual.............from past experience I just go for ISO 200 1/500 f5.6 and set the B1 to 5 and play around with the B1 power output until I get the right result
 
ndwgolf said:
I have both the Air Remote and the TTL remote for Nikon but I am taking Leica S so will be using just the Air Remote which is manual...
Click to expand...
When I replied, I was not aware of your other camera choice. then the Air Remote is right.
ndwgolf said:
…from past experience I just go for ISO 200 1/500 f5.6 and set the B1 to 5 and play around with the B1 power output until I get the right result
Click to expand...
ƒ5.6? Since you will be in a relatively small space, the closer you are from the subject the
faster the DoF will fall. I would start at ƒ8 and keep the SS at 1/100+ if the subject is not
moving much.
 
ndwgolf said:
What do you guys recommend????
Click to expand...

If you really must use an LED just turn the modelling light on. ;)

More seriously you have the most capable head you're likely to get, it has no real limitations on power range which is what most of the continuous guys bang on about so I'm struggling to think of a single reason you'd want a continuous source instead.
 
ndwgolf said:
Guys
I am traveling to Jakarta for a 3 day Photoshop class and while there I will be taking a model to my hotel room for a Boudoir/nude photo shoot. My question is this;
I was planning on taking a Profoto B1 head, small stand and small two way umbrella to light her up................
The guy who is doing the PS class recommends that I use LED lights instead.
#1 I really don't want to buy more lights
#2 I am comfortable with the B1 heads and not with LED lights
What do you guys recommend????
Click to expand...

Find a guy that actually knows about lighting for lighting advice is the best advice I can give

As to light modifiers are you looking for hard or soft edged lighting?

Mike
 
Your PS tutor really should stick to PS, if he is recommending LED lighting for this then his advice is best ignored.

Your Profoto B1 will be fine for this, no better and no worse than any other flash that has consistent output.
But an umbrella? You'll really struggle to get creative lighting from that, unless the hotel room is a hell of a lot bigger than average, the light will just bounce around all over the place. People who think that all that matters is quantity will disagree, those who think it terms of quality are far more likely to agree with me. Of course, you haven't said what type of nude photography you plan to do, if all that you're concerned with is "glamour" then content is generally all that matters, but if you want to do art nude then it's totally unsuitable. By all means take it with you, but take a 5 in 1 reflector too, they cost very little but a 5 in 1 reflector used in conjuction with a standard reflector, will allow far more creative options. Lighting isn't about creating light, it's about creating the right shadows in the right places.
Alastair said:
Nothing to do with lighting, but go careful.. Indonesia has some very interesting attitudes to nudity in art.
Click to expand...
I know someone who did something very similar in a moslem country, there was nothing untoward but there was a police raid and both he and the woman were arrested for adultary. No action was taken and he was released from the police cell after about 10 days...
 
Garry Edwards said:
I know someone who did something very similar in a moslem country, there was nothing untoward but there was a police raid and both he and the woman were arrested for adultary. No action was taken and he was released from the police cell after about 10 days...
Click to expand...
I don't know if it was implemented, but Indonesia were looking about ten years ago at bringing in a piece of very strict morality/obscenity legislation - the article I read mentioned a fine of up to $200k for photographers caught making obscene/immoral images. And this isn't a Western definition of obscene/immoral. The story fizzles out online, so it's uncertain what the current status is.
 
Why take any lights? a beautiful woman will light up any room
 
Sounds like a recipe for disaster to me. Certainly not the place.
 
Happy new year guys
First of all thanks for all the great tips and advice on my wee planned trip to Jakarta...........I have now canceled this trip due to the advice from Alastair
Photoshop class can be done at home in KL ...so no need to take chances just for the sake of a sexy girl photo :)
 
Denyerec said:
Although the trip has been abandoned - I'm curious as to why anyone would recommend LEDs over one of the best strobes on the planet (B1) ?
Click to expand...
Best strobes on the planet? If "best" equates to most overpriced, which it doesn't, then I suppose they deserve that description...
But other than that, I agree with you. The only possible explanation is ignorance. But then I'm a lighting guy, and wouldn't presume to advise anyone about Photoshop:)
 
Garry Edwards said:
Best strobes on the planet? If "best" equates to most overpriced, which it doesn't, then I suppose they deserve that description...
But other than that, I agree with you. The only possible explanation is ignorance. But then I'm a lighting guy, and wouldn't presume to advise anyone about Photoshop:)
Click to expand...

He said one of the best, can you suggest a more feature complete monoblock?
 
simonbarker said:
He said one of the best, can you suggest a more feature complete monoblock?
Click to expand...
Probably not - but is the number of features actually important in the real world?
 
Garry Edwards said:
Probably not - but is the number of features actually important in the real world?
Click to expand...

All features are redundant until you need that feature but I don't think he made an unfair generalisation even if terms like "best" are not entirely appropriate in general.

As I've said elsewhere, you have to try hard to buy a bad flash from any major brand these days.
 
simonbarker said:
He said one of the best, can you suggest a more feature complete monoblock?
Click to expand...

Looking at the new Godox AD600 compared to the B1 a few differences to be seen;

B1 guide number 45 - AD600 GN 87 (B1 can be substantially improved with an additional magnum reflector)

B1 HSS only available between 8 and 10 i.e. 2 stops of its 9 stop range whereas AD600 can do it over all 8 stops of its range

Both quote colour temp within 150-200 degrees

B1 has a 20W LED whereas AD600 has a 10W

Both have very similar recharging times

B1 controller £226 - AD600 controller £26

B1 ful power about 1/1,000 t0.5 (so about 1/350 to.1) and AD600 1/220 t0.1 and B1 minimum power 1/11,000 t0.5 (so about 1/4,000 t0.1) vs AD600 1/10,000 t0.1

Full power flashes 1 battery - B1 220 - AD600 500

User replaceable flash tube - B! No - AD600 Yes

B1 Strobe strobe max 20Hz - AD600 strobe max 100Hz

Amazing how those features stack up when you look at them and then we have the remote head coming so little weight at the top of the stand and a Mains adapter and even a double up to a 1200W remote head, but of course these features will be for the AD600

So in my books the AD600 will be the most versatile lighting system

Mike
 
mike weeks said:
B1 guide number 45 - AD600 GN 87 (B1 can be substantially improved with an additional magnum reflector)
Click to expand...

Hard to take quoted guide numbers seriously as there's no reliable standard between manufacturer's testing methodologies.

mike weeks said:
Both have very similar recharging times
Click to expand...

Only at lowest power, at maximum it seems the B1 is something like 25-30% faster?

mike weeks said:
B1 controller £226 - AD600 controller £26
Click to expand...

Profoto always loses the price argument unless we're comparing it to Broncolor or Briese but I'd be willing to bet the Profoto remote is better in use than whatever Godox puts out. I'm very unlikely to touch the Godox to compare though.

mike weeks said:
B1 ful power about 1/1,000 t0.5 (so about 1/350 to.1) and AD600 1/220 t0.1 and B1 minimum power 1/11,000 t0.5 (so about 1/4,000 t0.1) vs AD600 1/10,000 t0.1
Click to expand...

The B1 also has a freeze mode so the advantage here may be larger, does the Godox have something similar?

mike weeks said:
Full power flashes 1 battery - B1 220 - AD600 500
Click to expand...

Clear advantage to Godox but this is down to the difference in design choices, as a self contained unit the Profoto is always going to be worse off which makes me want to compare the Godox to a Profoto B2 or an Elinchrom Quadra etc rather than a B1.

mike weeks said:
User replaceable flash tube - B! No - AD600 Yes
Click to expand...

Are you sure? The B1 tube looks like most other user replaceable ones and they sell it separately, I assume it's like a D1 and you just need to remove the frosted cover to gain access.

mike weeks said:
B1 Strobe strobe max 20Hz - AD600 strobe max 100Hz
Click to expand...

I don't understand, could you explain the importance of this?

mike weeks said:
Amazing how those features stack up when you look at them and then we have the remote head coming so little weight at the top of the stand and a Mains adapter and even a double up to a 1200W remote head, but of course these features will be for the AD600

So in my books the AD600 will be the most versatile lighting system
Click to expand...

It certainly looks like a strong product and the price seems solid too, if they ever get the QA and warranty support right it'd be an easy choice. I'm actually looking forward to see what Profoto does, if they add mains support to the B1 I can't see that doing much for D1 sales figures. I do wish they'd get rid of the inbuilt reflector though.
 
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