Lastolite Hi-Lite or Background system and vinyl sheet?

clairec

clairec

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Claire
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I'm after some advice as to the best option for a studio background.

I used a hi-lite and train at a friends but found that I had to get rid of the join between the background and train in photoshop for every full length shot.

I was therefore looking at a frame with vinyl but concerned about the weight of the roll, I suppose it would need to be a heavy duty frame for vinyl? I'm also concerned about the safety aspects of having a roll suspended with children sitting under it!

Any advice please?

Thanks.
 
I just got a background support along with black and white muslin backgrounds which should work better than vinyl.

Here's the review I did: The Review

I've also got the Hilite, review in my signature below. :)
 
gman said:
I just got a background support along with black and white muslin backgrounds which should work better than vinyl.

Here's the review I did: The Review

I've also got the Hilite, review in my signature below. :)
Click to expand...
why should muslin work beter than vinyl, i found them the same, but vinyl is easier to clean and tougher.
 
I was thinking it would be less shiny and absorbs light better (for the black). I'm sure it was Garry who told me that the black muslin was basically the best you could get after velvet.

I do like the vinyl for easier clean option though.
 
gman said:
I was thinking it would be less shiny and absorbs light better (for the black). I'm sure it was Garry who told me that the black muslin was basically the best you could get after velvet.

I do like the vinyl for easier clean option though.
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black you could be right, have used both white and balck vinyl and muslin, will take more care to see next time.:D
as for white i notice no difference.
 
I have a vinyl and a pop up cloth b/g with train. The vinyl is great as it is wipe clean, and as I shoot kids and babies do not stress about sick, sticky fingers etc... I also like the slight reflection on the floor too. It also doesn't crease much and stays in the same place so its easy like that. My lencarta stand is sturdy enough and dont feel worried about it falling down.

However, it does take up space, and mine is not wide enough (1.6m) as I didnt want one too wide as I shoot in peoples houses.

My fabric one is great as it goes up in 30 secs, is 2.2m wide and the b/g light is more even on this. However, I am paranoid about stains and the train is only thin, so if you are sitting on it and move a muscle it bunches up.

Neither is perfect, if i had a studio (or when I have space in a home) will use vinyl, otherwise fabric.
 
Have you tried a regular white paper background, eg Colorama? It's easy to get a smooth transition from background to floor, but you'll probably still need a bit of post processing if you want the pure white look.

It's not too expensive if you're careful and don't muck it up too much.
 
Thanks everyone for your replies. I was thinking vinyl mainly as I have heard it was easier to keep clean and crease free (I have enough ironing to do) ;)
 
Well I have both so can give you an opinion of how they compare for me.

The hilite is very good if you want BLACK or WHITE backgrounds. It is particularly aimed at the lit up white backgrounds market but if you do not use a light and rotate the hilite the back is a great black background. The advantages of the hilite over using a white back drop is that you can get that decent white background using less space.

The stand and background option is cheaper and using a mid grey background you can create white, grey or black backgrounds. You also have the option of different colours and patterns too, things like chromakeys etc. You do need a little more space though in order to get the most out of it.
 
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I'm thinking of the Lastolite Hilite 8x7 Background & Vinyl Train as I would want it to be big enough for family snaps. Anybody uses a big one like this or do you think it's a waste of space and foremost a waste of big money as they are very expensive :eek:

I've got the space for it though. Is it heavy to bring in case I wanted to?
 
Dutchie said:
I'm thinking of the Lastolite Hilite 8x7 Background & Vinyl Train as I would want it to be big enough for family snaps. Anybody uses a big one like this or do you think it's a waste of space and foremost a waste of big money as they are very expensive :eek:

I've got the space for it though. Is it heavy to bring in case I wanted to?
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As an observation, you can get away with a smaller HiLite than a regular background, because you can position the subject much closer to it. And so long as the whole subject is within the area of the white frame, you can add any additional amount of white for composition purposes in post processing :)

TBH, the big ones can be a bit of a handful. Obviously you've got to get the knack of folding them (easy, search YouTube) but they're big and heavy and you need long arms.
 
I think I am going direction the 6 by 7ft. Even the 8 by 7 wouldn't be big enough for the family I need to do a shoot for. They are at least 8 adults and 2 children.

It will mainly be children or portraits or a small family. Can't wait to get one though, it's the only thing I need to get my studio going again.
 
Just ordered mine :thumbs: hope it doesn't take too long to arrive!
 
clairec said:
Just ordered mine :thumbs: hope it doesn't take too long to arrive!
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Mine arrived pronto from Lastolite direct. You'll love it! :D
 
Enjoy :) I think when I get one, I won't stop playing with it.
 
They are a really use piece of kit.

I have got both the 8x7 and also the smaller 6x7 version...

I still find that the larger one isn't big enough sometimes, especially at parties and social event that we do...I just have to make sure my assistant can do a bit of photoshopping to extend the background...

I am still in the dark as to the best way to light the floor if using a train so as not to have to do any pp....

The Hilite is great for 3/4 shots but full length can be quite tricky.

I'd like to hear your thoughts on lighting the train where no PP is required.

Tug
 
If it's not going to be getting heavy professional use (or even if it is), why not consider a paper background? You can get 4 inc delivery for about £120 from colourworld iirc.
 
Tugster said:
They are a really use piece of kit.

I have got both the 8x7 and also the smaller 6x7 version...

I still find that the larger one isn't big enough sometimes, especially at parties and social event that we do...I just have to make sure my assistant can do a bit of photoshopping to extend the background...

Tug
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So would it be usefull then to go for the bigger version. I'm not going to carry them around I don't think.

I just wonder if it's worth the extra cash, which is quite a lot for just 2ft extra.
 
Hooray, it arrived yesterday! Took a couple of photos of my dog last night (my only willing model) but although the hilite has blown nicely the train is very grey.


Ollie by crispcg, on Flickr

I'm not that hot on photoshop so does anyone have any tips on how to correct this?

Thanks. :thumbs:
 
Awwww Beagle! :D

What's your light setup?
 
gman said:
Awwww Beagle! :D

What's your light setup?
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I only have two studio lights so i'm using one to light the background and the other with a softbox from the front right. I did try and angle it down slightly but it doesn't appear to have made much impact :shake:
 
You may need two lights at the front, what lights are you using?

My own setup is a Trinity 400w for the hilite and two Genesis 250w at the front - with one being a key light on the right and another on the left being a fill light. I still have to do a little bit of post processing but the most the background comes back at is about 252 (white being 255). So it's basically the fill tool set with a tolerance of 5 max.

The good thing about the Trinity light is the power is controlled digitally and I can do very fast precision adjustments to get the background the right amount above the key light every time. Makes life a little easier for me :)

Perhaps someone with more experience can help here?
 
clairec said:
Hooray, it arrived yesterday! Took a couple of photos of my dog last night (my only willing model) but although the hilite has blown nicely the train is very grey.


Ollie by crispcg, on Flickr

I'm not that hot on photoshop so does anyone have any tips on how to correct this?

Thanks. :thumbs:
Click to expand...

This is the issue doing full length with a hilite....I have tried with numerous heads and levels but I find it near impossible to get the train white and the subject correctly exposed with the Background 1 to 2 stops over to blow it out....

3/4 with the hilite and full length with vinyl or paper...

People will say it is possible to do but the length of time it takes to set up and balance the light will negate the usefullness of the hilite.

All my own opinions...

Saying that though...If you Photoshop the train it sometimes looks like the subject is floating...so it maybe a good thing sometimes to leave the train a shade darker to indicate the floor....??

Tug
 
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easy fix is p and p usin dodge.
heres a quick go.
5183668873_3891bfd1ba-1.jpg
 
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Hey Claire - I just use colour dodge and carefully go around the edges using a smaller brush and do the larger areas with a larger brush.. just takes a bit of practice (oh and I crop first - saves on wasted pp)

Charlotte xxxxxxx
aka the friend who got you into this situation in the first place heheheheehe x:lol:
 
I've just finished editing over 1000 shots from a shoot using a hilite, virtually all with kids sitting on the train. One light on the subject and two in the hilite and all its taken pp wise is a very quick wizz round in Lightroom with the adjustment brush. Thats left enough of a shadow on the floor to stop the kids 'floating'. No more than a few seconds per image in pp'ing time
 
clairec said:
It might be easy for someone who knows the ins and outs of photoshop :)

Any chance you could explain in simple terms how to do this please? :thumbs:
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pritty much what charlotte said. when close to the subject set the opacity to less than 5 else it will affect the subject.
also set to highlights.
 
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