Lastolite Hilite

Matt9581

Matt9581

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Matt
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Hello

Eyeing one of these up, but they are pricey!!
General question, are they worth it?
Shooting in a smallish area

Thanks
 
They're ok, but I tired of it very quickly as a background. If you're in a small space it's almost impossible not to get some wrap highlights too, which I don't personally like the look of. I started using it as a large soft box and that was quite nice, but you need a decent amount of space for that. And then frankly I sold it, because a while wall is actually far more interesting.
 
I like them. I don't feel they work all that well with Speedlites but others use them happily. Here's a link to a review giving a nice summary of the pros and cons. Note his point about lighting and the train

http://www.wexphotographic.com/blog/lastolite-hilite-background-review

I have the 6 x 7 and for up to 3/4 length portraits it works really well. I agree with the review I linked in that the train is a bit useless IMHO and I've never got a good result using it that made me feel it was worthwhile

It certainly comes into its own when you're trying to light a white background in a limited space. Using anything else would require a lot more room
 
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wooster said:
I like them. I don't feel they work all that well with Speedlites but others use them happily. Here's a link to a review giving a nice summary of the pros and cons. Note his point about lighting and the train

http://www.wexphotographic.com/blog/lastolite-hilite-background-review

I have the 6 x 7 and for up to 3/4 length portraits it works really well. I agree with the review I linked in that the train is a bit useless IMHO and I've never got a good result using it that made me feel it was worthwhile

It certainly comes into its own when you're trying to light a white background in a limited space. Using anything else would require a lot more room
Click to expand...

When you got results you weren't happy with, did you light the train?

S
 
It's certainly possible to light the train. It's possible to do most things with lighting but they don't all work well for me. I've found the effort required to balance the reflected train light and the illuminated background made it at least as complex, time consuming and equipment intensive as using an ordinary white background. It defeats the point of the hilite for me.

I was looking for a lastolite video using the train. It's quite obviously that Mark is desperately trying to sell the thing despite knowing it doesn't do it well. I can't find it at the moment for some reason

Not to argue with those who use the train successfully of course. It's just my preference and how I do it but if the train works for others then it's all good :)
 
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The vinyl train isn't the best. Can bea little time consuming in PP to match it up with the well lit Hilite. So much so I just edit the very best ones nowadays that I think the client will like when I'm using full body shots
 
Forget the train, I used to use a piece of white vinyl from the sewing shop that cost me about £8 a meter.
 
A lot of people seem to miss the whole point of the Hi-lite, they are primarily for use in small spaces, thats why they are lit from the inside, try using a normal white background in a 14x12 sized room and light it evenly, using lights for background floor and subject, you would need 5 lights minimum, the floor on the Hi-lite will always be a problem to light in such a small space, thats why most people do it in PP. If you look at the Hi-lite for what it is, it can be a great bit of kit, but i doubt it will ever replace a properly lit white background in a large studio environment.
 
If you are looking for that white clinical look in a small space then they are a good but expensive option. I have the 6x7 and the train and mainly shoot kids. I find it easily big enough for my needs and don't see the train size as an issue. Biggest issue is the train and background being completely different tones when the Hilite is lit. I generally use the photoshop work around Mark Cleghorn advises (setting the white point on the train and painting the subject back in). I can tell you this soon becomes very tedious when processing many images and I have grown to hate it. I'm looking at alternatives now for getting it better in camera in the odd occasion someone asks me to shoot their kids using a Hilite.

If I made the decision again I probably wouldn't go for the Hilite. They are fantastic bits of kit but I quickly became bored with the look and wanted more from my images. There are some great historic threads where people have used gels to mix things up which I'd recommend a look at if you go down that route.
 
I couldn't be without my hilite - more than paid for itself!

Great for living rooms, small spaces etc. I use 4 lights (2 inside and two outside) and that works pretty well, I'd use 5 or 6 in an ideal world to get a really decent floor without the need for PP
 
Hi, It's a brilliant bit of kit, I honestly don't know how I managed without mine. Really easy and quick to set up and break down, what more could you want ? The train is dead easy to sort out with a little bit of PP if you need to.
 
PP for me takes about 5 mins max, eg;

p220561038-3.jpg


... or failing that don't shoot full length ;-)

p1153083294-3.jpg
 
marts_uk said:
PP for me takes about 5 mins max, eg;

p220561038-3.jpg


... or failing that don't shoot full length ;-)

p1153083294-3.jpg
Click to expand...

Would you care to share your method for PP on the train a little more? I'm clearly doing something wrong if its that easy and I genuinely would love to know how you approach it?
 
I think its brilliant personally, not cheep but very good, it is set up in no time.:)
 
Have to disagree with Mark Cleghorn (again, and I'm not the only one) with his recommendation to over-expose the background by two stops. It is far too much and though it's not clear from the very blurry stills shown in that video, if you look carefully you can see how the excessive brightness has bleached the outline of the girl's hair. And that's dark hair - it would be much worse with a blonde model.

If you want a pure white background, it has to be blown, but 1% blown or 1000% blown is exactly the same shade of white. If it's over cooked, it does make for less mopping up of grey bits around the floor etc in PP, but important fine detail will be lost and unrecoverable. Aim to get the background just half a stop over-exposed, and no more than one stop max.

Oh, and to answer the OP, I think HiLites are brilliant :thumbs:
 
marts_uk said:
Apart from getting the lighting as good as you can in camera first, my PP is pretty much the same as this


Try about 18:20 in for the PP
Click to expand...

Thanks. It's pretty much the technique that I use. I only light the floor incidentally however so maybe its time to start lighting the train a bit better.
 
HoppyUK said:
Have to disagree with Mark Cleghorn (again, and I'm not the only one) with his recommendation to over-expose the background by two stops. It is far too much and though it's not clear from the very blurry stills shown in that video, if you look carefully you can see how the excessive brightness has bleached the outline of the girl's hair. And that's dark hair - it would be much worse with a blonde model.

If you want a pure white background, it has to be blown, but 1% blown or 1000% blown is exactly the same shade of white. If it's over cooked, it does make for less mopping up of grey bits around the floor etc in PP, but important fine detail will be lost and unrecoverable. Aim to get the background just half a stop over-exposed, and no more than one stop max.

Oh, and to answer the OP, I think HiLites are brilliant :thumbs:
Click to expand...
Yeah me too, 1 stop is enough for me
 
Matt9581 said:
Can same be done in light room?
Click to expand...

It's a doddle. Lots of vids on it, and this is perhaps the easiest method

http://www.lastoliteschoolofphotography.com/using-the-hilite-for-event-photography

IMHO, the best results are obtained by optimising the lighting and then cleaning things up in Lightroom. It's very hard to get everything dead right in camera, but here's a guy, Keith Trainor http://www.lastoliteschoolofphotography.com/using-the-hilite-for-event-photography who does events photography with a HiLite and has to get it right first time and outputs SOOC simply because there is no time for any post processing. Note that he only has a one stop difference between the background and foreground lights ;)
 
You really have to laugh at the way Keith is forced to use the HiLite - it needs 6 lights and the same space that I can use vinyl or paper and only 4 lights to achieve the same result - question then is what are you saving by using the HiLite, answer, no saving and in fact more expense. Oh and I also forgot my Vinyl can be taller and wider but don't get me wrong, the HiLite is a good piece of kit but I don't want to have to buy 2 more lights to shoot full length.

Mike
 
markyboy.1967 said:
Any good videos showing methods to get the train white or very close to the hilite white. dont normally use a light on the train and have struggled to get the train decent in photoshop so any videos would be helpful.
Click to expand...

Have you tried the vid links above?

The problem of getting the train right is at the heart of all full-length white background shoots. There is no perfect solution, because to get pure white you have to over-expose, and you can't do that to the floor when the subject is standing/sitting/lying on it. So there is inevitable compromise, basically getting it as white as possible without over-exposing the subject too much, then mopping up in PP.
 
I have to agree with Mike. I haven't watched the video linked above but I've seen Mark trying to sound plausible explaining how the train works. It doesn't. The Hilite is great for up to 3/4 length white backgrounds in a confined space and I love mine for that. It's fast and easy. But the train is an attempt to make the hilite do something it can't.
 
If you've got black velcro, I would question it's authenticity. You are quite right however in saying that the rim tape is black.
 
HoppyUK said:
It's a doddle. Lots of vids on it, and this is perhaps the easiest method

http://www.lastoliteschoolofphotography.com/using-the-hilite-for-event-photography

IMHO, the best results are obtained by optimising the lighting and then cleaning things up in Lightroom. It's very hard to get everything dead right in camera, but here's a guy, Keith Trainor http://www.lastoliteschoolofphotography.com/using-the-hilite-for-event-photography who does events photography with a HiLite and has to get it right first time and outputs SOOC simply because there is no time for any post processing. Note that he only has a one stop difference between the background and foreground lights ;)
Click to expand...

I tried this method last night and I would say its reduced my PP time for Hilite images by about 70%. I had tried this method in LR5 before but I was missing the auto mask check box. Its a lifesaver for me as I absolutely hated tidying up the train the way I was doing it previously. I knew I wasn't making the most of my work flow but had ran out if ideas. Thanks for posting.
 
:D :thumbs:
 
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