Light Spill

Y15HAL

Y15HAL

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Vishal
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I'm having issues with light spill when having a white blown background - I know the reason why - because i'm using bare bulbs :eek::bang:

At the moment i have a 3 head lencarta setup, and have 2 lights on the BG to blow it out, and one on the subject in a softbox.....But constantly get spill :thumbsdown:

Whats the best way to kill the spill? Do i need background reflectors? Would standard reflectors do the job?

Any help would be mucho appreciated! :thumbs:

Thanks

Vishal
 
Can you post an example?
 
What's your meter readings on background

I use two umbrellas on my background which are about £28 each
 
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Heres one example:


You can see spill on the right hand side of his face.....
 
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Yes, that's spilled light and is one of the problems.
Standard reflectors aren't ideal, background reflectors are, but you can also use reflective umbrellas as in this video
(that's part 1 of 2) and this one is part 2
What you also need is enough space between the subject and the background, which is missing in your example shot.

Your other problem is that the background is grossly overexposed, causing loss of hair detail even with the black hair, and pretty bad flare.
 
As above, the lack of control over the spill will also be contributing to the flare issue.

If you've got room, stick V flats/foam boards in the way, between your background lights and you and your subject.

The more I shoot the more obsessive I become over lighting control, grids and flags are your friend :)
 
Space is always the problem! :(

As far as i can remember, in the above shot, the subjects were approx 1metre away from the BG....Maybe not enough, but as said, space was an issue....

Maybe BG reflectors are the ones to get then? If so, I can't find them on the website Garry.... :(
 
Y15HAL said:
Space is always the problem! :(

As far as i can remember, in the above shot, the subjects were approx 1metre away from the BG....Maybe not enough, but as said, space was an issue....

Maybe BG reflectors are the ones to get then? If so, I can't find them on the website Garry.... :(
Click to expand...
That's because they're out of stock, new stock will be arriving before the end of the month.
 
Just watched the video's Garry, thanks for the link :)

You mentioned in the 2nd one, that there must be enough distance between the subject and the BG to avoid spill/wraparound.....

If i can't get enough distance, and i use the BG reflectors, will i still get light wrapped around the subject?

Sorry for the NOOB questions!! :cuckoo::bang:
 
Don't confuse 'wrap' with 'spill'. Spill, in your example, is unwanted light that should have hit only the background but which also hit your subject's face and arm. That can be avoided but pointing the light in the right direction and using flags to stop it going where it isn't wanted, it's just easier if you have more space.

Wrap is unwanted light hitting the sides of the face, not from the lights themselves but bounced off of the background. It's a pretty bad thing generally, it makes everyone's face look fat and looks unnatural. It's a common problem with chavgrounds beautiful white backgrounds but it can be partly (largely?) avoided by masking off the sides of the background that aren't needed and maybe putting the required width back again afterwards in PS.
 
Y15HAL said:
So the additional BG reflectors will stop the light hitting the chap's face above?
Click to expand...
Yes, but they can't stop light wrap.
 
£49.99
 
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