Lighting set up

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maccy18

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Neil
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Hi

I am pretty new to using flashes for lighting, and have been asked to do a photoshoot for a two piece indie band.

They want the shot of the two of them in bed, as if they are just waking up from a night out. They want it to look as if the sunlight is shining in and waking them up early.

i tried a few test shots but cant seem to get it to look like sunlight and not a flash trigger. I was using a shoot through umbrella and a beauty dish. I almost got the look when i put a yellow plastic bag over the beauty dish flash head, so am wondering if gels will help me out here or is it something i should do in post?

Thanks for any help

Neil
 
need gels really to get the temps correct a decent kit can be had for about £25, you can get cheaper but wouldn't recommend it simply because quality not all that great and your end up replacing them.
 
Think about it... sunlight is streaming through a window onto the bed - it's early morning so the sun will be low, just above the horizon. It is also 93 million miles away, so the light will be harsh. You won't get harsh sunlight effect from a shoot through umbrella will you?

The perfect tool for this is a focussing spotlight on your flash, but these things aren't exactly common so you will probably have to go with a standard reflector or similar at the right height and angle. Use a piece of cinefoil as close as you can to the subjects and only just out of shot, to stop the light going where it isn't wanted, cut the shape of a window into the cinefoil. And yes, a yellow gel will help, but that's the least of it.
 
Thanks for the advice

does anyone know of any decent sets of gels to buy? would rather spend a little more getting a good set rather than have to rebuy them again later as you say

Will look at making a cinefoil for the beauty dish? would that give the right fall of light onto the bed?

I will experiment more
 
You could of course just shoot the shot that requires early morning sun using -the early morning sun. Do Indie bands get up early for a photoshoot?
 
maccy18 said:
Thanks for the advice

does anyone know of any decent sets of gels to buy? would rather spend a little more getting a good set rather than have to rebuy them again later as you say

Will look at making a cinefoil for the beauty dish? would that give the right fall of light onto the bed?

I will experiment more
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Lee filters, Rosco or similar. There are plenty of people selling sets of gels on Ebay but they tend to include all sorts of colours that will never be used and they are also usually too small for this purpose.

A beauty dish will be fine, but neither better nor worse than a standard reflector for this job. What matters is the distance between light and Cinefoil mask (as much as possible) and the distance between Cinefoil mask and subject (as little as possible)
 
Milkfloat said:
You could of course just shoot the shot that requires early morning sun using -the early morning sun. Do Indie bands get up early for a photoshoot?
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That would require finding a room with a window on the correct side of the room, along with a bed that is situated in the right place, and that the given day not be cloudy at the exact time they need to shoot.
 
London Headshots said:
That would require finding a room with a window on the correct side of the room, along with a bed that is situated in the right place, and that the given day not be cloudy at the exact time they need to shoot.
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With my lack of talent with strobes I would be hunting for locations and the perfect weather :D
 
As well as everything Gary said, why not put the strobe outside, firing (from a reasonable distance) through a window?

It will look just like light coming in through a window because that is exactly what it is...kiss

Joe McNally does this all the time, search for him on Youtube I guarantee you will find a video of him doing this very quickly. You don't have to have the window in shot.
 
Thanks for the advice guys, getting any sort of sun these days is hard enough, so am trying to recreate with a light. Will take a look at Joe McNally. I know that idea sounds dead simple, but its not something i thought of haha
 
Ste Manns said:
As well as everything Gary said, why not put the strobe outside, firing (from a reasonable distance) through a window?

It will look just like light coming in through a window because that is exactly what it is...kiss

Joe McNally does this all the time, search for him on Youtube I guarantee you will find a video of him doing this very quickly. You don't have to have the window in shot.
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Yes, putting the light outside the window (as far away as possible) will work fine - as long as we're talking about the ground floor here:lol:
This is a pretty normal method for movie lighting, but where it can't be done that way it's done the way I suggested.

Edit: Pity you're not nearer to me, I have exactly the equipment you need, if the room is big enough to use it.
 
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