soft high fashion studio lighting

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stratocaster72

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Hi

Ok I'm struggling a bit with this....
I'll try and find a pic but it's that sort of soft, low contrast, almost ambient feel strobe lighting..
Often used with a model in the middle of a white/gray background, with a fair amount of space round the model.

It's quite a soft, muted, but well exposed look.

My problem is that when I move the lights far enough away to get space round the subject then I lose the soft quality.... I've got fairly big softboxes, about 5ft by 3 ft,, and using my flash on about 150 to 200 watts.

I feel I want to have a low power setting on the flash and a fairly wide aperture to get the shot but I could be wrong.....

I'm guessing it might be down to reflecting the strobe off a white panel or something but I noticed a YouTube video a while ago for a similar shot and the setup seemed to be just one big strobe camera left, about 6ft from the subject, with a smaller softbox almost at camera position, but when I try that I'm getting quite a bit of either hard shadow or too "bright" an image.. I'm using a light meter,, and trying apertures on and either side of the reading but still not getting that soft, almost opaque high fashion look.

Anything obvious that I'm missing?

Any tips much appreciated :)
 
For high fashion try using a ring flash. Why are you bothered about the DOF if you are shooting against an infinity background. Bang the lights up and then you can get the distance you require. If you need a shallow DOF try using tungsten lighting, for close ups use table lamps and set you white balance accordingly. You could try defusing the light even further by placing some tracing paper over the soft box, then turning the power up.
Hope this helps.
 
Im not 100% sure what your trying to describe, if its soft, flat(ish) lighting your after then a large softbox as your keylight and a large softbox to fill.

Set up your keylight at the correct exposure then once your happy introduce your fill light, start at a low setting and gradually increase the power to 'fill' out shadows until your happy.

You can then add all sorts of extras like hair lights a kickers once you have the basics covered.
 
I think I know what you mean, but please try to find some examples, I would rather know exactly what you want to achieve before answering in detail.
 
Thanks.
I'm normally pretty good at getting the lighting I want in a scene, though I normally tend to like vibrant colours and lots of shadow, or beauty style stuff with a beauty dish etc...

What in trying to describe is the opposite of my usual style lol.
More of a low contrast, pale toned, soft shadow thing. Annoyingly I can't find a pic like it, normally I keep seeing similar in magazines, but you know how it is, when you look for something you can't find it :)


What I'm having a problem with is that it often looks like the lights are a fair distance from the model yet it still looks very soft and evenly lit all round, and at the same time it looks like there isn't a lot of light used as it's quite muted and soft, not bright and high key.

Garry.. you probably do know what I mean, it's almost like the stuff you see in French vogue, almost a soft pale black and white look but has colour.

I'm hopeless at describing it lol...... if I find one I'll post it :)
 
I wonder if it the effect that you get from the Bowens Supersoft & Sunlite combo. That's a very washed out effect, almost hazy (due to the white interior and the three diffusers) yet still retains the clarity and contrast. It's a great bit of kit for that effect.
 
Interesting..... I'll check that out
Someone also suggested bouncing the strobe off a white wall behind them and a big softbox almost straight on the model. I've also heard someone suggest putting a white sheet from the ceiling in front of the bare bulb.... but that sounds like it might just flatten the image too much, worth a try I suppose :)
 
OK, it's clearer now.
Get yourself 4 x 8' x 4' sheets of white insulating polystyrene. Make them into 2 x bookends, using gaffa tape as hinges. While you're about it, paint one side matt black, it produces the opposite effect to the white side but is incredibly useful.
Position these bookends or flats just out of shot either side of your subject. You can bounce light off them, to make them a massive light source, or you can just use them as very large reflectors, depending on just how soft you want the light to look.

Generally, I would also use either a softbox or beauty dish high in front of where the model is facing too, depending on the result I'm looking for.
 
Garry Edwards said:
OK, it's clearer now.
Get yourself 4 x 8' x 4' sheets of white insulating polystyrene. Make them into 2 x bookends, using gaffa tape as hinges. While you're about it, paint one side matt black, it produces the opposite effect to the white side but is incredibly useful.
Position these bookends or flats just out of shot either side of your subject. You can bounce light off them, to make them a massive light source, or you can just use them as very large reflectors, depending on just how soft you want the light to look.

Generally, I would also use either a softbox or beauty dish high in front of where the model is facing too, depending on the result I'm looking for.
Click to expand...

Can you post an example please, Garry?
 
That sounds good Garry :)

Saracen: that's a lovely picture, and heading close, but imagine it with less shadows and colour and with a big space around the model, with an almost muted look :)

Thanks guys
 
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