Studio photography advice please!

[karmagarda]

I might have the opportunity pretty soon to shoot some models, probably some studio stuff, and most likely male models. It's going to be in the form of TFCD, and hopefully a few sessions so that I can learn what the hell I'm at! And hopefully they'll get something for their portfolio out of it too.

Sorry if this is a bit... "wordy", but I have a few questions!

Firstly, specific to studio lighting, I will have 2 flashes soon. A Metz 36 AF-4N... which is ok. And soon I'll have an SB-600. Other things I have to hand is a shoot through umbrella and a reflector (FITP 33" triangular jobbies). So... question 1, should I add anything to the list?

Next, what do I do with all this! I'm thinking I have a few options. If they're looking for white background shots stick the Metz as a backlight to light up the back, SB-600 to 1 side and slightly higher than the model (flashing through shoot through umbrella), and reflector on the opposite to soften the shadows... If they don't want white background... I dunno, just dump the Metz? Or should I shoot the metz off a back or side wall to act as a fill?

I also have a more general question around male vs female models. 95% or more of the threads are based on female model shoots. I'm wondering, in regards to lighting, what are the techniques for male models? How different is it? Is there different lighting techniques when trying to flatter the male physique as opposed to the female body? Are there poses specific to male models that causes the lighting to be arranged differently? What are good male model poses? Have I asked too many questions? Probably!

Anyway, if you haven't noticed yet, I don't have a notion what I'm talking about! It's all straight from TP and google. Advice very much appreciated

 

[Garry Edwards]

With just 2 flashguns I would forget about white backgrounds. You will need a minimum of 3 lights for that, and the ability to control the light well, plus a fair bit of space.

There ARE usually differences in lighting between male and female models in that most men look better with much harder lighting - but then so do most female models (with good features and good skin) but most beginners seem to think that soft lighting is good lighting and don't experiment to find out what really does suit the model.

With male models, a good starting point might be to use harsh lighting from the side/above with a fill light at the camera position - this emphasises male physique and most males don't mind the skin imperfections that follow from this kind of lighting.
Your shoot through umbrella will be useful for the fill light, or if you have a white wall behind the camera you might be able to bounce the light off that. But the shoot through umbrella will be too uncontrolled and probably too soft to use as a key light.

 

[karmagarda]

With just 2 flashguns I would forget about white backgrounds. You will need a minimum of 3 lights for that, and the ability to control the light well, plus a fair bit of space.

There ARE usually differences in lighting between male and female models in that most men look better with much harder lighting - but then so do most female models (with good features and good skin) but most beginners seem to think that soft lighting is good lighting and don't experiment to find out what really does suit the model.

With male models, a good starting point might be to use harsh lighting from the side/above with a fill light at the camera position - this emphasises male physique and most males don't mind the skin imperfections that follow from this kind of lighting.
Your shoot through umbrella will be useful for the fill light, or if you have a white wall behind the camera you might be able to bounce the light off that. But the shoot through umbrella will be too uncontrolled and probably too soft to use as a key light.

Thanks for the advice Garry. Never thought about the harsh light being an advantage. To make sure I'm on the same wave length, when you say harsh lighting it's ok to use a straight flash (not diffused?) high and to one side, and also a fill flash? (I suppose fill flash probably bounced off a wall if possible).

If you do mean a bare flash how far from the model should it be placed? About 2/3 meters?

And am I right in saying I should use the Metz as a fill? (presume because I have more control over the SB-600)

Finally, for a direct flash are we talking something like 1/2 power or something to prevent overlighting the model or am I talking rubbish again?

I will most likely experiment a bit on the day to get a feel for it, but would like to have somewhat of a starting point to work from. Thanks for the feedback so far!

 

[Garry Edwards]

You wouldn't normally use a diffuser on the key light (the one that's producing the shadows) otherwise the shadows will probably be too gentle.
Place it at whatever distance it works best - the further away it is, the more clearly defined the shadows will be.
How much power you need will depend, you'll need to experiment.
The purpose of fill lighting is to place SOME light in all areas, to mitigate the shadows caused by the key light. Set it immediately above or below the camera, never to one side and set the power to whatever produces the effect you want.

 

[karmagarda]

You wouldn't normally use a diffuser on the key light (the one that's producing the shadows) otherwise the shadows will probably be too gentle.
Place it at whatever distance it works best - the further away it is, the more clearly defined the shadows will be.
How much power you need will depend, you'll need to experiment.
The purpose of fill lighting is to place SOME light in all areas, to mitigate the shadows caused by the key light. Set it immediately above or below the camera, never to one side and set the power to whatever produces the effect you want.

Interesting, thanks! This is quite different to what I was thinking. When you previously said "most beginners seem to think that soft lighting is good lighting" I think I was somewhere in that realm of thinking. I'm now glad I sought advice, very much appreciated

 

[HoppyUK]

Good advice from Garry. Men do suit harder lighting well, and when you get it right, it really does look good - more attitude, character, style, classy, call it what you like. Women too come to that. But it's also much more difficult, it's easy to get wrong and unless your subject is positioned and angled just right, it can look terrible.

And with that said, softer light also suits men quite well and is much more forgiving in terms of positioning the model - they have some freedom to move without having to reposition the lights. So I would have a brolly to hand as well, and maybe even use that first. Then when you have a good looking set-up, take the brolly off and have a go with harder light.

Here's another idea - shoot with the brolly and the reflector first. That's pretty foolproof. Then move the brolly back a bit, which makes the light smaller relative to the subject and therefore creates darker, sharper shadows. And lose the reflector.

Unless you are using iTTL auto, don't forget to adjust the exposure whenever you change the light-to-subject distance!

 

[karmagarda]

Good advice from Garry. Men do suit harder lighting well, and when you get it right, it really does look good - more attitude, character, style, classy, call it what you like. Women too come to that. But it's also much more difficult, it's easy to get wrong and unless your subject is positioned and angled just right, it can look terrible.

And with that said, softer light also suits men quite well and is much more forgiving in terms of positioning the model - they have some freedom to move without having to reposition the lights. So I would have a brolly to hand as well, and maybe even use that first. Then when you have a good looking set-up, take the brolly off and have a go with harder light.

Here's another idea - shoot with the brolly and the reflector first. That's pretty foolproof. Then move the brolly back a bit, which makes the light smaller relative to the subject and therefore creates darker, sharper shadows. And lose the reflector.

Unless you are using iTTL auto, don't forget to adjust the exposure whenever you change the light-to-subject distance!

Thanks Richard. Should be fun anyway. I'll find out this week if there's a chance of it going ahead so hopefully it is.

I have a further question, you mention:

Unless you are using iTTL auto, don't forget to adjust the exposure whenever you change the light-to-subject distance!

Do you mean to increase/decrease flash power when you move it, or change exposure on the camera?

 

[karmagarda]

Another question further to the above. I remember seeing a link on TP to an image displaying example poses for female models... is there an equivalent for male models?

 

[HoppyUK]

Thanks Richard. Should be fun anyway. I'll find out this week if there's a chance of it going ahead so hopefully it is.

I have a further question, you mention:

Do you mean to increase/decrease flash power when you move it, or change exposure on the camera?

Either or both. You must adjust the exposure, one way or another, whenever the light-to-subject distance changes. Flash photography is very sensitive to distance.

It's the inverse square law says that if you double the distance the brightness of the light is reduced to one quarter. So if you are working close with the light at just 1m distance, if you move that by only a foot or so you can be a stop out and if you move it back to 2m total distance that will be 2 stops different - a lot!

Setting the lights up at a greater distance to start with obviously minimises the effect of relative distance changes, but it alters the nature of the light and reduces exposure a lot.

TTL-auto flash is brilliant for keeping track of changing situations when either the subject or the light is moving, eg you've got somebody holding a softbox on a pole. Some situations with rapid changes and rapid shooting are impossible without TTL-auto, like kids running about - it's great for that.

 

[karmagarda]

Either or both. You must adjust the exposure, one way or another, whenever the light-to-subject distance changes. Flash photography is very sensitive to distance.

It's the inverse square law says that if you double the distance the brightness of the light is reduced to one quarter. So if you are working close with the light at just 1m distance, if you move that by only a foot or so you can be a stop out and if you move it back to 2m total distance that will be 2 stops different - a lot!

Setting the lights up at a greater distance to start with obviously minimises the effect of relative distance changes, but it alters the nature of the light and reduces exposure a lot.

TTL-auto flash is brilliant for keeping track of changing situations when either the subject or the light is moving, eg you've got somebody holding a softbox on a pole. Some situations with rapid changes and rapid shooting are impossible without TTL-auto, like kids running about - it's great for that.

Sounds like fun! Looking forward to getting my flash now. Will have to give it a few test runs on a very unwilling model (aka, the OH).

Thanks for all the good advice!