STUDIO UPGRADE COMPLETE: BACKLIT SOFTWALL.

EdinburghGary

EdinburghGary

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Gary
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Guys,

As I have indicated on various other threads I have been really pushing to get my "out of camera shots" as close to "client viewing ready" as possible, in other words, take my CF card, plug it into a sideshow player...I think I am now in that position, meaning I should only have to process "bought" photos.

I can't show you this on a human subject just yet (but I have tested), and what the toys don't show too well is the shadow fall off across the face of human subjects.

The setup is as follows.

20 INCHES IN FRONT OF BACKWALL
I have framed around the entire room, exactly 20 inches in front of the backwall, slightly wider than the large strip softboxes used in the softwall...

VELCRO has been put right the way round the frame.

A 4 metre square panel of RIP STOP NYLON has been stretched over the entire frame, making a material wall....

Behind the wall, as the image shows, I have created "lampost positioned" strip softboxes. The INTERNAL diffusers have been removed, although the FRONT diffuser on both these soft boxes remains.

Each softbox is channeling a Bowens Gemini Pro 1000watt, and both are on FULL POWER.

Key light is another Bowens Gemini Pro 1000watt, inside a Bowens Octobox 150. This is running at 60%.

Depending on the look I want, range from F9 to F11, ISO 200, 250/s flash sync.

The floor is reflective BATHROOM WALL type material...

The entire room size is 4metre x 4metre and is 100% white...

The setup
studiosetup.jpg


Out of camera:
studiotoys.jpg


Now, the background? Not 100% blown. A TINY area to the left needs sorting. It does NOT show on my PLASMA used for viewing though, and it will take 1 second for any BOUGHT PHOTOS during processing. Also, once my backdrop is crease free I can reduce the BG lights even more and go for "close to blown" for the client viewing, helping reduce any risk of hot edges. I read somewhere (a very good chicago based childrens photographer I think), that blowing the whites in camera is just lazy, and if you can go close to blown without clipping, it would greatly help control shadows and edges of your subjects. It requires a gleaming perfect backdrop with even light though.

When it comes to the BOUGHT PHOTOS, processing will be as follows (I think)...

1: Reduce the reflection and floor shadow
2: Ensure the backdrop is 255 white OR completely evenly lit and appears white (when printed)
3: Play with shadow detail etc on my subjects....
4: Crops...
5: White balance tweaks, sharpening, etc etc.

Any questions, just ask. This has taken me about 100 hours including testing etc.

Gary.
 
Looks like this has worked for you, looks great!

You've put a huge effort into this Gary, must pop over and have a shuftie sometime.
 
Impressive stuff! Determined to get the pics perfect...top work. :)

May i ask why you want to "Reduce the reflection and floor shadow"? I'd have thought the reflection was the point of having the reflective floor?
 
Just thinking on my feet, if you can get them good enuf like that out of the camera can you transfer them to the plasma wirelessly, that way Mum and Dad can view little Johnnys pics real time. :D
 
drb5 said:
Impressive stuff! Determined to get the pics perfect...top work. :)

May i ask why you want to "Reduce the reflection and floor shadow"? I'd have thought the reflection was the point of having the reflective floor?
Click to expand...

Reduce, not remove. Personal taste I guess. I can actually light it differently (move the keylight) which reduces the reflection AND gives me a better (I feel) light fall on the subjects. I could use a CPL too.

I find the reflection in the shot above a bit TOO defined, that's all. I think it's 100% subjective though.

G.
 
I should add (forgot to), the ORIGINAL BACKDROP is still in place, and is now the INTERNAL backwall. It's a LASTOLITE VINYL roll. I use paper to take care of the gap either side of it (it's only 2.75m wide).

G.
 
EdinburghGary said:
Reduce, not remove. Personal taste I guess. I can actually light it differently (move the keylight) which reduces the reflection AND gives me a better (I feel) light fall on the subjects. I could use a CPL too.

I find the reflection in the shot above a bit TOO defined, that's all. I think it's 100% subjective though.

G.
Click to expand...

Isn't it all. :D

I understand completely...have you dulled the reflection at all in the above pic? Not nit-picking, only being curious. :) Looks like an excellent setup.

Btw, where did you get the flooring?
 
No processing outwith the camera in the photo above. What you see is literally off the CF card, (ignoring the resize for web).

Just to avoid any doubt, it's NOT unprocessed. I have setup a custom camera profile, so I have my OWN choice of Hue, Saturation, Contrast, Brightness, D-Lighting, etc etc. I have tweaked all these settings to get my photos processed how I want them in the camera. The good news is, it's all recorded in the NIKON RAW format, and read by Capture NX. In otherwords, you get lovely processed files and retain Raw control. Photoshop CS4 does NOT read the in camera processing so this setup is useless if using Adobe Camera Raw.

G.
 
looking good Gary
lots of work - but the results are worth it
now need to see some real peeps in the picture!
 
Cheers all,

I really can't describe how big a deal this is. Literally, without a word of exaggeration, I have spent on average 15 hours a week processing for client viewings. That figure will now stand at 3 per week, allowing for preparing slideshows etc. This is a massive thing for me, as my energy levels were being hammered due to all the work I have been having to do. Going forward, I have almost two full days for other things.

G.
 
Hows the light wrap from people getting too close to the background has that been reduced / eliminated as you hoped?
 
where did you get the reflective flooring from in the end?
 
JustinParker said:
Hows the light wrap from people getting too close to the background has that been reduced / eliminated as you hoped?
Click to expand...

Reduced, not removed. It's not a problem I feel any more. If I need to control it more, I have a potential plan to put a false ceiling just above the internal soft boxes...

G.
 
mmcp42 said:
where did you get the reflective flooring from in the end?
Click to expand...

Warehouse about 2 miles from my shop, Grant Westfield. £80 a board, + VAT. Boards are 8 x 4ft and if you are putting them together, you MUST use tounge and groove. Trust me, I never and it cost me £160 to replace as a result. Have managed to utilise the old boards elsewhere luckily.

G.
 
EdinburghGary said:
Warehouse about 2 miles from my shop, Grant Westfield. £80 a board, + VAT. Boards are 8 x 4ft and if you are putting them together, you MUST use tounge and groove. Trust me, I never and it cost me £160 to replace as a result. Have managed to utilise the old boards elsewhere luckily.

G.
Click to expand...

cheers :thumbs:
 
Hey Gary nice job!
I've been trying to find 8x4 flooring panels for AGES, the best I could do so far was some white melamine-face fiberboard but in honesty it's a bit rubbish.

Do you know what specific product you used from the Grant Westfield range so that I might be able to source some locally? Predictably no-one in B&Q had the first clue what I was on about, and not knowing the specific name for something makes it pretty tricky to search for.

Many thanks in advance!
 
Excellent - determination and willpower impressive as always Gary! I'm surprised by the room size and would love to see a wide shot from the back wall if that's possible. :thumbs:
 
EdinburghGary said:
No processing outwith the camera in the photo above. What you see is literally off the CF card, (ignoring the resize for web).

Just to avoid any doubt, it's NOT unprocessed. I have setup a custom camera profile, so I have my OWN choice of Hue, Saturation, Contrast, Brightness, D-Lighting, etc etc. I have tweaked all these settings to get my photos processed how I want them in the camera. The good news is, it's all recorded in the NIKON RAW format, and read by Capture NX. In otherwords, you get lovely processed files and retain Raw control. Photoshop CS4 does NOT read the in camera processing so this setup is useless if using Adobe Camera Raw.

G.
Click to expand...

Hi Gary, excellent set-up and results you have there! :thumbs:

Can I ask you about your custom camera profile? Does lightroom read the in-camera processing? I had my camera set up to "More Vivid" in the Optimise Image settings, but as far as I can see Lightroom doesn't recognise this. I would like to do what you have just achieved - getting the picture as close to perfect in the camera first (in RAW), but outside a studio.
 
Inspiring! Thanks for spending the time to explain it all. It looks outstanding :clap:
 
Denyerec said:
Hey Gary nice job!
I've been trying to find 8x4 flooring panels for AGES, the best I could do so far was some white melamine-face fiberboard but in honesty it's a bit rubbish.

Do you know what specific product you used from the Grant Westfield range so that I might be able to source some locally? Predictably no-one in B&Q had the first clue what I was on about, and not knowing the specific name for something makes it pretty tricky to search for.

Many thanks in advance!
Click to expand...

The exact name:

Multi Panel 12mm board, High Gloss White. :) You MUST MUST MUST go for Tounge and Groove, and I can't see ONE BOARD being useful, it would only allow 4ft on one side. Go for two if not more.

G.
 
Denyerec said:
Hey Gary nice job!
I've been trying to find 8x4 flooring panels for AGES, the best I could do so far was some white melamine-face fiberboard but in honesty it's a bit rubbish.

Do you know what specific product you used from the Grant Westfield range so that I might be able to source some locally? Predictably no-one in B&Q had the first clue what I was on about, and not knowing the specific name for something makes it pretty tricky to search for.

Many thanks in advance!
Click to expand...

PhotoTalk said:
Excellent - determination and willpower impressive as always Gary! I'm surprised by the room size and would love to see a wide shot from the back wall if that's possible. :thumbs:
Click to expand...


Gimme 15 min :)
 
Steven001 said:
Hi Gary, excellent set-up and results you have there! :thumbs:

Can I ask you about your custom camera profile? Does lightroom read the in-camera processing? I had my camera set up to "More Vivid" in the Optimise Image settings, but as far as I can see Lightroom doesn't recognise this. I would like to do what you have just achieved - getting the picture as close to perfect in the camera first (in RAW), but outside a studio.
Click to expand...

As far as I know, Capture NX is the only software which will mix RAW and IN CAMERA profiles. Not sure why this is, I presume some protected proprietary software embedded in the raw file which only NIKON knows how to tinker with / or allows tinkering with.

IMO, the cost of Capture NX is more than worth it for this added functionality, and I also think the switch from any other software package to capture NX is justified as a result. I still thank Spencer (Gandhi on here) for opening my eyes to the power of the software. It's absolutely awesome for landscape processing.

G.
 
corbystock said:
i guess being able to have subjects closer to the backdrop makes the backdrop ( in effect ) a fair bit wider. Would you say it's made a big difference ?
Click to expand...

Absolutely huge difference.

1: no more light stand legs / backdrop support legs to crop out.

2: I now have a FULL 4 metre width to shoot onto instead of the previous 2.75 metre "lastolite vinyl" width.

3: Light is much more even and without hotspots

4: Looks much better in the studio, it's just a big white cube....

As I said, 15 hours a week or so will be saved as a result of the setup.

Gary.
 
This is very impressive Gary and I realy hope you get your rewards after the amount of effort you have put into this whole project.

Regarding the floor, I put clear 4mm perspex sheet over the backdrop that is on the floor to enable reflections. I got it from B&Q or Wickes for £22 per sheet (1800mm x 900mm) Its the clear perspex used for temporary secondary glazing.
 
EdinburghGary said:
Reduce, not remove. Personal taste I guess. I can actually light it differently (move the keylight) which reduces the reflection AND gives me a better (I feel) light fall on the subjects. I could use a CPL too.

I find the reflection in the shot above a bit TOO defined, that's all. I think it's 100% subjective though.

G.
Click to expand...


Looking good, Gary :thumbs:

I think you're right about the reflection though, it's just a touch too strong, but even so it's pretty impressive :)
 
I really like this set up Gary! Where did you get the ripstop from? I just might give this a try in my small studio.
I'm having the same problems with light stands etc..

Kev.
 
EdinburghGary said:
As far as I know, Capture NX is the only software which will mix RAW and IN CAMERA profiles. Not sure why this is, I presume some protected proprietary software embedded in the raw file which only NIKON knows how to tinker with / or allows tinkering with.

IMO, the cost of Capture NX is more than worth it for this added functionality, and I also think the switch from any other software package to capture NX is justified as a result. I still thank Spencer (Gandhi on here) for opening my eyes to the power of the software. It's absolutely awesome for landscape processing.

G.
Click to expand...

Do you still use the S5 pro with NX or do you go through hyper utility for that? I'm still perfecting my workflow at the moment and have the same issues as it seems like you've already been through that I have been using lightroom for image management but lose all the camera preset benefits so then spend twice as long tweaking images. Need to go back and look at NX again for the Nikon.
 
JustinParker said:
Do you still use the S5 pro with NX or do you go through hyper utility for that? I'm still perfecting my workflow at the moment and have the same issues as it seems like you've already been through that I have been using lightroom for image management but lose all the camera preset benefits so then spend twice as long tweaking images. Need to go back and look at NX again for the Nikon.
Click to expand...

I really can't help as I have not used the Fuji S5 Pro since buying, ignoring 20 or so shots. I just bought it on an umpulse, glad I have it, it's mint and does take a lovely photo when used!

kevshore said:
I really like this set up Gary! Where did you get the ripstop from? I just might give this a try in my small studio.
I'm having the same problems with light stands etc..

Kev.
Click to expand...

IKEA :) Although, go to EBAY or any decent TEXTILE warehouse and order it on the roll. I am impatient :D

G.
 
...Yeah...not bad I suppose... :lol: :p

Seriously, I know how much work as gone into this mate, and the results look very good so far! :clap:

Have you tested it with any real 'uman beings yet? It'd be interesting to see how it works with some energetic toddlers - although I reckon it'll be fine...

Good work young padawan. :thumbs:
 
Pic from the back wall yet G?
 
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