Vinyl Backdrops, even lighting

[donkeymusic]

Hello,

I have been adding some vinyl backdrops to my collection from the website http://www.photography-backdrops.co.uk/.

Just wondering those of you that use them what is the best method of lighting them with out getting hotspots/glares??

I found the best method to be using umbrellas and feathering the light across the backdrop, found i have to have the brollies quite high, which isnt ideal with children.

Any advice would be much appreciated.

Thanks

 

[wooster]

I use simple standard reflectors pointing the lights slightly off centre so the right one for example is more angled to left of centre and vice versa for the left. Flag them with a bit of black card on the side away from the background to reduced spill and experiment with them to get a good even spread. I use a light meter to do this but some people will just shoot the background and check the highlight warnings on their LCD. I would have thought that with brollies it would be difficult to control the spillover of light.

You need a bit of space both at the sides to place your lights properly and also for your subject to move away from the background to avoid spill. I'd also recommend setting the background lights no more than 1 to 1 1/3 stops brighter than your subject despite the advice often given to go 2 stops brighter.

Anyway, take your time to experiment.

 

[donkeymusic]

Not even lighting the background as i am getting enough light from the brollies.

The child is only two foot in front of the backdrop

 

[wooster]

Well if that works for you then that's great. It isn't the way I do it and when you ask what the best method of lighting the background is I can only share my experience.

The child distance from the backdrop won't cause you a problem in the set up you're using because there wont be any spillage of light from the backdrop as you're not lighting it separtely. If you do decide to light the background separately though, you'll find 2ft will cause you problems

 

[meonshore]

Not even lighting the background as i am getting enough light from the brollies.

The child is only two foot in front of the backdrop

Plenty of light - but not a good quality of light.....

If you want a good quality of light then you might want to reconsider wooster's suggestion. it isn't only a white background that benefits from being lit separately from the subject.