New here and need help with studio lighting!

Jellyhead188

Jellyhead188

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Emma
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Hi Guys

I'm a fairly new and sporadic poster here! I am trying to work out how to get rid of the weird colour my floor seems to be going in my studio - see below

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Basically I use a white vinal back/floor and light the background with two wall mounted studio flashes, then use a single flash at the front to light the subject (usually kids hairing around!). But my floor goes this horrible brown colour, any hints/tips would be great as i've got some professional work to do on Saturday so would like to have less photo shopping to do after!

Emma
 
a direct front flash is a bit weird for studio work unless it's a basic fill? normally two well placed softboxes/shoot through umbrellas would suffice lighting the background and subject unless theres a particular off key style you're going for?

we'd probably be more informed with a photo though tbh
 
I know I couldn't work out how to do it!!! - this might work!

IMG_6233_edited-3.jpg
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The picture looks crap cos I had to make it very small to upload it! but you can see my problem!

I'm after studio type shots that white out the background, I normally do a bit of PS but this is a bit more than I can manage on PS without spoiling the picture!

Emma
 
looks like you're not diffusing your light at all and the output isn't strong enough, what lights are you using and at what settings? and are you using a light meter to check you're getting a dispersal around the room?

white backgrounds in small rooms are actually notoriously hard to fully white out and most of the time you'll find a bit of post processing has been done to even out the white
 
ok, you'll have to bear with me I'm not all that technical!!! I use two basic studio lights mounted on the wall with like cone type things on them (they are set to around 1/3 on the dial) and the one at the front (usually have it to hte left and quite far back as I do kids who are normally jumping around all over the place!), that one I have a large soft box on (that one is set to 2.7)- I don't have a light meter - should I try using two lights at the front both with soft boxes on so that I have more even light?

Thanks.

Emma
 
take a photo of your setup and see if you can find out what wattage your lamps are

i'd say look for a book on setting up a studio tbh because i don't mean to sound rude but there is a certain minimum technical knowledge needed for effective studio lighting

as it sounds you might have a snoot on your lamps which won't be of any use whatsoever, get them both softboxed and facing the background at full power and try setting your camera manually to er 1/250 @ f8 and see what effect you get hopefully it should be fully blown out and then you can drop your lamps down until you get the effect you want

what are you currently shooting with on your camera settings wise?
 
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I currently use
ISO 100
F8
Shutter speed 200

and my on camera flash set to 1/64 as it just fires off my flashes.

I'll try tonight with soem softboxes and see what happens, my problem is that usually the light bounces onto the subject as its a narrow room!

Thanks for your help, I am trying to go on a course about studio lighting!

Emma
 
You going to need something to make the room black, or at least a dark colour if you don't want the light to be bouncing around, also you going to want something other then large softboxes to control the light direction.
 
Jellyhead188 said:
the light bounces onto the subject
Click to expand...

this is normally a desired effect of flashes :p

look at getting a wireless flash sync or at least a flash sync cable as you might be having sync problems if it's firing off your flashes?
 
Very professional video there!!!! With Chloe chatting in the background!

Sweet, but a bit confusing!! :D
 
I just meant the light I use to over expose the background bounces off my subjects and can white them out!!!!

I am after a whiting out effect of all but the subjects!!!

I'll give the suggestions a go and let you know how I get on!

Thanks.

Emma
 
FranchiseJuan said:
You going to need something to make the room black, or at least a dark colour if you don't want the light to be bouncing around, also you going to want something other then large softboxes to control the light direction.
Click to expand...

But i want white out background not black ones? wouldn't that be counter productive.

Em
 
If you don't have softboxes that you can use on the background, reflective umbrellas will do fine. The best tool though is the special angled background reflectors that you can get for Bowens or Elinchrom fit lights.

The light bounce from background to subject is caused by two factors - too much overexposure on the background, necessitated by uneven lighting, and having the subject too close to the background.

The idea of a black or dark room is to control unwanted light bounce.

Take a look at these basic guides
 
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