Studio photography advice please

luke850

luke850

Messages
6
Name
Luke
Edit My Images
Yes
Hi guys,

I'm looking for some advice with studio photography please. I'm trying to achieve a result like the picture in my profile (only way I could figure out how to upload it!). I've got the basic equipment - backdrop, lights, tripod etc. I'm thinking I might need to shoot onto a white backdrop and photoshop in the shadow?

Any input would be greatly appreciated at this point!

Luke
 
Hi and welcome to TP

From my limited understanding of such lighting.........and looking at the example you use for your avatar.

Looks like two lights, above & to each side (seeing the shadows created by the chair legs & seat) but with barn doors/flags on each light to control the fall of the excess(?) light and create those side shadows.

PS more experienced TP'ers I hope will chime in :)
 
Last edited:
Someone is going to say this so it might as well be me. If that is not your photo then you shouldn't copy it and upload it, you should just provide a link to it. People on here are rightly sensitive about copyright.
 
sirch said:
Someone is going to say this so it might as well be me. If that is not your photo then you shouldn't copy it and upload it, you should just provide a link to it. People on here are rightly sensitive about copyright.
Click to expand...

I was tempted but in the case of an avatar? Plenty of avatars as far as I can tell are web located???

But yes to the OP, any such examples must be links not embedded into a post :)
 
OK sorry, I thought I wasn't allowed to post a link until I'd made three posts? I'll be taking it down soon, I'm just looking for some advice on how to create that effect to save myself a lot of time and money!
 
Another option (also from limited experience), would be a rectangular softbox above and slightly behind the chair, angled slightly towards the backdrop.
 
There’s a sticky at the top of the page for Garry’s book.
But in a nutshell re your question, you light to create shadows. That’s the whole point of controlling light; lights make shadows, shadows create form.
You don’t spend an hour setting up lighting then try to add shadows in post.
1 that’s a waste of time
2 it’ll probably look ‘wrong’ when it’s done.
 
Thanks Phil, I've bought the book and now halfway through. Wish I'd read the book before spending any money on equipment, but it's a process I guess...
 
Not sure which part you are talking about or why you would want to replicate it but...
There's a moderately large light source (softbox, at least 3ft I would guess) about 45* forward/overhead but not really close (guess maybe 5-6ft away), and a second light creating the spot effect on the BG. My guess is the second light was small and on the floor pointed up somewhat, and then removed in post... hard to say for sure with such a tiny image to evaluate.
 
You must remember that when doing product photography you can use very little light indeed and use a long time exposure..
the light behind the chair might be very small indeed and hidden by the chair.

The photographers at Design magazine often supported objects by piercing through the background paper, small lights and wires can be hidden in the same way.
If done with care no PP is needed at all.
 
Terrywoodenpic said:
You must remember that when doing product photography you can use very little light indeed and use a long time exposure..
the light behind the chair might be very small indeed and hidden by the chair.

The photographers at Design magazine often supported objects by piercing through the background paper, small lights and wires can be hidden in the same way.
If done with care no PP is needed at all.
Click to expand...
I considered that... but from what I can tell the more vertical shadows indicates the light was pointed up, but the brightest area on the BG is quite low. It looks to me that any hidden light source would have to have been pointed down and not up.
But I could be mistaken, I think a light pointed down from out of frame could create similar light shape/shadows with the right modifier (or it could have easily been added/enhanced in post).
 
Last edited:
Great stuff, thank you for the input guys. Ive got a lot to try!
 
Terrywoodenpic said:
You must remember that when doing product photography you can use very little light indeed and use a long time exposure..
the light behind the chair might be very small indeed and hidden by the chair.

The photographers at Design magazine often supported objects by piercing through the background paper, small lights and wires can be hidden in the same way.
If done with care no PP is needed at all.
Click to expand...
It might, or it could be that there's a lot of space between the chair and the background and that the light that's playing on the background is a spotlight that's placed a long way from it - it's very hard to judge from such a small image and it doesn't really matter anyway because there are several different ways of achieving that look - which doesn't seem to me to have any great merit anyway..

A long time ago we had a thread dedicated to "deconstructing" images and working out how they were lit, might be of interest - https://www.talkphotography.co.uk/threads/how-was-this-shot-lit-a-new-challenge.110131/
luke850 said:
I have just bought Garry Edwards book on Amazon, I'll update on my progress and hopefully get some feedback in due course.!
Click to expand...
luke850 said:
Thanks Phil, I've bought the book and now halfway through. Wish I'd read the book before spending any money on equipment, but it's a process I guess...
Click to expand...
Thanks for that. If you could also leave a review on Amazon when you've finished it then that would be a great help, it's reviews that increase sales.
 
sk66 said:
I considered that... but from what I can tell the more vertical shadows indicates the light was pointed up, but the brightest area on the BG is quite low. It looks to me that any hidden light source would have to have been pointed down and not up.
But I could be mistaken, I think a light pointed down from out of frame could create similar light shape/shadows with the right modifier (or it could have easily been added/enhanced in post).
Click to expand...
yes indeed, it probably was a heavily snooted flash or spot with barn doors aimed to create the back light area on the background paper.
there are always more ways than one to kill a rat. lighting in the studio is a mixtuer of art and science
 
Thanks all, I'm making progress! I'll leave a review on the book shortly, it's been very helpful so far.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top