LIGHTING THEME: LIGHT TENT OR CONTROLLED LIGHTING?

When we discontinued the regular Lighting Themes in March 05 we said that we'd

consider occasional extra themes if suitable subjects came up.<p>

 

Well, this one started with a visit to the supermarket. I saw this rough

terrain remote control car in the 'Toys for boys' section and knew my little

girl would like it...<p>

 

And once I got it home I had to take it out of the box to charge up the

battery. Then I noticed the product shot on the box - horrible! <br>It had

obviously been taken with the 'help' of a light tent, which got me wondering

whether a lighting theme might help to answer some of the forum questions

about light tents.<p>

 

This theme includes elements of lighting for diffused specular highlights -

the definitive lighting theme for this subject is

http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=007tNJ and it also

includes combining hard and soft light (although from different directions)

which is dealt with in another theme, http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-

fetch-msg?msg_id=0085Ir<p>

 

Let's start off with a shot of the car using a light tent.<br> As most of us

probably know, light tents are simply translucent enclosures which spread and

diffuse light, effectively killing or reducing shadows. Light tents have their

uses for high volume, repetitive shots where economy of time is more important

than pzazz.<br>They do a competent job of <i>illustrating products</i> but I'm

not convinced that they do as well at producing shots that <i>sell</i> them.<p>

 

In this shot I used a 'proper' light tent, measuring 1 metre diameter but it

wasn't big enough for this 15" car, hence the join between floor and walls.

<br>This type of light tent generally produces much better results than the

various varieties of cubes and similar designs. <p>I used 3 lights to get the

most even illumination possible and the one at the front was set at a very low

height. <br>As you can see, the lack of shadows in this shot shows all the

details that might otherwise be hidden and the diffusion has dealt with the

specular highlights very well.<br>Apart from the poor angle and the inclusion

of the base/sides caused by using a light tent that was simply too small, the

tent has done its job - if you're looking for a bland effect. I could of

course have cleaned up the background and adjusted the contrast in PS but this

forum isn't about computer work - and anyway, the same adjustments could be

made to the shots that follow<p><center><img

src=http://www.phototutors.com/light-tent.jpg><p></center>

 

 

I thought about a suitable background but decided to use a standard product

shooting table, to fully show the shadows and reflections.<br>

 

I started with an overhead softbox for fill, pointing slightly forwards. This

is a good starting point for many still life subjects. I placed it about 18"

above the car roof. The type of lighting is capable of producing diffused

specular highlights, where you can see though the reflections to the subject

beneath. <br>With the light angled forward the semi-backlighting produces a

degree of separation between subject and background and can also be used to

graduate the background. The downside is that it leaves the elevation facing

the camera in shadow. <p><center><img

src=http://www.phototutors.com/2.jpg><p></center><p>

 

But the light was too harsh, at least for a fill light. The problem is that

the car has complex convex shapes and the only type of light that can even out

the specular highlights is a massive one (at least 3 times the size of the

subject and preferably bigger) and almost touching it. I compromised by

reducing the height of the softbox as much as I could without damaging the

antenna, lowering it to about 7" above the roof. If this had been a commercial

shoot I would have used a larger softbox or a large silk. Or a large bounce

surface such as a low white ceiling or, better still, a large angled reflector

could have been used instead. <p><center><img

src=http://www.phototutors.com/3.jpg><p></center><p>

 

Well, the overhead softbox is OK for fill but we need a key light. So I added

a rim light off to the left, to pick up the left side tyre (tire) and

suspension unit. Lighting ratios mean nothing on this kind of shot, you just

have to experiment until the shot looks right.<p><center><img

src=http://www.phototutors.com/4.jpg><p></center>

Not bright enough, so I doubled it. <p><center><img

src=http://www.phototutors.com/5.jpg><p></center><p>

 

Still not enough, so I doubled it again <p><center><img

src=http://www.phototutors.com/6.jpg><p></center><p>

 

Still not enough, so I increased the light by another 1/2 stop (50%). This is

the point where I'm glad that I'm not using a very low powered light, because

even with such a small subject this light had reached 800 Joules...

<p><center><img src=http://www.phototutors.com/8.jpg><p></center><p>

I could have added even more light but I don't really want to show all the

detail, I just want to show that it exists and I want the lighting to look

natural.

I used a 5 degree honeycomb grid over the rim light because I wanted to pick

up the detail on the bull bars, the tyres and the suspension without spilling

light where it wasn't wanted. I then tried a 20 degree honeycomb in the pic

below, but you can see that the light spilled onto the bodywork.

<p><center><img src=http://www.phototutors.com/22.jpg><p></center><p>

 

That's as far as I got. I could have used tiny mirrors to fill in hard-to

reach areas, and reflectors to lighten shadows - but I didn't, because I

wanted to show the full effect of these two simple lights.<br>

 

What I did do though was to take a shot from below subject level. We call this

camera angle "Heroic" for obvious reasons - jargon terms impress the clients!

<br>It seems to me that there isn't much point in taking a shot of a muscle

car from a high viewpoint that makes it look like a wimp! <p><center><img

src=http://www.phototutors.com/27.jpg><p></center>

 

All that remains now is for me to test the car, very thoroughly, in my studio

before giving it to my daughter to play with. <br>We have a bit of land with

our own road system (Brooks once referred to it as a 'Homestead' - I don't

know what a homestead is but I think it's a compliment - it's a bit rough for

a toy car, that's why I need to test it first :-) <p>

 

If you'd like to contribute to this theme, please find a highly reflective

subject and compare soft diffused lighting with directional lighting as I've

done here, and post your results. <p>

 

For the record, these photos are as shot, no computer work except for re-

sizing. All exposures were identical, f/11 on a DSLR

 

looks very interesting, but the embeded images are not working :-(

 

Good because it made me more courious about it. But it is now time to show then :-)

For some reason, I cannot see anything on the phototutors site (not even a ping command gets response). It is as if that domain name would not exist... it could also be my firewall playing some tricks on me. Very strange still... But I can see your reposted images clearly.

 

I always enjoy your very educative posts.

Garry, They show up fine in my Firefox and IE browsers.

Garry, both sets of photos show up using IE on my computer.

 

It's interesting how much nicer the lighting is when it's more directional and controlled than what you'd typically get using a tent. And the light from your softbox is still very diffused and soft as we can see by the translucent highlights on the car yet the lighting is not flat as it is with the tent.

 

And, it takes a bit of power sometimes to get f11 in spite of the fact that the softbox and grid light were so close to the subject.

 

I wonder how large that overhead softbox would be if it was scaled up in size to light a life-sized truck?

 

Keeping it real down on the homestead. #8^)

<i>"I wonder how large that overhead softbox would be if it was scaled up in size to light a life-sized truck?"</i><br> A very valid point hidden among the humour. I used a medium softbox which wasn't really big enough, so assuming a 22'.6"' truck we'd be looking at 60' x 40' to get the same result... Which is probably why my last car shoot client was happy with a 3 week budget for an outdoor shoot. <br>It would take a bit of lighting power too, to get f/45 on a 5"x4" or f/64 on a 10"x8" - but I only used 75J for the softbox on these example shots, the extra power was needed for the key light, which started low but ended up at 800J. People constantly ask questions in the forum about how much power they need, the short answer is 'not a lot for a portrait with an umbrella, more than you'd think possible once narrow angle honeycomb grids come into play'.<p>I'm now deleting the duplicate photos, they don't seem to be needed

Thanks for another excellent tutorial. Very well laid out and instructive with the illustrations of how and why the final set up is derived. Your efforts are appreciated.

Very informative. But I can't help but picture your daughter pacing around waiting for you to be done "playing" with her truck!

Mark,

 

Cathy doesn't know about the car yet. The only people who know about it are you and the other 2 people who've read this theme :-)

 

Someone emailed me about the different colour between the first shot and the others. The reason for this must be that the first one, taken with a light tent, has been affected by the colour of the diffusing material. All shots are uncorrected.

"The only people who know about it are you and the other 2 people who've read this theme :-)"

 

Don't forget the countless silent readers such as myself.

 

Just wanted to say thanks.

 

I just discovered these sections. I'll be going over each tutorial one by one. Also just wanted to let you know that your (and others) efforts are appreciated. So thanks again!

Great post. A very fun and informative read. I really liked your first attempt best. softbox 18" above and slightly behind. The colors seemed more rich. And the specular highlights seemed more sharp and shiny. I didn't like the final images as much as they started to look like a spotlight was pointing at the front grill.

 

Heroic shot was great too.

 

Michael

Large 4 foot rectangular softbox on left. Backlight with 10 degree grid on left. Lights about 4 feet away. 4" white card bouncing light on the right side toward the latch. 1/60 F11.

Main at F11. Backlight at F11.3<div></div>

20 degree spot on left(main light). Backlight with 10 degree grid on left. Lights about 4 feet away. 4" white card bouncing light on the right side toward the latch. 1/60 F11.

Main at F11. Backlight at F11.3<div></div>