1st studio shootout

Hello everydoby,

 

I will soon have an opportunity to work with 3 friends of mine (girls) from a

band in a studio to make some photos for them. Nothing fancy as they know im a

beginner and only recently started assisting in this studio (mostly low-tech

product shots).

 

We know each other excellent and they are really relaxed arround camera so I

suppose model-photographer relationship and communication will not be a problem.

I need advice on the following :

 

How to conduct this kind of shoot, what equipment to use, how to pose them? I

can use Canon 350D, 10D, Minolta 7D with all sorts of lenses (17-40, 70-200,

primes, hotshoe flashes) and in studio we have 4 Bowens 400(?) Ws heads,

umbrellas, softboxes and one spotlight. Big space, lots of big clean

backgrounds.... Basically, I got lots of things to use but ehm, need some

starting advice on how to do it all.

 

As far as the film is concerned Id also like to shoot some 120mm with my

Hasselblad but dont really know how it will handle studio lights? What film to

use? I have EFKE films (25, 50, 100) Ilford (FP4, HP5+) and some old expired

slides (Velvia 100 and AGFA RSX 200).

 

I sincearly thank you all for reading and even more for replying.

 

Cheers,

Alex

 

P.S. I know some basics, key/fill/hair light, white dropout and such but havent

really done it in practice....

It sounds like they'll be pretty patient with you. What I've seen from newbies is they rush around and don't take the time to properly prepare for a shot. While you don't want to waste your model's time, take your time to get the lighting and all just right. They will understand if they see you crafting your shot, especially if you're in command of the shoot.

 

In the meantime, study as many photos as you can for the type of band shot you want to take. What kind of lighting do you want? Colors? Themes? Set? Your lighting and equipment sounds fine. Even draw out what you would like the shot to look like and where everyone will be positioned, including the lights if you can. I view this kind of shot much like they shoot movies: they have a script, actors, and most importantly, a story board.

 

I wouldn't hesitate using the Hasselblad one bit--that would be my first choice and the only thing you need in prep for it is to make sure the PC socket on the lens (or in some cases the body) fires correctly. As for film, I'd recommend HP5, Delta, or even Tri-X (the latter two are a little more foregiving if your exposure is off a bit). You can use the digital to cross-check your setup. I'd opt for one of the Canon's for your digital. As for color--I'm a little behind the times on best films, but I'd probably go with Velvia as well.

 

BTW, when you say "120mm with my Hasselblad", do you mean 120 film, or the 120mm Planar lens? If you're looking for super sharp images, that is a superb lens choice for a portrait-type assignment.

 

Finally, spend your shoot time trying to direct and get as much emotion or charisma out of your models as possible. Don't settle for a smile. Get them to give you something a little more. Don't be afraid to be an actor in portraying what you ask for. Sometimes knowing the model can be more difficult than if you don't.

I'd go with the hassy, too. It's been handling studio lights quite well for about 50 years. My

preference would be FP4 for portraits. Wouldn't use expired slide film. Why go through all

that to risk film failure or funky color shifts? That'll really make you look like a beginner. I

wouldn't use Velvia. Try Astia. Some of the negative color films like Portra are lovely and give

you a little more tolerance with exposures that are slightly off the mark.

 

Best of luck--and have fun.

thank you guys, very much! :-) sorry for not being more concise - 120 was the film; I dont have a macro lens for the 'blad I only have Planar 80 and Canon 350D. All the rest is equipment from studio I assist at. Never done any model shootings so thats why my worries....

 

Also, Colour shifts with Velvia wouldne neccessarily be a bad thing in this case ;-).... OK ill try to find some Portra although I doubt it, thed didnt import in in Croatia last time I checked.

 

What else.... yes, once I set up the lights (simple, one key, one fill, MAYBE later one background to burn it) and they start moving arround the set, do I move the lights? I mean, these softboxes are really large, I suppose I do not need to reposition for every little move they will make, right? That would make things ridiculous....

 

cheers

a.

oh yes, my Hass is a 500 c/m and I SUPPOSE PCsync works.... But the problem might be that our strobes fire optically - via some cell. So I need a hotshoe flash set to lowest power in orderfor it to trigger studio strobes. I wonder how I will do it with hass :-/....