Prom Portrait lighting set up and settings

Hello!!

 

I was wondering if anyone could please give me some suggestions for lighting

set ups for prom photography. I have a Nikon SB 600 and SB 800 on light stands

with umbrellas. I am using a D200 and I am controlling my flashes wirelessly. I

was wondering if you could suggest some ways to positioning these flashes. How

tall should they be? what angles should the flashes be tilted down into the

umbrellas?

 

I was also wondering about other camera settings for a portrait set up with two

flashes. What should I set the flashes to? What setting would be best to use

for this set up on my camera? Thank you much in advance for all of your advice!

 

Sincerely,

 

Maggie

Be careful you don't over heat them, those little lights were not made for this sort of work... t<p>Oh yeah, one in an umbrella just over the camera and slightly to one side and one on your background. But you are way under powered.<div></div>

I would connect both flashes on one single stand into a silver 45 inch umbrella. You will need

a power source like a turbo or simular device to keep you going. The stand should be just

directly behind you about 15 feet from subject and about 8 or nine feet high. Use a white or

very light background.

Yup, you're underpowered. If you are taking full length prom portraits, which is what all the schools in my area want, you'll need more power than the SBs with umbrellas.

 

If that's all you have, I'd fire the smaller one into the ceiling, assuming the ceiling is white and normal height to get some light onto background and some onto couple. Get it as close to the ceiling as possible and aim so the the reflection is on the couple. Think of it as daylight. Then one at 8' height w umbrella as close as possible to be out of the camera view.

 

Take lots of spare batteries and up your ISO if needed to shoot at least at 5.6 I've had huge problems with autofocus at proms when both people are wearing all-black with a dark background.

 

I assume that you weren't counting on using any auto settings on either camera or flash. If so, don't. You want consistant exposures and that won't happen on auto.

 

From the sounds of it, you need to run a lot of tests first and be prepared for the worst. Proms are fast and furious. We shoot 75 couples per hour per camera and that's not fast enough for the kids because they all want it done at the same time. BTW, most kids want group shots. Trying to pose 20 people on a set designed for 2 is not fun, but that's where the $$$ is. You sure you want to do this?

 

Doug

With all of the research I have been doing I do not think that I will be under powered. This is for a very small school with 25 couples max, and the setting doesn't seem as if the flashes could not handle it. These flashes are pretty powerful for what they are, and they are very compact. Casting one over the top of the camera and one to the side, wouldn't that produce shadow? Thanks for all of the advice!~Maggie

Maggie,

 

You have enough power with the SB's, but using umbrella's will eat up batteries, watch your recycle time carefully and have plenty of fresh batteries just in case. Using the 800 as your main, high (8') and slightly to one side (almost butterfly lighting), and your 600 as the fill, shouldn't give you shadows behind your subjects if they (subjects) are far enough from the background. With both umbrella's no more than 8' from the subjects and ISO 400, f/5.6 should be no problem (check your histogram). Reflection off glasses from the fill can/will be a problem. Many use the same type setup for wedding formals and have great success.

"<i>With all of the research I have been doing I do not think that I will be under powered."</i> <p>Great. Have a good time. Pay no attention to the advice you get here.

<p>If quality is not a priority, and all you need to do is get the picture, then just leave your flash in the hot shoe and get it done. That's one way to be sure they won't bother you next year... t

"<i>Reflection off glasses from the fill can/will be a problem.</i>"<p>another reason why Doug, Michael and I all recommend one light, with a possible ceiling bounce (which I think is unlikely to be effective with an SB600), but your research may show otherwise, so what the heck... go for it! What do <i>we</i> know?... t

"""Casting one over the top of the camera and one to the side, wouldn't that produce shadow? """

 

 

 

Yes, but in this case "shadows" are what you are trying to achieve. Shadows are what creates depth and the illusion of the 3rd dimension in photos. I would use 1 flash on camera as fill and set it 2 stops below the main light. The main light belongs right or left of the camera 2-6 feet, and about 1-4 feet above the lens. And remember to set it 2 stops more powerful than the fill.

I am sorry if I came of condescending. This was not my intention. I really do appreciate the advice that you guy do give to me here, I was just looking for some options of getting what I have to work since I do not have the time or resources to invest in new equipment. Thank you again for the advice.

~Maggie

No problems really. I am tough enough to handle some skepticism, I just wanted to put some perspective on it...<p>I think Michael's advice is good, except I would use a white umbrella and place it closer:<p>..."<i>I would connect both flashes on one single stand into a silver 45 inch umbrella. You will need a power source like a turbo or simular device to keep you going. The stand should be just directly behind you about 15 feet from subject and about 8 or nine feet high. Use a white or very light background.</i>".<p>This advice doesn't require much more equipment than you already have. A cross-bar to put both flashes in the one umbrella and lots of batteries instead of the Turbo, since the head count at your event is so low... t

Maggie,

 

It sounds like you are getting good advice here, but make sure you try out your set-up before the event. You can test most of the proposed set-ups in a location other than the event venue. About an hour worth of effort should give you a pretty good idea of what works the best with the equipment you have.

 

Good luck.

 

Eric

Good idea... t

"Be careful you don't over heat them, those little lights were not made for this sort of work"

 

that's crap, these lights are perfectly suitable for this type of work, if you were going to use one umbrella you could easily get away with just using the one light in that... and use one as a backlight...

 

be careful of any bounce if you're going to go down that route

 

for shots of people with glasses you just need to position the lights a little higher/wider and that'll get rid of any reflections

 

but yes take a few sets of batteries with you or invest in a battery pack.

 

like eric said though you need to practice your set up before you go do the job... just take your time and get it right you'll be fine...

 

PS have a look at strobist101 for some great ideas

A good trick I learned (from photo.net) for dealing with glasses: have them raise the part above their ears slightly. It angles the lens down enough to eliminate glare, but its close enough to the regular position to look right in the pictures.

I know what <i>I</i> mean when I say "perfect" (but not sure about what Gareth means by "perfectly suited"), and I still say hotshoe type strobes designed for use on camera are not "perfect" for this application. I'd go with "adequate".<p>The attached image was made with an SB800 in a 30in umbrella, but there was lots of ambient. I still needed 1/15th @ F5 using iso 100. With low tungsten or florescent ambient light (at the prom?), you might not have any nice colored light for fill with a slow shutter like I did in this photo. Put both flashes in the same umbrella (a 45" reflective) and you'll make it through 25 couples (and 8-12 batteries) in an hour, no problems... t<div></div>

Maggie, I do at least three prom of year, plus snaller event similar to proms. I used two light at the height of ten feet. Both light are turn 45 degrees inward to take away any shadow and they tilted 90 degrees downward to help with elinating shadow. I also suggest making sure the subjects are three to four feet away from the background and the lights away from the subjects at least 10 feet away to cover the shooting area, Rufus.

Rufus you mentioned using 2 lights at 10' high, 45 degrees to subject and camera and tilted 90 degrees. I wanted to know the wattage of the lights you use and are they flash strobes. Also are you using umbrellas or soft boxes for your setup.

Creativity not equipment make the photographer. Maggie I would suggest visiting strobist.com He is the master of small strobes.

I recommend finding a location with plenty of ambient light.

You could also use a 'bookend' or a reflectors if you have them to bounce light back into the scene. For example position a light slightly behind and camera right about 9' high angled down slightly no modifier. Then place a bookend camera left in front of subjects. You get a hair light and nice soft frontal lighting from one light.

One suggestion that I have, use a lighter backdrop. If you are not going to have a light above (hairlight) you will get alot of students with faces and no hair, it will blend into the backdrop if its dark. I hope this makes sense. For my proms and dances, I almost always use, and its almost always requested, a plain white backdrop. No problems clashing with girls dresses, and everyone looks as if they have hair.

 

Corri Michelle

www.millstreetstudio.smugmug.com

I know your post was about lighting, but wanted to offer advice anyway :) As I mentioned above, I mostly use plain white. I will then add touches to personalize with their theme. Again, its not about lighting, but the ease of a white backdrop could help with that.<div></div>

<p>Not knocking anybody but I shoot a lot of high school events (sports, plays, recitals etc.) I have both Shoe mount flashes & mono lights. This year I was asked to shoot our high schools "Pre Prom Fashion Show"(a small school 460 student total). I wanted to go as light weight as Possible (I'm 70 yrs. old) I used two Canon 580 EX II's with CP-4 battery packs in 43" white Wescott Umbrellas (key @ full power fill @1/4 power) a Yongnuo 560 II @ 1/4 power with Rouge grid for the background and a Yongnou 560 III @ 1/8 power in a Rouge Flash Bender (rolled into a snoot) for the hair light. If you only have two shoe mount flashes try using a reflector for the fill even if its two 20"X30" white foam core boards taped to make a 40"X60" surface definatly a light background if you don't use a background light (as stated before you will lose the hair). One other thing to consider, If shooting couples make sure the person with the darkest outfit is on the same side as the main light.</p><div></div>