Step and Repeat Advice

<p> I am shooting a Step and Repeat next week. It's for an event at a Night Club. It will be indoors and the client will be supplying the step and repeat banner. I've shot weddings, studio portraits and environmental portraits, but this is my first time with a Step and Repeat. I'll be the hired photographer for the event and there is power available. I was hoping to use on camera flash to make things simpler, but am looking for suggestions on how to have the lighting be a success. I do have a lightstand & umbrella (2 of each) (also have 2 Zap1000 lights). For the on camera flash I have a sb 800 and could also rent a second SB900 to put on a light stand (less bulky than the Zap) If you have done this type of thing before I'd really appreciate any advice. I'd like to avoid shadows and obviously glare from the step and repeat if it's glossy. What set up would you recommend? Thanks for any advice!</p>

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<p>Not sure where you are located but in most places (at least here in the U.S.) this is called grip and grin. Step and repeat is a term of art in the printing business that has to do with making printing plates. That said, you can do this very simply with on-camera flash, but the photos will look better with a pair of flashes in umbrellas. Doesn't really matter whether they are studio strobes or shoemount flashes. Shoemount gives you the convenience of not having to run a power cable to people to possibly trip over (tape it down if you do use one) but you will definitely need a quantum Turbo or the equivalent on each one to have fast recycling -- Don't have your people standing their waiting 10 seconds for the flash to recycle. either way I would use radio triggers, again to eliminate people tripping over a sync cord. Get somebody to be a stand in and get all your settings nailed down before you start shooting for real. Maybe put a piece of tape on the floor for people to stand on. Best to have everything on manual. That way the exposures will be consistent from shot to shot and if you need to do any correciton after it will all be the same. One thing to watch out for is exposure of the backdrop -- it if is pure white it can blow out when you have exposure set for the people, and if it's extremely dark it might show up as too dark. Depending on the situation you might want to use your highest sync speed so any ambient light doesn't interfere. Or you might want to use a slower speed to take advtange of the ambient. Keep in mind that the SB-900s have a thermal cutoff that will shut them down if they decide they are getting too hot. Just turn it off if you use them.</p>

<p> Thanks for the tips Craig- they are great! One question- If I do end up using the umbrellas and Radio poppers What's the usual light configuration? One at each side at 45 degrees - or something else? Could I get away with using a speedlight on camera and one light in umbrella? Thanks!</p>

<p>So I guess the Step And Repeat is a type of dance ?, though I like the Grip and Grin better, Rock And Roll, etc.</p>

<p> you will need to position the external flashes strategically, so the will not flash directly into you camera. The safest would be if your camera position would be in some stationary position with regards to external flashes position, or in a limited area where you expect most action to happen, but that will limit you what you could do.</p>

<p>If you manage not to shoot into you own camera, and not overexpose, more flashes is better.<br>

Go to the night club ahead of time and inspect the location, then make a plan for your flashes positions and for your camera. As well if you are there, see colors of walls, ceiling, position and size of windows, etc. or even take some test pictures.</p>

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<p>Well they still call them step and repeats here in NYC so I think you are good with that term. You will not always have the best conditions to set up the type of lighting you want. Sometimes it is outside and sometimes there are 10 other photographers on either side of you.<br>

When I am by myself indoors and there is room I set up 2 profoto acuteb 600 battery packs with umbrellas. I place them on each side of me so they light up the whole screen evenly so I am ready for one person or ten. I raise them up about 8 feet so i don't catch the reflection on the screen. The lighting pattern is not important, you are not doing portraits here so make sure it is even and you don't create shadows if there is a group of people. You should also keep the lights far enough away from the subject to light both them and the background nicely.<br>

The other senario when the conditions are less than perfect I use an on camera flash and an assistant with a flash on a pole. The assistant has the pole extended about 7 to 8 feet direct flash. I like to place him directly behind me like clam shell lighting which lights the face nice and also lights the background.</p>

<p>I know that as "step and repeat" also. "Grip and grin" generally refers to club photography.</p>

 

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<p>Step and repeat is a term of art in the printing business</p>

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If you google "step and repeat," it is dominated by printers making banners and logo walls for photography. It's named after the photography, not a particular printing style.<br>

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What you use for lighting depends on the space that you are allotted. If you are the only photographer, or one of several, you will have the opportunity to put up light stands and lights. If there are other photographers, which doesn't sound like it's the case, you will probably need on-camera lighting.<br>

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I've used two lights, one on each side when I've done this with external lighting. On one occasion, I also had a background light. This biggest issue is getting even lighting if there are space issues, you can't necessarily get the lights where you want them. Radio triggers are not necessary in many setups. The typical logo wall step and repeat has people being shuttled in from one side and out from the other side. They don't get near your equipment.<br>

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The hardest part I have had with this is getting people who are not used to being photographed in this way to relax. Many of them look frightened when they first stand there. Shooting celebrities and models is much easier.<br>

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<p> Thank you all for your responses! I am the only photographer for this event. It will be indoors. I'm thinking at this point of having one light with umbrella set up that is on all the time and I will put a speed light on my camera. I will put the light up higher than people's heads.... I have about 1.5 hours to get people as they arrive at the event. I think it's sort of like the idea of a photobooth put for a corporate- isn event taking place in a nightclub. is f 5.6 about right for this type of shot? thanks!</p>

 

<p>"Grip and grin" is an old newspaper term. A big shot poses with another person and they shake hands and smile and you take the photo. I assume you are talking about a situation where when you take the first photo, another person comes up to Mr. Big and they grip and grin. And so on. I once did one of these with the dictator of Romania and his guests at the Romanian Mission to the UN in Nueva Jork. The others in my photos were heads of states like Mrs. Gandhi of India. I would suggest you think "KISS" -- "Keep It Simple Silly." With all those people running around do you need two light stands for them to be able to tip over? One's better. None is best. If you get the right gizmo to hold your flash you can have it over the camera. Make sure you have spare EVERYTHING including cameras, flashes, film or memory cards and strobe cords if used.</p>

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<p> I assume you are talking about a situation where when you take the first photo, another person comes up to Mr. Big and they grip and grin.</p>

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Although he will have to clarify, it doesn't sound like that at all. Step and Repeat is essentially a logo wall type photo. People walk in front, stand there, get photographed. </p>

<p>Hi- yes the way the event was described to me was "Step and Repeat is essentially a logo wall type photo. People walk in front, stand there, get photographed" <br>

Any hints on reducing glare from the step and repeat behind people<br>

s heads---if I am using an on camera flash with a joe demb modifier?<br>

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Thanks!<br>

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<p>Step and repeat is like the hollywood red carpet. Anyways to hide an on camera flash from a reflective background one has to position ones self directly in front of the subject and slighty lower yourself as to hide the flash directly behind the subjects head or body. </p>

<p>I know this is an old thread, and Heather has already either sunk or swam (I assume she swam!), but I thought I'd add my $0.02 . . .</p>

<p>In Hollywood, they're called "red carpets," "step-and-repeats," or more commonly, "arrival lines." I shoot tons of these for TV, and also shot a Teen Vogue event for stills last year. Basically, they're all shot the same way:</p>

<p>1. On-camera flash with Quantum Turbo or similar.<br /> 2. Rotating flash bracket.</p>

<p>Shoot at any angle to the step-and-repeat (vinyl background), other than perpendicular to it, and you won't see a reflection of your strobe. Use a rotating flash bracket (Stroboframe VH2000 or Newton flash bracket) so that your verticals don't produce a side-shadow (because your subjects often stand too close to the step-and-repeat). The bracket raises your flash height high enough so that the subject's shadow falls behind their body (so you don't see it). You often need two shots of each subject: a horizontal "couple's" two-shot, and a vertical "see-the-dress" full-length shot.</p>

<p>As for lenses, most get by with just a 24-70mm or similar for these kinds of events. Personally, however, I bought an AF-S Nikkor 24-120mm f/4.0 VR, specifically for these types of events for its slightly longer reach, since I'm flash-fired, shooting at f/4.0 or above (usually f/5.6-f/8), and I don't need the speed of the 24-70mm f/2.8 for this application.</p>

<p>Here's the side-shadow I was talking about--this is with my SB-800 just sitting in my hot-shoe, <em>before</em> I bought my Newton rotating bracket. Had I shot this instead with the benefit of a rotating bracket, the flash would've been centered directly over my lens when the camera body is held in portrait orientation, and thus the subject's shadow would also be centered, directly <em>behind</em> the subject, and the shadow would then "disappear."</p>

<p><img src="http://studio460.com/studio460/teenvogue-B-700.jpg" alt="" /></p>

<p>This is my main event-shooting rig now, a Nikon D3s with the AF-S Nikkor 24-120mm f/4.0 VR. Shown with a Newton rotating bracket, a Nikon SB-800 (with an attached Quantum Turbo cable), and a shortened SC-17 remote TTL cable. Newton custom wires shorter SC-17/SC-29 cables for a nominal fee (highly recommended!). Note that the SC-29's IR AF-assist head doesn't fit when using this particular Newton bracket, so the SC-17 is actually preferred in this set-up.</p>

<p><img src="http://studio460.com/studio460/rig2-700.jpg" alt="" /></p>

<p>Here's another view with my Quantum Turbo shown. Although I think I bought this Turbo some time around 1993, I recently re-celled the battery at a local Batteries Plus for like only $36, and now it recycles like the day I bought it!</p>

<p><img src="http://studio460.com/studio460/rig3-700.jpg" alt="" /></p>