Too much Light? Is there such a thing?

[image creations]

I am in the fortunate position of possibly having too much light for

an upcoming christmas party portrait shoot. Let me set the scene:

 

Equipment-

2 600 ws monolights w 24" x 35" sotboxes,

2 750 ws britek pro heads w/ 43" umbrellas,

1 Novatron 240 kit w/ 2 heads and 36 " umbrellas,

1 10 x 20 senic background.

 

I am so used to a 3 light solution (main, fill and backlight)I am

not sure how to best use my current resources. Do I just double up

for the same 3 light or do I attempt to move things around to

achieve a good hair lighting effect? The senic means that the

backgound needs to look as part of the scene.

 

Any thoughts, ideas, or solutions will be much appreciated. Why do I

feel like I'm overthinking this?

[ben conover]

Fast shutter speed.

[steve_levine]

Why not use the simple set up you are familiar with? Also shutter speed increase has no effect on flash, only on ambient light.

[Jochen_S]

Use what you know, to get the work done. I doubt you'll have the time to figure out spophisticated individual multiple light setups for each shot.

 

Study Karsh and Hollywood's portrait photographers of the 40s to find out what multiple lights are for; I don't know it too yet.

[image creations]

I bought the mono lights so that I could do groups more effectively. So now that I have them I know that a higher F stop can be achieved and that techniques previously unavailable might be explored. Also this is my first time working with a senic background and I want to ensure that the scene looks like a 3D set so that the people are part of the scene. Yes I realize that the people are the important part but I do want to achieve a complete picture.

[ellis_vener_photography]

Try using just one light and move it in closer -- to just outside of where it shows in your

viewfinder.

[twmeyer]

If the "scenic" is a painted backdrop, use one light on either side to light it like flat art, being careful not to let that light spill on your subject's sides/back. Then put one large soft light just above and slightly to one side of your lens. Done.<p>But if the "scenic" is a 3D set (a sleigh, trees, etc.), you'll have to light it from the same direction as your subjects are lit, if you want to create the illusion of reality (there's one sun in the sky on this planet, you know). Match light levels on the set and people and frame the people from the waist up, only with the set in the background. No full length. This ssounds like a big deal for a Christmas Party... t<div></div>

[picturesque]

I'd do what Tom suggests. You almost never have enough time to fiddle with backlight/hairlight placement since you might be going from several people to as many as 8-10 people from shot to shot, unless you know you are only going to be doing couples.

[image creations]

I agree that it is a lot of trouble for a christmas party, but these things generate so much future business I never want to do a poor job.

[gluteal cleft]

Too much light? It depends on what aperture you want to use. In order to keep from losing resolution to diffraction, I try to keep my apertures reasonable unless I really need the depth-of-field, and even with 400 watt-second strobes, I usually have to turn them down significantly (3-4, sometimes 5 stops) in order to keep around f/9 or below.

 

A while back, I was using an Elinchrom 400 and a large softbox to photograph newborns. In a tiny hospital room, I would turn it all the way down, and still shoot at about f/20 at ISO 100. In a larger living room (without a white floor!), I turned it up one stop, and only ended up at about f/13.

 

This morning, I was using 3 Alien Bees and umbrellas to shoot a family's Christmas card, and had them turned down to between 1/32 and 1/16 to get f/8. I only used three lights because I needed fairly even illumination over a somewhat-wide area.

 

steve

[35mmdelux]

fiddeling w/ stuff during a party is the worst thing one can do, especially if you have a drink. Keep it as simple as possible.

 

Yes, you have way too much lite, overkill IMHO. I've seen some people do great work w/ just the flash on their cameras, so why would you need a ton of stuff?