Cloudy day lighting with studio flash

[thomascanet]

This may be the stupied question asked in a long time, but I am having lot of

troubles trying to find a solution.

 

I normally make portraits with a Tri-X film and get wonderful results on

shadowed areas. Diffuse and with great tonal range and low contrast. To say it

in a word, something like Avedon's "in the american west" lighting. I post a

picture to show what I mean

 

When it comes to the studio, I am trying to achieve the same lighting with

strobes, but I don't really get it. In my studio portraits I have a certain

feeling of "fake" that I don't get with natural lighting.

 

How can I achieve this kind of lighting in the studio?

 

Any help will be welcome... Thank you very much<div></div>

[ellis_vener_photography]

The secret is to use indirect light.

 

Start with a large studio with a high ceiling.

 

Paint the ceiling white or at least cover it with white material.

 

Next hang several heads with wide angle reflectors from the joists and pointing back

at the ceiling. probably balanced more towards the front of the set than the back ofthe

set.

 

Suspend white diffusion material underneath all of the above (no pun intended). You may

have to experiment with diffusion materials and number of layers.

 

Finally, do the same thing that Avedon did: use large fill cards. strategically placed

 

The work Avedon did "In the American West " project was not always done on overcast

days, but it was done in open shade. It is also worth noting that all of Avedon's work ,

was meticulously printed until they looked

right to him. The white seamless paper backgrounds were emphasized by masking out

those areas

on the negative and then , probably, bleaching those areas on the prints,

but not to an absolute (in digital terms 255, 255, 255) white.

[mrstubbs]

Hello Thomas,

 

I tried this a couple of months back.

 

I made a box of fabric about 14 feet square, open at front facing the subject. Unbleached calico. I pointed three strobes into the upper corners and the light was diffused before coming back to subject. Black fabric behind them in this shot.

 

I'm still working on it, but it may give you an idea of the effect.

[john_wallace2]

Try bouncing the light off a white wall rather then the celling. If the walls are not white you can purchase white white boards at a craft store With a little experimenting you will get your results. I usually tilt my on camera flash 45 degrees up and 45 degrees to the right or left. I use the same angles with my strobes. You can also introduce a little colour into your portraits by using colored boards (or walls)

[edgreene]

thomas canet:<i><br>This may be the stupied question asked in a long time, but I am having lot of troubles trying to find a solution.<br>

I normally make portraits with a Tri-X film and get wonderful results on shadowed areas. Diffuse and with great tonal range and low contrast. To say it in a word, something like Avedon's "in the american west" lighting. I post a picture to show what I mean<p>When it comes to the studio, I am trying to achieve the same lighting with strobes, but I don't really get it. In my studio portraits I have a certain feeling of "fake" that I don't get with natural lighting.<p>How can I achieve this kind of lighting in the studio?</i><p>Try this: in full manual, set up so the <i>ambient light</i> is your ``<i>main</i>``: your flash/strobes/whatever then become your ``fill``.<p>Use 100 Watt GE ``Reval`` bulbs in clamp on fixtures.<p>And there are other logical alternatives to strobes:<p>The below fluorescent (5500 Kelvin) tubes (4) in $12 shop fixtures from Walmart always work for me: http://www.naturallighting.com/web/shop.php<p>And ``natural`` (Daylight) incandescent bulbs and spots here:<br> http://www.naturallighting.com/web/shop.php?crn=635<p>Using ``hot lights`` lets you see the way the light will ``wrap`` around your subjects, something no set of strobes, even with a digital camera- will let you see.<p>Strobes tie you down to a height, texture and lighting ambience you will always find hard to shoot in. Which is why the ``big`` shooters use HMI lighting more often than not.

[vcallaway]

Good answers but I have a different suggestion. Build yourself a human sized shooting tent. Use PVC and white bedsheets.