Simple lighting full body nudes question

[james_mixon]

I am going to be taking a series of full body nudes with many different subjects of different heights, weight,

skin tone. I want a very neutral setup that has a simple ratio 1:1 with no distinct shadows or highlights on the

person, but perhaps a simple falloff on the sides of the body. Something like this lighting wise: *NWS*

http://www.moreystudio.com/Public%20Site/Pub%20Images/GalleryImages/StudioNudes2/StudioNudes2_frames/index.html

 

The lighting is basically what I want, and from his behind the scenes photos it looks like he has a large softbox

overhead and a reflector below pointing at the subject. I couldn't see any lights on the backdrop. I would

probably also be using a white backdrop.

 

I have never lit in a studio environment, and all my lighting experience is from movies, which is different. I am

thinking a large constant source softbox above and a reflector below would work, but will this get me an

illuminated background? Will I need a spot or a flood on the background?

 

I will be shooting medium format, and I would like to use the smallest apature possible. I assume I will need at

least 1,000 watts if continuous. Thank you so much for help!

[brooks short]

James,

 

If you want the tightest f/stop possible with a reasonable fast shutter speed, say above 1/30th sec, to stop any subject motion, then you don't want to use continuous light.

 

You should look at strobe, 1200 ws or more power pack and either a large softbox or even larger silk and frame. A second head, maybe with a grid or smaller softbox, to light the background separately would give you more control than a single light.

 

A large 4'x8' white foam-core reflector for fill should work well.

[brooks short]

BTW, the photographer in your link does much more interesting lighting than a flat 1:1 ratio. There are distinct shadows and highlights on his subjects which helps to define their form.

[garry edwards]

As Brooks said.

 

Also, if you really want to use continuous lighting with a small aperture on MF you need to add a little 0 to the end of your power requirement.

 

Good thing your models will be nude, it's going to be hot in there...

[james_mixon]

Thanks for all the help guys!

 

I contacted Craig, the photographer in the link above, and he said the basic setup is a large soft box above the model, a reflector below, but wouldn't go into much more detail than that because he wants me to sign up for his website and pay 20 bucks for the online tutorial----which I might or might not do.

 

Would you suggest mixing continuous and strobe or just go full strobe? The idea of the shot is I want everyone to be standing under the same light so the only real difference is the model. I don't want say a more muscular man to look a lot different than a skinny guy, so I want sort of omnidirectional light that won't get shadowed too differently by different models.

[garry edwards]

If you do decide to mix tungsten with flash then you'll need to gel either the flash or the tungsten to match the other. It makes sense to gel the flash, because it has so much more power than tungsten.

 

Whichever you gel, it won't really work because the colour temperature of tungsten is dependent on voltage, which varies constantly.

[brooks short]

I'd go full strobe. Why add the inefficiency and inconvenience of hot lights to a simple strobe shoot?

[james_mixon]

Brooks,

 

You think that type of lighting on the picture I posted was strobed? From the pics to me it looked like hot lights in a softbox.

[brooks short]

I think it's probably strobe. If the photographer specifically said that he used a large softbox , he most likely had a strobe in that softbox.

 

Softboxes for hot lights are a specialty piece of equipment, especially really large softboxes for hot lights. They're more expensive than softboxes for strobes and only a few manufacturers make them.

 

Most film/video guys who are going to be using hot lights usually use them behind silks or diffusion panels if they need such a large diffused source. Sometimes they will use a hot light specific soft box for smaller table top sets.

[james_mixon]

Yeah, he now says he's using a Norman or Dynalite 2000 ws light in a 4x6 softbox and a white card reflector at their feet. Seams simple enough.

 

If I was going to use hot lights I was going to put them through silk or muslin or something. A great technique we do on film is a 2k or higher through a muslin just off frame from the actor. Really nice light.

 

I've found some Norman LH2000s on eBay for pretty cheap. Any reason not to pick one of them up if its working?

[brooks short]

".....A great technique we do on film is a 2k or higher through a muslin just off frame from the actor. Really nice light....."

 

An even nicer light is to use a second silk a couple of feet in front of the first silk for an even softer light. But that sucks up more light and 2K isn't a lot to start with, certainly not a lot of light if you're looking for tight f-stops, low ISO and the ability to stop any motion from live models.

 

I'm not a fan or Norman strobes but I know some people use them. I'm even less of a fan of buying lighting or photographic gear off eBay.

[james_mixon]

Brooks,

 

Yeah. Usually the big light would be more of a 10k, but that requires a big budget. The basic idea though that I like to work with on film is a big soft source, and like you said, sometimes the more diff the better.

 

I'd love not to buy gear off eBay, but I also don't have much money. If you know a better source for what I need that's cheap or cheap and used or whatever I'm open to suggestions, but I'm a starving artist to put it mildly.

[nathan_stiles]

James, what you described is how passports need to be shot. The U.S. provides a simple set up for a flat 1:1 ratio shot when you search the gov site for passport photo info.

[richard_cochran]

The department of state recommended passport layout is this:

<p>

<center>

<img src="http://www.travel.state.gov/images/setup.jpg">

</center>

<p>

It might need some minor adaptation for a full body shot, especially in the background light positioning, but basically

they just suggest two big equal sized umbrellas on either side. It's definitely flat and undistracting; probably too

much so for my taste. But it's not nearly as flat and unnatural looking as on-camera flash.

<p>

Oh, and I concur that strobe is the way to go, whether you set the lights up like this or a little less symmetrically for

interest.

[james_mixon]

Thanks to everybody. I think I'm going to go with a huge strobe soft box above high and far away with some low bounce. Seems like the easiest way to get what I want.

[mclain swift]

Morey's photos like that are done with a large softbox ~45 degrees to the side, high, and a large reflector to the opposite

side. Sometimes there is one on the ground in front of the model. That's it--I've seen the setup. I want to know where he

got that canvas :-)