Light painting in interiors

[domenico_foschi]

I will be shooting the interior of a restaurant, and since a

nightime look is required i have come to the conclusion to use a

light painting technique.

I will be using a Metz 45 ct-1 for light source and a 4 x 5 with 90

mm. super angulon.

Given the dimensions of the place i will be able to fire the flash

at no more than f 16 in automatic setting, so i am planning to fire

the flash 3 times in the same spot to achieve the correct

exposure with lens diaphragm set to f. 32 in the camera.

If i well remember each additional flash firing in the same area

is equivalent to 1 stop. increment in exposure.

The reason i choose light painting is because i can control

lighting better ( !) and i can be able to underexpose some areas

slightly.

After the series of flash firing , i will go behind the camera with

the flash, fire 4 times more to soften some hard shadows and

then i will turn on the lights of the restaurant and expose a few

seconds to show them on film.

Any input?

[erik_gould1]

Domenico,

The basic idea sounds good, except for your exposure

calculation. Each additional stop requires a doubling of the light,

so to go from f/16 to f/22, you need one additional "pop", but to go

from f/22 to f/32 you need two additional pops. To go to f/45 you

then would need four pops and so on. A meter that can read

multiple flash bursts is a great help here. Hope that helps.

good luck!

[garry edwards]

Erik is rights, or to put it another way +3 stops is +8 flashes

[light-zone]

It does sound interesting, and I have done some light painting myself using a Hensel Light Painting system. The only thing about it is, it's not only unpredictable, but impossible to duplicate. So if you get a good result that should have been 1/2 Stop lighter or darker, the chances of going back and suscessfully achieving the same light pattern at the new f-stop is zilch.

 

I would think using small tungsten lights and gels would allow you to create the evening look and you'd be able to fine tune your lighting after a single polaroid.

 

The other thing that bothered me aboput light painting was, the studio had to be virtiually pitch dark to prevent being seen in the frame, even when dressed in black. But maybe using a flash system that is not a factor.

[domenico_foschi]

Eric, thank you for your invaluable enlightment ( !!) , you saved

me from underexposure.

William, what i am asking you is: How do you determine

exposure by using tungsten?

My choice for flash was because i know how much exposure i

am giving to the film, but using hot lights i see it as guess work.

What am i missing? Thank you guys, for your responses.

[john_hanses]

As far as tungsten or hot lights for your main lighting, you'll need to take incident readings and polaroids. Shouldn't be too difficult. I'd certainly use lights with barn doors or gobo's to set the mood it sounds like you're trying for.<div></div>

[light-zone]

Thanks for the help John. Meter readings just like the great outdoors... and of course with the help of polaroid, well, put it this way, it would cut the guess work down to a minimum.

 

I remember watching a photographer in Detroit shoot the interior of a car for of of the major automobile manufacturers. It was amazing. The car (NOT a convertible) was surrounded by hot lights, each one carefully positioned and and the light precisly plced using barn doors, snoots and the such. The final product, an 8X10" transparency, was a thing of beauty. And being privy to the methods used to light it, made the outcome all that much more impressive.

[jorge_gasteazoro4]

Another way you could calculate your exposure would be to use the inverse square law. For example if your flash is at 8 ft for a f/16 then you could also get the flash at 2 feet so that you can use f/32.

Although it would be far simpler to rent or borrow a Sekonic or a Gossen flash meter that tells you how many flashes you need. I have done it this way ant it works perfectly.

[john_hanses]

No problem Domenico, hopefully that's helpful - as opposed to my Sun / Moon image (no hot lights there, eh! yak yak) I'm new here and thought the image was for the portfolio, not the forum. I think your light painting idea would be easier though not as predictable but with les equipment.

[scott walton]

Just to add a little, shield the flash so you get a more concentrated beam and wear dark clothing, preferrably black. By making a snoot of sorts, you will be able to direct the flash and have a nicer image with more dramatic lighting. A small snoot will be able to light a table instead of the whole surrounding area.

[larry_cuffe]

very minor correction +3 stops is x8 flashes -but look out for reciprocosity (spell that!) failure on very high flash multiples. Another way to get the ct45 to do it right is reduce the film speed setting so you can still use its auto function. thus if your using asa 100 film at f32 set the speed to 25 asa and fstop to f16 and fire away

All the best

Larry Cuffe

[richardlowes]

I realize it's too late to answer the question but FYI, in the second book of the Ansel Adams series THE NEGATIVE he talks about painting with light on page 174. Also has a few examples, including a cocktail lounge shot. Worth a look if your still interested.