Lighting

[amir_vii]

<p>Hello Everyone<br>

In couple of days I will be shooting a mythology assignment inside a restaurant. What i have to do is basically mimic a scene from a Cleopatra movie. Here are couple of pictures from the restaurant. <br>

<a href="http://www.tzoo-img.com/images/tzoo.p.local.51013.berber.jpg">http://www.tzoo-img.com/images/tzoo.p.local.51013.berber.jpg</a><br>

<a href="http://www.tsevents.com/enews/current/images/150.jpg">http://www.tsevents.com/enews/current/images/150.jpg</a><br>

I only have a 1600 alienbees and a Canon 580 EX. I'm wondering how i can produce an image that has lighting similar to these pictures. <br>

<a href="http://www.tsevents.com/enews/current/images/150.jpg">http://www.tsevents.com/enews/current/images/150.jpg</a><br>

<a href="http://www.gildastryst.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/ss11-Lifestyle-2-card.jpg">http://www.gildastryst.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/ss11-Lifestyle-2-card.jpg</a></p>

<p>I want some of the colours from the restaurant itself. Like the reds and stuff. So i don't want the light to overpower the atmosphere a lot. I want it to be more focused on the model itself.<br>

Any ideas how i can pull this off?<br>

Since I only have 30 minutes in the restaurant, I want to have some practice and a good idea of what i will be doing before i get there. </p>

 

[nathansanborn]

<p>I would start at f5.6, 1/60 sec, and an ISO that puts you well exposed for the ambient light, then light your subject with your Speedlight. Here's why...</p>

<p>f/5.6 gives you enough depth of field to show you what the background elements look like, but they may still be rendered a bit softer than your subject, this aperture also is large enough that your Speedlight will be powerful enough to do the work it needs to. The shutter speed will give you the ability to hand hold your exposures with a fully exposed ambient scene, and still allow you the ability to darken the ambient by two full stops to make the shot much more dramatic if you want darker backgrounds. </p>

<p>I'm not saying this is the best way, but this is right where I'd start. I personally wouldn't want to use the AB1600 as it might be hard to get them dark enough to match the ambient without a very long exposure. I would also take shots both with and without gels on the flash (1/2 CTO or full CTO) so I have a few choices in the color temperature balance of tungsten ambient and daylight strobe.</p>

<p>The one picture will be hard to duplicate as it has a very interesting backlight through the wall behind the subject, but think about how the mood and feel of that shot speaks to you, and try to visualize what you would like your image to feel like, and what the light needs to say, and work from there.</p>

<p>By the way... that is a gorgeous location! </p>

[Aoresteen]

<p>I'd use the Alien Bee as a bare bulb flash and bounce it off of the ceiling, slight behind the camera and to the left. If you don't have a flash meter borrow one.<br>

I'd also use a reflector to make sure the subject's face doesn't have shadows on it.</p>

[ellis_vener_photography]

What kind if assignment? Classroom or commercial?

 

Use the existing lights as a base and add your flash, gel'd with CTO gels if you have them, as accents and fill. I hope you

have a tripod.

 

Either go there tonight or early tomorrow to scout it. Look at not just the light but find out where the wall plugs are, where

the dimmers are, and where you can add your light without causing unwanted reflections.

[amir_vii]

<p>Thank you guys<br>

I will try these steps. I'm not very familiar with gels and i'm not sure where to get them before the shoot. And This is for a classroom project. So basically what i gathered from your responses is that i should try the speedlite and also try the flash behind the camera on bouncing on the ceiling? I will try these two options. Any other suggestions? </p>

[michaelmowery]

<p>Your thought process is on the right track "I don't want the light to overpower the atmosphere" and "I want it to be more focused on the model itself" You basically answered your question. How do you do you accomplish this? There is only one way and that is by the use of controlled lighting. All you need to do is get a medium sized soft box with a soft grid attachment. If you can't get that then get any type of grid attachment 20degrees up to 40degrees. Keep the light fairly close to subject. Your first step is the take a picture on tripod of the scene without any flash to get your exposure of the natural lighting. Next add the focused light on subject to match the f-stop used in your scene exposure. Your speed light can be used as a kicker light or hair light. Thats the basics. Don't' do any bounced lighting as that will contaminate the existing lighting and destroy the mood. CTO Gel on your light is not mandatory but it can balance the color temperature. You would have to shoot with your color temperature set to tungsten.</p>

[michaelmowery]

<p>You can also use an incandescent flashlight that has a focused beam. I do it all the time.</p>

[amir_vii]

<p>Thanks for the response Michael. I have a soft box but i dont have a grid. Not sure if there is any other way around it. Would using aluminum foil around the light work (without the softbox)? Basically directing light into a spot on the models face and upper body? I can't really think of anything else. I will see if i can get a flashlight tomorrow. So you basically use the flash light to light up the face of the model right?<br>

But lets say I get a reading of 3 seconds at f5.6 for the background. Wouldn't lighting the model face with the flashlight make her face blurry if she moves? This won't happen with the flash right? since its more strong. I'm not sure if thats how it works. <br>

So what i will do is try different setups. I will first try to bounce the light of the ceiling as someone already mentioned and also use a reflector to direct more light into models face. <br>

If that doesn't go well I will probably shoot with my speedlite and see how that turns out. <br>

I was thinking of shooting one with soft box as well but i think the alienbees will be too strong. We will see how that goes.<br>

I have a soft box and an umbrella. No grids/gels. I probably have to get some for future projects.<br>

Any other suggestions?</p>

<p> </p>

[michaelmowery]

<p>Are you a photography student? I don't understand why they would give you such an assignment without teaching you lighting? Anyways, I can't imagine the restaurant being that dark that a 3 sec at 5,6 is necessary unless you are using a 50 iso. Remember you don't want it to look like you turned on all the lights on in the restaurant. You want mood which means you need shadows or dark areas in the background. Any of the red lighting or table lights or even candle lights should show up with a decent shutter speed. Remember to set your shutter speed first to at least 15th sec on tripod if model is just sitting still. You can go a little slower but I always like to be safe. From there you set your f-stop to create your desired depth of field and from there you move your iso until you see a picture that is properly exposed or to your liking. What ever f-stop your at that is what you set your flash to. Since you don't have a grid, black foil will help but more important than that is to move your light in as close as you can to take advantage of Newtons law of light fall off. This will minimize light hitting your background. Another tip with the main light to keep the fall off light from going to your background is slightly positioning the soft box off to one side of the subject so the light does not follow the axis of your lens. You can also just use the modeling light inside the soft box to illuminate the subject, remember to change color balance to tungsten. The flash light idea i gave you requires a good light that is focused like surefire flashlights $150 and up. The last tip is to do a two step in camera and then photoshop. 1. one picture with your lighting then without moving camera turn off your lights and take just an ambient pictures making sure the model does not move. 2. When you get home layer the two pictures and paint in your lighting on the model. Good luck and please post your results.</p>

[amir_vii]

<p>Thanks Michael, <br>

Yes i'm a photography student. We are learning basic in-studio flash use, but i wanted to go above what was expected and do something different and just push myself. <br>

I got colourmagic LEE filters today which i will be using. Not sure which one i should be using since I'm not very familiar with filters. <br>

I was thinking of not using my alienbees and just going with the speedlite and attaching the filter on speedlite and have someone hold the speedlite close to the models face or place is somewhere so it doesn't show up in the picture. And with your last tip, do you mean i should just take a picture of the background without flash and without the model, then take another picture with the model using the flash. And combine the two on photoshop paint around the model?<br>

And please do let me know which filter i should be using on my speedlite. These are the filters in the kit.<br>

FULL CTB, THREE QUARTERS CTB, FULL CTO, THREE QUARTERS CTO, 0.15 NEUTRAL DENSITY, 0.3 ND. 0.6 ND, 0.9 ND<br>

And thanks again for all the help. I really appreciate it. </p>

[michaelmowery]

<p>Use the full CTO which converts daylight 5500 kelvin to Tungsten 3200 kelvin. On your speed light does it have a zoom head? can you manually set the zoom? set it to 70mm or 100mm which will narrow the angle of the flash to just hit the model.</p>

[amir_vii]

<p>Yes it does, i will set that to 100mm manually, and i still put the camera WB on tungsten as well? correct? </p>

[michaelmowery]

<p>You will have to experiment to see if 50,70 or 100 looks the best. The light should just fill the subject so keep in mind whether vertical or horizontal composition. Put the CTO gel on it an white balance to tungsten. You may have to put the flash in manual and play with the power settings till you get what you like.</p>

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[amir_vii]

<p>So the shoot was great, I'm happy with the results. As soon as i do some editing i will post up the results here. Thanks to everyone who helped out and gave me tips. <br>

I have one last question. I need to make a large print of the image. My file is 4096x6144 at 300 dpi. I assume with that the highest I can go is 13x20. Is there anyway to make a larger print out of this without losing information and quality? </p>

[michaelmowery]

<p>uprez in photo shot to whatever size you need. You can gain size by lowering your ppi (not dpi) to 200 without affecting pixels.</p>