indoor shoot - need to maintain ambient

[megan_stone]

<p>I've been commissioned to do a shoot for 2 individuals in their home. The shoot will take place afternoon into late afternoon/evening when home lights, side lamps etc will be nicely lit up.<br>

1) As the shoot will need to go from one location of the home to the other, i need a quick set-up solution. I am thinking of taking a one light set-up, metering the light at a certain distance and then using that distance for each shot, same set-up on camera. Would this work - with small adjustments I'm sure. May bring in a hair light for some (unsure). Would appreciate advise on a quick set-up solution to move from location to location .. all i'll need it for is fill light. I'm thinking about getting a reading let's say at f4 / 125 .. measuring that distance and moving around with that from room to room.</p>

<p>2) As we lose day light and start lighting up the home lights atmospherically - How can I use the studio flash and still maintain the ambient/background house lights. Do i take a reading of the room and set that shutter speed? I assume i'll need a tripod as well?</p>

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[michaelmowery]

<p>sounds like you have it figured out. Keeping the lights at the same distance will maintain consistency and for quick shooting from one location to the next. I would suggest two lights one as your main and the other as fill. If you only use one light you will get shadows unless you hold the light directly over the lens. The ambient lighting in the house can be adjusted by your shutter speed or iso. If you choose the iso route you will have to lower the power on your flash. Tripod is always a good tool to use.</p>

[megan_stone]

<p>Thank you for your reply Michael. I plan on having the main light at camera right, so not sure i'll need a fill light. I really do need to keep the set-up as simple as possible to move from one room to the other. </p>

<p>Just to make sure I have this flash/ambient light balancing right. So i go into a room, with nice house lights, side lamps etc. I get a correct exposure of that room. Let's say I get ISO200, F8 @ 60 for example. Do i then set the camera to that and just adjust the flash power on its own? until im happy with the light on my subject?<br>

OR do i then use my light meter to do a flash reading for the f-stop and bring that into the initial reading so that it would be ISO200 ? @ 60 ?</p>

[rick_m.]

<p>Take a deep breath and exhale. Changing camera settings is neither difficult nor time consuming. A professional always makes the best light setup for each shot. It will not do to get into the habit of trying to pound a square peg in to a round hole. If you are shooting around a house, and you have to keep the same lighting setup, you will dramatically restrict your ability to control context and background. </p>

<p>Explain to your clients that proper lighting takes a minute or two to arrange. Engage them in conversation. I like to tell them what I am doing and why, keeping them relaxed at the same time. Take all of the lights you might need, especially if you have not visited the location and story-boarded your shots beforehand.</p>

<p>As to how to control ambient. I suggest you learn about "dragging the shutter". Practice in your living room. </p>

<p>My usual semi-rant....You said you have been "commissioned" to do this shoot. The people who "commissioned" you have assumed you know how. You do not it would appear. So I ask you, why did you accept this commission? If you are a professional or aspire to be a professional it is important to confront that that really means. One of the things it means is that you only accept a professional assignment when you can deliver professional results. </p>

[Matt Laur]

<p>Another thing to keep in mind: if you're using flash to provide some fill or kick in an environment where the ambient light is meant to play a significant role in the exposure, <em>watch out for mixed color temperatures. </em>Say you're getting a strong bit of side light from a table lamp that's sporting a 100W incandescent bulb. If you set your camera's white balance to tungsten (to match that bulb), the light from your flash is going to appear blue. It's very jarring to the eye.<br /><br />The solution: bring along gels so that you can warm up or cool down your flash units to have their output get along with the environmental light. If the difference is too dramatic, almost nothing you can do in post will fix it.</p>

[michaelmowery]

<p>Meagan I am going by what little info you are giving me. It would be helpful to know exactly what you are photographing. One person a family? For what purpose is the shoot for? I also need to know exacty what flashes you are using and what modifiers you have. All pros will use a two light setup (main and fill) for consistent and flattering lighting. One light set up is more for fashion looks. If your subject is a 16 year old girl then you might get away with it. again I don't know the purpose of this shoot. If it is regular people they want to look nice without dark shadows on one side of the face. Will you be doing full length shots, 3/4 or close ups? Having the lights further from the subject spreads the light more and contaminates your environment look, therefor professionals use grids to control the amount of light falloff to enhance the nataral background ambience by keeping the strobe lighting just on the subject.</p>

[rick_m.]

<p>+1 for what Matt said regarding environmental light. Another argument for you checking out the location and planning your shoot. I just strolled into my great room as realized that I have incandescent, CFL, and LED light all in the same room. Adding to that, one part of the room is lit using "Reveal" bulbs. Were I to shoot environmental shots in that room I might even consider swapping out some bulbs. </p>

<p>Also a +1 for a minimum 2 light setup as Michael recommends. </p>

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[rodeo_joe1]

<p>Matt has the correct approach. You'll <strong>definitely</strong> need to gel the flash to match the CT of the ambient lighting, otherwise you'll have a horrible clash of colour casts from either the flash or the ambient lighting when trying to mix flash with artificial light. Local colour casts are almost impossible to fix in post without a lot of intricate layering work, and it's much easier to get the light sources matched as close as possible.</p>

<p>Even mixing with daylight might require some gelling of the flash. Flash - especially speedlight type - is almost invariably cooler than daylight. An 81A filter over the flash should help, since it's usually better to go a bit warm with lighting for portraits than too blue.</p>

<p>Ordinary incandescent (tungsten bulb) lighting is relatively easy to match with #85B + 81A (or B) filter gels over the flash - a Lee filters' 1.5 CT orange #286 should be about the same. Unfortunately the new energy efficient CFL lamps aren't nearly as consistent or easy to match - my guess would be a #85 + pale magenta (CC30M) as a starting point. And good luck if they've converted to LED lighting!</p>

<p>Edit: Shoot RAW, so that at least you've got 14 bits of colour to play around with if colour corrections are needed. With 8 bit JPEGs it's a lost cause trying to correct anything except a very mild colour cast.</p>

[michaelmowery]

<p>Yes CTO gels are yet another element but used only after the sun has set and or your ambient light is tungsten. Again it depends on the actual scene whether you actually need to gel the flash as there are times when the warmer tungsten compliments your image. Also if you are using umbrella lighting which are flood lights they can overpower the warm ambient lighting and gelling them really does not do much. The distance that your lights are from subject play a part and the distance from your subjects to the background plays a part. Having all of the knowledge of how to handle these scenarios is the key to a successful shoot.</p>

[twmeyer]

<p>use a tripod...<br /><br />And tell your subject to be still when you make an exposure (as ambient light levels begin to fall, and push your shutter speed slower and slower). (Go ahead and mix color temps, but if you're looking to make a traditional sort of portrait, make sure at least one side of your subject's face has a "normal" (ie: accurate) skin tone... t</p><div></div>