Indoor lighting question
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- vaxorcist0
well, we could answer the original question....
Easiest way, bounce flash off a side or back wall, have subject stand away from wall behind them.... use a crop-frame DSLR, 50mm 1.8 lens, any hotshoe flash with a head that can tilt and swivel.... even a generic one, old ebay sunpak,etc... set to 1/4 power or so.... set your lens to F4 or so, ISO 200, shutter at 125th.... be 3-4 feet from wall,etc.... try to use a white wall, if not white, take a photo of subject holding macbeth color chart and fix in post, shoot RAW, check histogram,etc...
- ********0
Thanks vaxorcist
I usually rent from Adorama here due to their selection but I will check out Calumet.
- calumet = overpriced unless you're buying their lighting which is ok, just ok.********
- calumet = overpriced unless you're buying their lighting which is ok, just ok.
- vaxorcist0
for headshots, too much power is usually the problem, not too little.... especially as shooting people at F22 is often rather unflattering... unless you want the Robert Avedon shooting a 70's Donald Rumsfeld look....
- Stian0
You are asking about indoor flash. Forget about power and buying expensive stuff. What you need to think about is color temperature. If it´s a typical headshot you´ll get away with a basic external flash (brand is not important), a softbox (umbrella, beauty dish) and gel. With a gel you can match the kelvin of the ambient light.
- true... do be careful about flourescent though... or raise shutter speed and overpower ambientvaxorcist
- ********0
People are way over thinking this (most anyway).
1) Get one simple shoe mount flash.
2) Use a sync cable to get it off the camera, even if you just hand hold it.
3) Bounce off of wall or ceiling to fill in the shadows. If you want to hit the subject directly, pick up a lumiquest mini softbox (20-30$) to diffuse the light.The key is getting the ratio between the natural and flash balanced. Usually you can simply meter the shot in aperture priority, switch to manual and set it to those exact settings, but down 2 stops. Then add the flash to the proper exposure, taking a few test shots until it's just right. That will give you clear shadows and a keyed subject.
Strobist.com breaks down simple setups like this all day.
- btw - this assumes your natural light is sunlight through a window. If not, you'll need to gel.********
- yes.... and some practice and it all makes more sense than reading all this stuff too!vaxorcist
- btw - this assumes your natural light is sunlight through a window. If not, you'll need to gel.
- jaylarson0
one of the best qbn threads. srsly.
- why?********
- i'm comfortable with natural lighting, but learning flash, with aperature controlling the flash light and shutterspeed withjaylarson
- the ambient, i'm still a novice. this is one area of art that i wish to improve on so i can blurt out info like vaxorcist—the difficultyjaylarson
- of knowing the numbers within photography. then i feel i will know more of the in-s and outs of the medium and therebyjaylarson
- become a better photographer. srsly. hopefully by mid oct i won't just have a P&S, but a d700!jaylarson
- why?
- ItTango0
With practice, you can figure out how to get what you need from whatever you've got on hand... even if the only items available are aluminium foil and a clip light.
We're all talking preferences here - food for thought peppered with varying degrees of experience.
Just do it, man!
Then post 'em.