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RE: New to this

roteague — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 21:11:33 GMT

[quote][b]glbeas (1/14/2008)[/b][hr]Thank you. It's not much, wish I had real people as patient as those two were to shoot.[/quote]

I for one, am looking forward to seeing more of your studio work in the future. As Lauren says, you can get a good setup fairly cheap; then it is is practice, practice and more practice. I've always been fascinated by this type of photography, but never got around to trying it.

RE: New to this

Lauren-sqjaw — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 15:23:15 GMT

Whoa: Save the money you can do lighting in your studio which I guess is your home : By use ing the lamps you have in your home may need to spend money on the bulbs and maybe some filter to adjust the light if your using color film : when I started to do in home studio work I just changed light bulbs then a little later went with some cheap smith victor lamps with stands , then I made my own umbrellas simply bought a couple of cheap ones and sprayed them silver for reflectors : But along the way you will learn how to place your lites and how to blend them with day lite Etc.,Etc.. go to the libaray look up studio lighting books and read up with them and follow some of their set ups and try them yourself : and from there you proceed at your own pace : good luck and keep plenty of B&W on hand so you can have fun shooting and processing:\\

RE: New to this

glbeas — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 15:55:55 GMT

Thank you. It's not much, wish I had real people as patient as those two were to shoot.

RE: New to this

naturephoto1 — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 15:52:33 GMT

Gary,

Really nice image, and its B&W. :)

Rich

RE: New to this

Bertilsson — Sun, 13 Jan 2008 20:08:18 GMT

Thank you Tim for the very helpful tip. I've actually thought about getting a bank of those fluorescent lights together for a bank of four in a soft-box with muslin. I'm going to build it myself.
The link is helpful too. I'll check them out for sure.

- Thomas

RE: New to this

Tim Curry — Sat, 12 Jan 2008 07:01:51 GMT

Thomas, I've attached a proof sheet from a session in my "studio" or, some might call it a living room. The lighting was done with a 250 watt umbrella as a key light (above & right of camera), a second one for fill about 3 times the distance from the key (lower and left of camera) and a black drape for a background. These lights were a gift from my wife. We found them at a photography shop at a local shopping mall, of all places. They are an SV (look up Smith Victor on the web) kit which was very inexpensive (about $115) which included two stands, two bulbs and fixtures, two umbrellas and a "sturdy carrying case" (otherwise known as a cardboard box). I'm just starting to play with lighting, so this is all new to me also. Having a white reflector and a single light source is also a good way to go. A spun aluminum reflector with 150 watts of flood will work. You might also think about making a soft box with the newer spiral fluorescent bulbs, as they put out lots of light with little heat and power drain. A tub with white muslin would be fine for soft light with direction.

The film for these was Tri-x 400 at 320, pyrocat-hd and semi-stand development. Print is on Arista MG fiber at grade 2. Actual shot was a 5x7 print on MGIV Ilford glossy at grade 2. Starting to play a bit with Efke 25 now and some longer shutter times, much longer. tim

RE: New to this

glbeas — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 14:24:55 GMT

Sounds like you are on track. Try pointing your light at a wall or ceiling and and watch the result. Also you may need some gobos, shades to block light spillover, and these can be made of anything opaque, usually painted flat black so as not to spread the light around more. That is nearly as important to lighting effects as reflectors are.

RE: New to this

Bertilsson — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 06:18:59 GMT

Gary,

thank you very much for your instruction and feedback. Usually what happens when I try to replicate natural lighting I have the problem that my light source probably is too small and originating from one single source.

What do you think of having a single light source indirectly bounced from a huge reflector to make my light source 'larger' and softer? The natural light I've used has always been by a window, and windows are large with light coming in as if you had a softbox as big as the window itself. I believe that is what creates the softness of that lighting.

I'll try it and see how it goes.

Thanks,

- Thomas

RE: New to this

roteague — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 15:11:30 GMT

Wow!!

RE: New to this

glbeas — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 13:58:42 GMT

First off those ugly shadows- get away from the wall! You have a good start, just don't skimp on space where needed.

Studio lighting doesn't need to be expensive, it's about the way you use the light, not how you produce it. Foamcore boards and duct tape can re-create nearly every expensive studio lighting basic and gimmick, all you have to do is study how you want to modify the light and build to suit. And for beginning, don't overdo the light. Keep it as simple as you can and only add to it when you have a good understanding of what you are doing with it. Sometimes the simplest and subtlest lighting can be the most powerful.

This image was done simply with an existing light under the kitchen cabinet and modified with some sheets of white paper for reflecting light into the shadows. Play and you will be rewarded.

RE: New to this

Bertilsson — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 10:44:04 GMT

Thanks, Robert. I appreciate your comment and encouragement.

- Thomas

RE: New to this

roteague — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 09:35:09 GMT

Great work Thomas. Unfortunately, while I have always been fascinated by this type of work, I've never done any of it. Hopefully, someone who knows this type of photography can comment further.

New to this

Bertilsson — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 07:53:05 GMT

My interests in studio photography has risen since I got hold of an old Century No.2 5x7 camera and a couple of lenses (a Voigtlander Heliar 210mm f/4.5, an old 8" rectilinear f/8, and a Wollensak concoction that I'm not sure about). I bought this for a song, and am now wondering about studio lighting.

I've tried researching the topic, but find I don't have the funds for the types of lighting required for most. Large softboxes, etc. I have always loved natural window lighting, and I know how to treat that for a successful portrait / still life. I have attached a file here that is a portrait I made indoors with a Holga not so long ago.

What I really want to do is to duplicate this type of lighting as much as possible. I have tried working with those spun aluminum shop lights, as well as trying to make softboxes out of them by attaching a wire frame and stretching muslin fabric and other materials across, but I just end up with ugly shadows on the wall behind the subject, and I don't know what to do to avoid it from happening.
Those $10 shop lights is about how flexible my budget is. If you make recommendations on lighting equipment, it would be extremely helpful to me if there was a ball park figure of the expenditure it would involve.

I should also tell you that the space I have available to photograph in is very small, about 12x12 feet. I'm basically pressed up against a wall to get any distance between me and the object.

I also like to work with a reflector. I basically attach a large sheet of white foam core to an extra tripod and move it around. The shot attached here is without a reflector, however.

Any help appreciated.

Thanks,
- Thomas