Indoor portraits

**raffaelecapasso** · 8-Mar-2011, 15:58

don't know what to say, maybe my flash (canon 430ex) is to weak or my ceiling to high (3 meters) but i simply can't replicate that light with a simple light bounce., even using it at maximum power.

@lenser I don't want any complicated artistic light, just a proper lighting as would be in daylight.

**eddie** · 8-Mar-2011, 16:15

not sure. i shoot wet plate collodion where most of my exposure speeds are 4-8 seconds. with a bit of practice the model gets it no problem.

you can use a head brace or the like as well.

here is one.

**Jim Michael** · 8-Mar-2011, 18:16

I would buy a single large reflector and a stand to hold it. If I could get the subject next to a window I would use the window light as key and use to reflector for fill. If I needed to shoot them away from the window I would bounce the flash off the reflector. Then you are not so dependent on having low ceilings, nearby walls, or risk dealing with those painted a color other than white. There are better controls like softboxes with grids but the single reflector is very useful by itself.

If you start mixing indoor light sources like lamps and ceiling fixtures with window light on color film you are going to encounter some difficult to solve color balance issues, for which the best approach usually involves gelling the windows or sources.

**drew.saunders** · 8-Mar-2011, 22:10

Originally Posted by Jim Michael

I would buy a single large reflector and a stand to hold it.

I recently picked up this kit from B&H:
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produc...ctor_with.html

They have several versions of it with different sized reflectors. I also picked up, from mpex, one of these: http://www.mpex.com/browse.cfm/4,11776.html that lets me mount a hotshoe-mounted flash at the end of the above stand, plus it'll hold an umbrella (if I had one). These are pretty inexpensive ways to get reasonable light control.

**Richard Mahoney** · 9-Mar-2011, 02:29

Originally Posted by lenser

I have to agree with Henry. This lighting, at least on the first and third example, appears to be poorly aimed bounce. ...
Raffael, if you are looking to learn good portrait lighting, go back to the masters such as Karsh, Hurrell, Irving Penn, Phillipe Halsman, Arnold Newman, etc. and study how they use light to sculpt the planes of the face. There is a gigantic difference between just illumination and understanding artistic lighting.

Although I've no doubt that Soth created the effect he was after I find this style of lighting difficult, harsh and irritating. To the alternatives listed above I would add a fellow I came across the other day. I find his work is problematic in other ways but not his treatment of light, tone and colour: see esp. the `Portraits' --

George Pitts
http://www.georgepitts.com/

Kind regards,

Richard

**thomashobbs** · 12-Mar-2011, 14:43

Speedlights like a Canon 580 EX aren't really powerful enough to bounce off a ceiling if you're shooting with an 8x10 [as Alec Soth does]. Even if you're using Portra 400 you'll probably only get to f8 or f11 which is still a very shallow depth of field with a 300mm lens.

You might try getting a couple of mono-lights in the 600ws range and then bouncing them off the corner ceilings. Doing this I found I could get into the f16/f22 range which gave me enough depth of field. Also, I think using a bounced flash is a good way to get a neutral color balance in an interior space [assuming the ceilings are white]. Guadalupe Ruiz does this with her interior portraits [ www.lupita.ch ].

**Ramiro Elena** · 13-Mar-2011, 07:26

Those, to me, look like a speedlight bounced to the ceiling. You can experiment with a digital SLR and get similar lighting results. What makes you think they're large format? (they're square images) Sure they could be cropped but...

The spaces look small so you would have plenty of light bounced from the walls too.

Ash's examples look a lot like the real deal.

**bobwysiwyg** · 13-Mar-2011, 07:35

Originally Posted by Ash

. See how everything is shallow, though, because I had to keep the lens wide open to get as fast as 1/4?

Ash,

I really like this one. You may have had to keep it wide open for speed, but I think the shallow DOF really works. Had both foreground and background been in focus, it would have been "busy" and your eye would not be drawn to the primary subject.

**raffaelecapasso** · 14-Mar-2011, 05:51

Originally Posted by thomashobbs

Speedlights like a Canon 580 EX aren't really powerful enough to bounce off a ceiling if you're shooting with an 8x10 [as Alec Soth does]. Even if you're using Portra 400 you'll probably only get to f8 or f11 which is still a very shallow depth of field with a 300mm lens.

You might try getting a couple of mono-lights in the 600ws range and then bouncing them off the corner ceilings. Doing this I found I could get into the f16/f22 range which gave me enough depth of field. Also, I think using a bounced flash is a good way to get a neutral color balance in an interior space [assuming the ceilings are white]. Guadalupe Ruiz does this with her interior portraits [ www.lupita.ch ].

thanks thomas, i think it is the way to go... speedlights really aren't powerfull enough.