Studio photography - advice please ...

[Matus Kalisky]

Hello,

after some initial success (let's call it a "proof of principle") with my 4x5 and one studio flash (OK, I got the exposure and focus correct at least) I would like to try more. Some of the photos could later serve to my first Pt/Pd attempts.

I am probably looking for a book or two on the subject of studio photography - both for some technical help/ideas and also some inspirations. I would not mind doing some "classical" studio shots at all. I guess I could learn quite a bit about composition too.

As I am rather space limited I would start with some subjects smaller scales or portraits. Now I tend to prefer subject that do not move (cups, books, apples etc)

My current equipment apart from camera and such is one 500W flash with a large softbox, some (not too) black backdrop and a reflector/diffusor. Our living room (ehm, studio) has a large window that can be a light source too.

One of the early points - I found out that it is not easy to get a fully black background even if it is in larger (2m) distance from the light than the subject (0.5m). If one uses a window light this issue gets even more complicated. While I do not plan to use black background will all of my shots, I would like to know how to do that. But I find it at this stage rather hard to choose a background for a shot that complements the subject and does not distracts (distant wall, furniture, reflections).

[eddie]

so you are looking for a black background? how much space do you have? some kind of a barn door on your light may help with keeping the light off the background.

try moving t he subject as far away from the background as possible. then move the light as close as you can, turn it way down and try and control any light spillage you may have.

oh, and shoot at night so your window light wont mess it up on you.

hope this helps.

[Peter De Smidt]

You might check out Light, Science and Magic.

http://www.amazon.com/Light-Science-Introduction-Photographic-Lighting/dp/0240808193/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1247093415&sr=8-1

[Don Dudenbostel]

this is a technique I've used for forty years. Use black velvet for your background, it absorbs more light than any other fabric. It works like a charm. Also use black foamcore to baffel the light and restrict as much from falling on background as possible. I also use a 22" beauty light with a 35 degree grid and grids on accent lights. When using soft lights the black foam or black felt draped in appropriate places will do nicely. If you only can scrape velvet together this will often work by itself. Turning lights down will do nothing as the aperture will need to be opened to accomidate the reduced light. The net result will be no different.

I don't know of any studiophoto LF books. I learned as a commercial photo apprentice in the early 70's. My suggestion would be to study the work of photographers you admire. Try to figure how many, the kind and where the lights are placed. Study composition and how the artist handles the subject or pose.

After all these years simplicity or the appearance of simplicity is important. The appearance of simplicity and clean lighting is very important. This week I was shooting new products for one of my clients W R Case the knife company. I shot two heave blade high polish steel knives and my client thought they were shot with a single light source. In reality I used 4 mini 100w tungsten spots with barndoors and snoots reflected from multiple pieces of white foam core. No direct light was on the subject but the setup gave extreme controll and the ability to highlight various parts of the handle and blade but appear to be very simple lighting. I will try to remember to postal image this week.

Beautiful lighting takes a great deal of time and experimentation. Just study and practice.

[Ben Syverson]

Read every post on strobist.com (http://strobist.com/), and go to a lot of photography exhibitions to get inspired. Then just practice a lot.

[Dennis]

Lighting is a very big part of studio photography. Having spent many years as a commercial studio photographer and many years as a fine art studio still life photographer I can puff my chest out and speak with authority. It is very useful to me and has been always useful to me to look at things all the time in all places at situations and objects that you find the light interesting and then analyze the natural sources of light and think what it would take to recreate that artificially. It will teach you a lot about lighting.
Dennis

[Matus Kalisky]

Thank you all for your replies.

Considering the black background - I got at some point a rather large sheet of black thick cotton fabric, but it has shown to be far from black. Actually I would not necessarily go for a black background, but living in a rather small flat I have a hard time finding some part of a room that would not create background that is either too busy or does not fit the picture at all. I am now trying to put together some tighter compositions (I had a lot of fun in our small bathroom ;) ) where the subject and the background fit each other naturally.

I also realized that using a large softbox (120 x 90 cm) with small subject creates a lot of illumination for the background.

Yes - the lightening is definitely the most important ingredient to the studio shot. I have tried something with my limited setup (one flash, soft box and reflector). Actually - at this stage more flashlights would probably only make my life more complicated - I am firstly trying to manage one flash at a time.

Thanks for the link - looks very interesting.

Concerning the "beauty dish" (something new to me) - is it used to direct the otherwise diffused light?

Should I get more involved in this direction I will probably consider getting some monorail camera, as focusing with Tachi at around 1:3 and bellow is quite challenging, as it does not have the rear standard focusing. Also the bellows is rather short.

Once I have some decent results I will for sure post them.

[mandoman7]

Matus,

It is difficult to keep light from a softbox from spilling onto the background. That is the classic small studio dilemma. With more space you get to isolate each of your lights more effectilvely, whereas in confined areas lights are bouncing everywhere. Even when you block the light with boards or feather it to the side, it still seems hard to get good contrast.

[dsphotog]

Work as far from the background as you can.
For more dramatic light, you might try placing the softbox perpendicular to the background (crosslighting the subject) and as close to the subject as possible. that allows you to stop down the f stop more, & will darken the background. A faster shutter speed will eliminate ambient light.
Then try moving the subject forward & back along the softbox, the light is more directional at the front of the box, & more wrap-around at the back.

Test shooting with a digital camera is a great learning tool.
Shoot lots, & experiment.
David Silva
Modesto,Ca

[Matus Kalisky]

Yeah, the next time we move I will go for a bigger flat. But of course a large studio is optimal. But I also want to get a smaller softbox for the small stuff. I got the large one to shoot portraits, which worked reasonably well, given it was my first studio experience.

DSLR - that's exactly How I am doing it. I do not have a flash light meter (I got the Gossen Digisix instead of Digiflash just to save some 30 euro and few weeks later my first studio flash ... :rolleyes: ). I estimate the f/stop with the dslr - and I also get the idea whether the light works or not, and only then I shoot 4x5 (or 6x6)

[Doug Howk]

The Set Shop site has some dark background material which can be helpful, see Duvetyne (http://setshop.com/product_info.php?cPath=4_31&products_id=2941). And blackout clothe curtain for the window when you want total control of ambient light

[mandoman7]

I just got a pretty large (5x9') piece of black fabric for $20 off of the big e-market, and its proving useful. Its supposed to be a tablecloth, and has a herringbone pattern, but it does lay nicely so it looks good out of focus. Big pieces of nice fabric can be expensive...