Light This Space

Darren Troy C

Buliding upon the thread the other day regarding softboxes and/or umbrellas....

LIGHT THIS SPACE! ...or more specifically, the individuals that I'll be shooting here. (Nikon SB 600 as the strobe)

90% of the time I am an outdoors shooter. After speaking w/ the owner of this location, that's going to change! LOTS of natural light as you can see. Main uses will be Bridals and Seniors. The adjacent wall has INCREDIBLE texture!

Discuss.....

(not a large budget either, but enough for a couple of the above mentioned products)

ziggy53

I moved this to technique because lighting large spaces with a minimalist budget will require some inventive technique.

A "couple" of flash units and modifiers will probably only work in conjunction with some reflectors and inexpensive auxiliary lights.

Be sure to check in at "The Strobist" for their tips in using speedlights and modifiers and alternate lights like compact daylight fluorescent lights for the background and possibly rim lights.

rwells

With that many windows, I'd certainly give high priority to using reflectors.

Remember, you don't have to be "close" when reflecting sunlight with a silver reflector. I've shot outdoor portraits where the reflector was all the way across a two lane street.

They are inexpensive & easy to use.

Khristen

Jealous!!! This is an awesome place with great potential!

If you wanted more creative pics you could light the area (at night) with colored lights and the light your model with a white light. There was a picture posted here last week I think, but I surely couldn't find it. It was a perfect example!

Good Luck!

Nikolai

I'm not sure I understand the OP's question...

Darren Troy C

Very large, naturally lit warehouse with lots of texture. I LOVE using ambient light but would want some input on how to best go about using flash fairly close to a subject in the space. I read Strobist. I know a little about external/off camera lighting but let's face it.....getting some advice from the people here that do this sort of thing helps to boost one's ego.

Nikolai, I guess ultimately (and the more I think about it the more I believe my true question to be...) I would want to know in this situation would the best choice be a softbox type set-up or would some shoot-through umbrellas suffice?

Nikolai

Idlewild wrote:

Very large, naturally lit warehouse with lots of texture. I LOVE using ambient light but would want some input on how to best go about using flash fairly close to a subject in the space. I read Strobist. I know a little about external/off camera lighting but let's face it.....getting some advice from the people here that do this sort of thing helps to boost one's ego.

Nikolai, I guess ultimately (and the more I think about it the more I believe my true question to be...) I would want to know in this situation would the best choice be a softbox type set-up or would some shoot-through umbrellas suffice?

Shoot-through and reflective umbrellas, while being probably the cheapest way to improve the quality of light compared to a bare flash, have one huge disadantage - you can't controll the spill.
Plus, most of them are fairly limited in size (40" max) and shape (round/polygonal only).
AB/PB is promising new large size parabolic soon, shat should do better on both size and light control, but it is not out yet and their effectiveness is yet to be proven.

While a vast space like yours is more forgiving wrt a light spill, umbrella-only solution imho is doomed to get "old" fast.

Naturally, it all comes to your ultimate goals and to your available budget. If a couple of umbrellas is all you can currently afford (in addition to lights, stands, clamps, triggers, etc.) - then I guess we don't have a reql question here. If, however, your budget can incorporate a litlle bit more - start thinking softboxes, grids, etc.

Tim Kamppinen

I would basically view this as an awesome background for photos, and then go about lighting it however I wanted to for each individual subject, with the exception that it will also provide some nice window light if you're there at the right time, by the looks of it. I don't think there's any sort of lighting technique that would apply specifically to this location, however. Just about anything will work, it just depends on what look you're going for.

thoth

If all you have is a single SB-600 (or even a couple) then I suspect you are going to find it difficult to light any large portion of this space. I second rwells' notion of using reflectors to take advantage of the huge amount of natural light you will have coming into the space.

Since cost is a big factor, you might try building your own modifiers using the Tinker Tubes guide. You can build your own excellent soft boxes and reflectors, for a small fraction of the cost, that will outperform all but the really expensive pro stuff. Just yesterday I built a self-standing reflector/diffuser configurable into 4' x 4' or 4' x 8' for about $20. The money you save can be put towards some studio lights.

ziggy53

In order to "learn" about lighting a space like this it might be useful to acquire a mannequin, or at least a lifesize head like a wig holder, and use it to practice different lighting technique. It would have infinite patience and give you valuable feedback about light and shadow, subject and background.

You often see people using props like this for lighting guides and such.

Knowing what works and what does not work would save countless hours when setting up for a client or model.

ian408

Depends on what you want to feature.

It's very possible that you could light your subjects with a couple of lights. A speed light shot through an umbrella or softbox and some kind of fill light. Or maybe just fill in conjunction with the natural light.

angevin1

Khristen wrote:

Jealous!!! This is an awesome place with great potential!

Good Luck!

Second that! Lighting as seen to die for!!