Gear for student portraits...Questions.

Dreadnote

Ok so I have been researching and looking into gear that will give me more options for shooting student athletes (mostly middle school) and senior portrait type pictures as well as team photos (which my current speed-lights really struggle with) and I think I have talked myself into getting the following items. I really like the Joel Grimes lighting style http://joelgrimes.com/3/Artist.asp?ArtistID=12191&AKey=P7FJP8B4 for these type of portraits, however I want gear that will give me as wide a variety of options as possible with the best value for the dollar. The speed lights I have aren't really doing the job for anything outdoor given that the sun is usually high in the sky when students are available for pictures. I know that a lot of the Grimes' photos are composites so I'm still looking around for a backdrop. Any thoughts or opinions would be greatly appreciated.

The gear I already have is as follows:

Nikon D300s
24-70 f/2.8
70-200 f/2.8
50 f/1.4
SB900 x 2
Wescott 43in umbrella x 2
Lumopro 7' compact light stand x 2
Manfrotto super clamp x 2
Umbrella mount for the stands x 2
Pocket wizard TT5 transceiver x 3


Possible new gear purchase:

E640 Einstein E640 Studio Flash Unit $499.95

MC2-US POWER MC2 - 344MHz $99.95

VM120* Vagabond Mini Lithium 120VAC $239.95

22HOBD 22-inch High Output Beauty Dish $79.95

LS3900 13-foot Heavy Duty Stand $69.95

MBA Baby Boomer Offset Arm $14.95

PLM86-BFSPKF PLM Front Spill Kill Fabric, 86in Black $27.95

PLM86-BOC PLM 86in Black Outer Cover $23.95

PLM86-WFDF PLM Front Diffuser Fabric, 86in White $22.95

PLM86U-W 86-inch Parabolic Umbrella White with Buff Speedring $49.95

Gary752

If you want to do composites, and are looking for a background, check out Tube Tape . They specialize in green screen, and if I remember right, has a sale going on. They have a package deal with green screen, software, and cd's of digital backgrounds at a resonable price.

GaryB

Dreadnote

BroPhoto wrote: »

If you want to do composites, and are looking for a background, check out Tube Tape . They specialize in green screen, and if I remember right, has a sale going on. They have a package deal with green screen, software, and cd's of digital backgrounds at a resonable price.

GaryB

Thanks for the feedback! I do have one question about the backdrops though. The book "Photoshop Compositing Secrets" by the Kelby group recommends light gray over green. Does anyone have any hands on experience with this?

Gary752

Dreadnote wrote: »

Thanks for the feedback! I do have one question about the backdrops though. The book "Photoshop Compositing Secrets" by the Kelby group recommends light gray over green. Does anyone have any hands on experience with this?

The kit that is offered on the site listed above, comes with a program that is designed to replace the green/blue background with anything you want. It even comes with cds with backgrounds and magizine covers.

Reguarding your question...You can use any colored background as long as that color is not present in the subject, in photoshop.

GaryB

Dreadnote

BroPhoto wrote: »

The kit that is offered on the site listed above, comes with a program that is designed to replace the green/blue background with anything you want. It even comes with cds with backgrounds and magizine covers.

Reguarding your question...You can use any colored background as long as that color is not present in the subject, in photoshop.

GaryB

Thanks a bunch for the pointers. I'm going to look into their backgrounds.

Tim Kamppinen

An Einstein and a Vagabond Mini with a beauty dish will take you a long way when shooting outdoors in broad daylight. Depending on how tightly you compose the frame, you could still use two bare speedlights for the rims to get the Joel Grimes look. Even if you have a wider shot, if you use a tripod you can have the rim lights in the frame, and then take another shot after removing them, and mask them out with about one minute of work in PS. Of course, three Einsteins, each with their own VML, would be better, but very expensive.

You'll also want some kind of boom for that style of lighting, as it's often desireable to have the light coming from on axis and overhead when the subject is looking at the camera.

Art Scott

Dreadnote wrote: »

Thanks for the feedback! I do have one question about the backdrops though. The book "Photoshop Compositing Secrets" by the Kelby group recommends light gray over green. Does anyone have any hands on experience with this?

Lt. Grey will normally not bounce the light back into / onto the subject and supposedly makes for easier removal of background....Green and Blue screens can cause bad color casts on the subject if the lighting is not perfect...

Mike J

With what you are proposing to buy and what you have, I'm not clear on what gear you would use where in Joel's 3 light setup. Where would you put the Einstein and with what modifier? What about the SB900s? Have you looked at this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ceypPK8LYFQ
Typically you want more power in the rim lights than the overhead light. The rims are usually in a softbox or strip. The overhead light can be in SB or the beauty dish.

Dreadnote

Art Scott wrote: »

Lt. Grey will normally not bounce the light back into / onto the subject and supposedly makes for easier removal of background....Green and Blue screens can cause bad color casts on the subject if the lighting is not perfect...

Good point, thanks Art! My lighting could be characterized as a lot of things, but perfect is not one of them.

Tim Kamppinen wrote: »

An Einstein and a Vagabond Mini with a beauty dish will take you a long way when shooting outdoors in broad daylight. Depending on how tightly you compose the frame, you could still use two bare speedlights for the rims to get the Joel Grimes look. Even if you have a wider shot, if you use a tripod you can have the rim lights in the frame, and then take another shot after removing them, and mask them out with about one minute of work in PS. Of course, three Einsteins, each with their own VML, would be better, but very expensive.

You'll also want some kind of boom for that style of lighting, as it's often desireable to have the light coming from on axis and overhead when the subject is looking at the camera.

I was considering a boom, oddly enough Paul Buff doesn't sell one, perhaps that is a better way to go. Any recommendation on a good one that won't break the bank? I've got about $1000 total for my upgrades ATM.

Mike J wrote: »

With what you are proposing to buy and what you have, I'm not clear on what gear you would use where in Joel's 3 light setup. Where would you put the Einstein and with what modifier? What about the SB900s? Have you looked at this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ceypPK8LYFQ
Typically you want more power in the rim lights than the overhead light. The rims are usually in a softbox or strip. The overhead light can be in SB or the beauty dish.

Well admittedly I was hoping to "fake it, till I make it". I was hoping to use the speedlights as rims without mods except for maybe a little cardboard gobo to make an edge to control light spill and use either the beauty dish or PLM in front and overhead with the Einstein. Bad idea? I've seen Grimes shoot his rims with 2 speedlights in each strip box and just one in the overhead light. When he does this he talks about using half power and fast recycle times. So I was thinking 1 light at full power no strip box and slower recycle times maybe? For general purpose stuff and especially for team photos I'm needing more power than just another speedlight. The goal is to build up to at least 3 Einsteins but that will take more cash than is available ATM.

But I'm going to watch that video, thanks for the link.

Tim Kamppinen

I use this: http://www.cheetahstand.com/servlet/the-76/JVS-Convertible-Boom/Detail which is a great deal and very solid. Doesn't have the longest extension or the greatest height, but I've been able to make it work. There are better/longer booms but the price and weight shoot up pretty fast. Whatever you go with, make sure you mount it on a c-stand or something similarly sturdy. Aluminum and plastic stands (even "heavy duty" ones) that are great for speedlights will bend and sway and generally make you very nervous when you mount a boom on top of them. And above all, make sure you sandbag it appropriately so it doesn't tip over and wreck your gear (or worse, your client!).