Lights help me pleaseeeeeeeeee

is300soon

Hey all

Ok well I have been shooting alot lately and well I caught the attention of a friend who wants classy shots of her done. NOT PORN but classy and mostly covered up.

At first I thought well we can do this, then I started thinking well lights would be needed as my Xt takes great shots outside but the stock flash is too much inside.

She likes my pictures when half the image or the background is blurred out, with umbrella lights will I still be able to get this?

Is there a package for everything I would need in a good area and not too costly?

I also shoot flowers, glass, fruit, etc etc etc so I would like something that i can use for all of this.

I also wanted to try infrared images with her but I think i know what lens i would get for that.

But is there anyother lens that would be good for closeups but also wide and or tall?

Thanks
David

cmason

is300soon wrote:

Hey all

Ok well I have been shooting alot lately and well I caught the attention of a friend who wants classy shots of her done. NOT PORN but classy and mostly covered up.

At first I thought well we can do this, then I started thinking well lights would be needed as my Xt takes great shots outside but the stock flash is too much inside.

She likes my pictures when half the image or the background is blurred out, with umbrella lights will I still be able to get this?

Is there a package for everything I would need in a good area and not too costly?

I also shoot flowers, glass, fruit, etc etc etc so I would like something that i can use for all of this.

I also wanted to try infrared images with her but I think i know what lens i would get for that.

But is there anyother lens that would be good for closeups but also wide and or tall?

Thanks
David

Wow. Not sure I got all that, but you seem to be asking about Flash, Infrared and lens choices.

Flash: the built in flash on the XT is only marginally more useful than no flash at all. Get a flash, even a 430EX is better than nothing, be sure to add a diffuser, say a Sto-fen or something. This will improve portraits dramatically.

Infrared? at this pt, I would suggest you play with software filters in photoshop to learn what you want to do first..then invest in real filters or camera modification.

Lens: "the blurring" you refer to is not caused by the flash, but by the lens, otherwise known as bokeh. This is caused by high quality lenses and or the use of a long lens at a wide f stop. So if you are looking for this, use your longest lens and open it as wide as possible. This will help get this effect no matter the quality of your lens

Shay Stephens

is300soon wrote:

She likes my pictures when half the image or the background is blurred out, with umbrella lights will I still be able to get this?

It depends on how powerful the flash is. Flash exposure is controlled by aperture, and if you want to use a wide aperture (to get narrow DOF) then you will have to have your flash set to a low light output, otherwise the photo will be overexposed. On the plus side, an umbrella does waste some light. But that will be the biggest challenge.

Is there a package for everything I would need in a good area and not too costly?

Lighting is not cheap. You have the option of expensive and really expensive somy suggestion is to start with a single light setup. Buy more as needed (your experience with one light will guide you)

Now do you want to go studio lights or portable lights?

I also shoot flowers, glass, fruit, etc etc etc so I would like something that i can use for all of this.

Different lighting jobs call for different light modifiers more than different kinds of lights. Umbrellas, softboxes, diffusion screens, grids, etc, etc.

Bakat

David,
In college I worked for a lady who did "bedroom" photography; classy, sexy pics of housewives for their husbands. She had a very low cost set up and because she didn't invest in lighting sometimes things were "hit & miss".

If I were going to do that today I think I would use daylight balanced flourescents with lots of diffusion and reflectors. They don't produce any appreciable heat and they stay on so you know exactly what you are getting, they also create a softer look than a flash. However; they do not freeze motion so you need a good model who knows how to stay still. I use the daylight balanced flourescents for product photography and I really like them, I've used them in a pinch for pics of my family and I like the effect.

BTW, the most popular shots were generally the ones taken thru a large set of white blinds, The blinds break up any body imperfections and create a naughty, voyeristic view.

Just my 2 cents worth,
Kat

P.S. Tell her to cut out all the tags, somehow they always (and I mean ALWAYS) seem to pop out of a nighty and distract from the pic.

wxwax

The absolute simplest lighting set-up is outside using a reflector, maybe two.

You'd probably want to pick an overcast day (so your background wasn't overwhelmingly bright.) And you'd need to buy one or two reflectors and a couple of stands and arms to hold them. Pretty inexpensive set-up.

Because you want a blurred background, you'll want a lens with a longer focal length and wide aperature. Since you also seem to want to shoot macros, it sounds like the Canon 100mm f2.8 macro might be your best bet.

StephC

If you're looking to invest in some studio lighting, my suggestion would be to check out
http://www.alienbees.com

Fantastic lights at an affordable price - of course, the term affordable is completely relative... I'm not sure what you were looking to spend.

To do what you want, you would likely be fine with 1 AB400 with a softbox and a reflector or two. For the reflectors, go to your local hardware store and pick up one of those car shades that have a silver surface. I got 2 for $7 and they work perfectly.

BTW, I am in no way affiliated with the above site. Just a happy customer.