High Key Lights

[drisley]

I'm going to be shooting some bodybuilders next month, and this time I want to try a high key effect, with white seamless.
I currently have 1 ABR800, and a vivitar 285 flash, and softboxes for both.

Would I be able to achieve a "white without detail" effect on full body shots if I just buy another AB400? Or would I need a minimun of 2 more lights?

Thanks guys

[drisley]

Thanks Kugy5.
Yes, so i could get 2 x AB400, put them on each side of the paper with umbrellas, then use my AB800 as main, and vivitar as fill eh?

[TMR Design]

Hi drisley,

Based on other shots you've posted I would say that your background will be too large for one light to evenly light for white without detail. 2 lights, feathered in from the sides will work nicely and when you're thinking in terms of power, keep in mind that in order to have white without detail you're going to need a reflective reading from your background of 3+ stops more than your incident taking aperture. This means that if you want to be shooting at f/8 then you are going to have to be able to light your background evenly so it is uniformly giving you reflective readings of f/22 +. I find that if I get a variation of 1/10 or 2/10 of a stop maximum that the white will still look even. Any more than that and you will begin to see gradients.

Just keep in mind the area you need to light and your desired taking aperture when adding lights for the background. I'm not looking for you to spend more or buy more than you need, but as it is so often said, I would rather have too much power and turn a light down than to need more and have no where to go for it. Using umbrellas or modifiers might make it easier to get the lighting even but you'll be throwing away light by using them. There is no reason why you can't fire your strobes from the side, feathered in, with no modifiers other than the 7" AB reflectors, and get a very even white background with no detail. This is where your meter and reflective spot metering really come in handy. Quite often your eye is not the best judge of even lighting and it seems silly to have to fire off a shot, adjust, fire a shot, adjust, ugh!

By taking a reading behind the subject and then in the 4 corners surrounding the subject that will actually be in frame, and then adjust the light or lights you need based on the meter's measurements. Get within 1/10 or 2/10, then fire your test shot and you should have a white white background with no detail and no gradients.

[drisley]

Thanks TMR. Yup I bought a flash meter, so that will help alot!
Since I will be doing full body shots, will I have problems with the area under their feet?
I guess it's not too hard to correct in Photoshop. Anything will be easier than what I had to do last time!