First attempt at low-budget studio lighting

[MTalley]

Trying out my low-budget two-light setup at home last night. Using an older Vivitar 2000 shoe-mount flash unit and a newer Vivitar DF200 optical slave shoe-mount flash unit. Each flash mounted on light stands with 30" satin umbrellas.

Shooting through the umbrellas at about 5' away from model. Key light (Vivi 2000) at 45 degrees left of camera. Fill light (Vivi DF200) just right of camera and set to 1/2 power.

Backdrop is just a flannel full-size flat sheet from the closet, hung from the ceiling. Model is my daughter.

Camera settings - Manual mode, f/4, 1/200 sec., ISO-100.
Lens - 50mm f/1.8 (nifty fifty)

I think I'd really benefit from a hair light. Also, I'm going to work more on light placement and ratios. But, for a quick and dirty setup, I'm pleased.

[SkipD]

One suggestion - unrelated to the lighting scheme - would be to have your subject much further from the background and use a fairly wide (low number) aperture. That way the background won't be in focus so much, and the wrinkles won't be as obvious. I usually have a single person located a minimum of six feet in front of a plain background.

[MTalley]

Good suggestion and point well taken. I was shooting the short way across my living room and space was limited. Next time, I'm going to shoot the long way, so I have more room to move everything relative to each other.

I tried lower than f/4.0, but everything was getting blown out. OTOH, that would be a simple matter of moving the lights back a few feet - again, more possible with a longer shooting space.

[soupdragon]

If space is limited the use of a black background and a hair light will give your piccies a bit more punch. Plus there's a ton of other lighting affects you can try with a black backdrop.

[MTalley]

Thanks. I have some dark background material I'll try next (it's actually a very dark hunter green). I've used it on a couple of occasions for senior portraits.

I did a little PS work on one of the other shots from this test session, taking advantage of the fairly light and consistent background that I had used. There are a couple of boo-boos in the flyaway hairs near the face, but I thought it came out pretty slick for a 1/2 hour learning session.

The new "backdrop" was created with the PS "Create clouds" filter on a separate layer, using light and dark greys for the two colors. I did a little Gaussian Blur, too, to give it a less sharp effect and make it look a little out of focus. I probably could have done an oval black/white gradient and set the opacity such that it would appear as if I had used a background light behind the subject, but I was tired of playing for the evening.

[am_pitbull_terrier]

Thanks. I have some dark background material I'll try next (it's actually a very dark hunter green). I've used it on a couple of occasions for senior portraits.

I did a little PS work on one of the other shots from this test session, taking advantage of the fairly light and consistent background that I had used. There are a couple of boo-boos in the flyaway hairs near the face, but I thought it came out pretty slick for a 1/2 hour learning session.

The new "backdrop" was created with the PS "Create clouds" filter on a separate layer, using light and dark greys for the two colors. I did a little Gaussian Blur, too, to give it a less sharp effect and make it look a little out of focus. I probably could have done an oval black/white gradient and set the opacity such that it would appear as if I had used a background light behind the subject, but I was tired of playing for the evening.

Good job. Everytime I try something like that or try to use the background eraser it just doesn't look right. Well everything looks good but the hair. The hair always gives it away. I should try a hair light maybe?

[David1943]

A very good first attempt and a pretty and photogenic model for you to practice on.

Unrelated to your lighting but something I immediately spotted are the creases on your daughter's shirt. A couple of minutes with an iron before taking the photo would have smoothed them out easier and better than any lighting technique.

Well done anyway, David

[MTalley]

Thanks, David. Actually, this was late in the evening and my daughter was already about ready for bed when I was testing. Thus, the messy clothing. I was primarily just practicing with camera and light placement, camera settings, etc.

We'll probably set up again and put on something nice, as well as use some more carefully posed shots.

am,
I used the "Filter/Extract" tool in PS CS. If you pick up the latest issue of Shutterbug magazine, there is a several page feature on how to use this particular tool to cut a person out from a background, including flyaway hairs, etc. It is interesting reading.

[am_pitbull_terrier]

Thanks, David. Actually, this was late in the evening and my daughter was already about ready for bed when I was testing. Thus, the messy clothing. I was primarily just practicing with camera and light placement, camera settings, etc.

We'll probably set up again and put on something nice, as well as use some more carefully posed shots.

am,
I used the "Filter/Extract" tool in PS CS. If you pick up the latest issue of Shutterbug magazine, there is a several page feature on how to use this particular tool to cut a person out from a background, including flyaway hairs, etc. It is interesting reading.

I guess I'm going to have to get PS. I have Paint Shop Pro 9 right now and it's prett obvious that I put someone on a different background..... Probably mainly user error though. I'm VERY new to post processing software. Do you know if paint shop has the "Filter/Extract" tool also? I'm going to go check it out now in the help section. I think I spend more time there than working on my photos :lol:

[WestFalcon]

Go to the fabric store and buy some fleece. It is non reflective and doesn't wrinkle readily. I take Student recognition pictures at my high school and this looks great. I think maybe that your daughter should not tilt as much as she is doing in the picture...just my opinion. She is very photogenic....pretty girl.

[Titus213]

Please forgive the dumb question, but how are you tripping the flash units? I understand the use of optical slaves but something has to fire them. I hope it's not the Vivtar 2000 as that unit has been known to put out some fierce trigger voltages.

BTW - I really like the second one. Looks great. And agree moving the subject away from background will help with shadows as in the first.

[David1943]

Titus has raised a very important issue - Namely the sync voltage of your Vivitar 2000.

http://www.botzilla.com/photo/strobeVolts.html (http://www.botzilla.com/photo/strobeVolts.html)

If you check the link, you'll see that it has been measured at 202 volts and definitely isn't suitable for use with a digital camera. The maximum recommended voltage for the 300D is 6 volts, so I strongly advise you not to use your present set-up ever again as doing so could be very costly.

Regards, David :)

[mgbeach]

or, get a wein safe-sync to step down to 6 volts at the camera.

[Titus213]

or, get a wein safe-sync to step down to 6 volts at the camera.

I got the safe-sync for my Sunpak 555 and it was measuring just under 7.0 volts. $50 bucks is cheap protection. But then I saw the EX series and just bought a 550EX. And I still can't take flash pictures...but at least now I'm fairly sure the problem is me.:o

Now I've added a LSII.....is there an end anywhere?

[MTalley]

Thanks for the heads-up, David (I also replied to you via e-mail). I am using a Wein Safesync between the camera and the flash at all times. I had taken maybe two pictures with the 2000 on top of the camera the day I bought the camera, then found the referenced information about trigger voltages from this forum. So, essentially, I've already been "saved", so to speak.

Thanks for all the other comments. The poses were just "playing around". I was studying the camera (chimping, I guess) more than I was paying attention to her poses. The one I replaced the background with just happened to have some sharp hair outlines, making it easier to extract the model from the background.

We're going to try some more formal and photogenic work in the near future. Maybe I'll go buy a few yards of fleece and try that out.

The following crude drawing represents my setup.