Put behind the eight-ball

OK, this is one of those lovely posts of someone who got in a situation they should know better, yet here they are. Any helpful suggestions are thankfully welcome.

I got roped into shooting a bunch of corporate portraits. The Powers That Be ordered a basic light kit before they got me on board: two AlienBees B800s, 3 PocketWizard Plus IIIs, stands and umbrellas with a backdrop. I did some research and was going to shoot a clamshell set-up. So far so good, but when I unpacked the boxes to do a dry run, the umbrellas are silver reflective, not shoot through. Still managed to get reasonable light with about 1/8th power on top and 1/32nd on the bottom, but it's a bit harsh/contrasty. Given that the client is not going to spend any additional money, is there anything I can do, with what's on hand to improve the quality of the light? Is there a better set-up than clamshell, given my particulars? I'm an experienced shooter, but not so much with strobes.

Thanks,
Al

Hang some diffusion fabric in front of the umbrellas.

Why clamshell for corporate shots? I would think something simple like Rembrandt should work. Try this. Get a white foam board. Main light at 45 degree on one side,poster board on the other used for fill. Use that second light as a rim.

I shot this for a real estate agent needing headshots for her business cards. In my example,I opted to use a gridded light onto the background instead of a rim light. Power was at it's lowest setting.

Thanks, both!

Ask to buy a couple of shoot- through umbrellas. They're only $25 each.

I agree that clamshell portraits aren't ideal for corporate, but I suppose that may depend on the end purpose, and also on the corporation. Why did you decide on the clamshell look?

Snafoo wrote in post #17006822
Ask to buy a couple of shoot- through umbrellas.

+1, but just eat the cost.

Get better/branded ones if you can and want, but if money is really an issue, how about $8 each, amazon prime:

http://www.amazon.com …2&keywords=flas​h+umbrella

Yep, just got done doing a 3 light set-up which you can do with two lights if you use a reflector for fill. Ideal is to have a fourth light on the BG as a spot, but depends on if you want to spring for a small flash that has an optical trigger.

I wouldn't do clambshell - works on the gals, not so great for the guys, and you want a consistent look.

But I guess I'd like to see a clambshell of a 55-65yr old man... that'd be interesting.

By the by.. if you want to have less wrinkles, then the larger you want those umbrellas. I have a couple of 60inch bounce ones like the link below.. they throw wonderful soft light, but you want to watch the spill. Long conference room with a higher than 8 ft ceiling if you can.

http://www.adorama.com​/WEU60WB.html

Thanks to everyone for your suggestions.

We ended up going with what I described above but did add a speedlight on the background. It worked well -- about 75 - 80 people, give or take. There was only one guy and it looked pretty good on him, too! I certainly learned a lot and hopefully they learned to talk to the photographer before they rent the kit!

Now to the editing....

Oh -- PS for the buy the 'brellas, eat the cost, unfortunately, I got to see the gear last night and had to start shooting early this morning. No chance to run to B&H or Adorama, much less Amazon. Like I said -- behind the eight ball!