Shooting Head Shots? If you haven't tried these then you should.

Rudi wrote in post #6106507
Robert, when you're there do me a favour and check out the Botero backgrounds too, and what you think of them compared to the Lastolite collapsibles. Botero backgrounds are described as translucent, and some of the negatives in the reviews are about that, but I'd like to hear what you think. Unfortunately, I don't have the option of just popping into B&H to have a look.

Sure thing Rudi. I'm also looking at the Westcott's, although they are a bit more expensive.
I've noticed, the few times I've checked B&H that every so often they have them used at good prices. I'll let you know what I find.

Rudi wrote in post #6106507
Robert, when you're there do me a favour and check out the Botero backgrounds too, and what you think of them compared to the Lastolite collapsibles. Botero backgrounds are described as translucent, and some of the negatives in the reviews are about that, but I'd like to hear what you think. Unfortunately, I don't have the option of just popping into B&H to have a look.

I have a Botero black and white. My only complaint is the creases. Anybody have tricks to keep them out or get them out after you open it?

Here's what it looks like. I had to PP out a few wrinkles but only in spots.

AginKajun wrote in post #6106696
I have a Botero black and white. My only complaint is the creases. Anybody have tricks to keep them out or get them out after you open it?

Here's what it looks like. I had to PP out a few wrinkles but only in spots.

Crease are my big thing too. That is why I was drawn to the Savage panels, despite the lack of portability. I was considering getting a steamer, which I still may get but I wanted something that eliminated the fuss of steaming, ironing or hanging up days in advance to let it settle and unwrinkle.

Nice images, by the way.

TMR Design wrote in post #6106711
Crease are my big thing too. That is why I was drawn to the Savage panels, despite the lack of portability. I was considering getting a steamer, which I still may get but I wanted something that eliminated the fuss of steaming, ironing or hanging up days in advance to let it settle and unwrinkle.

Nice images, by the way.

I have to fight the wife for the space to store it folded up. I'd hate to think of what I'd have to do to hang it up for days!!

Quite often backgrounds and colored items don't appear correctly online and the Savage panels are no exception. On the B&H site you can get an idea but some of them are very misleading.

My primary interest is in the darker colors because I can always hit it with light and lighten it up easily but unless I have really great separation and isolation it's more difficult to darken the lighter ones. So.. I contacted Savage about the colors to get a better idea of what they look like compared to what we see online.

Very nice people there. They are sending me out some samples of the darker panels. Once I have them I'll photograph them and attempt to better represent the colors just in case anyone is interested.

Also, something that I didn't mention is that the panels aren't just different colors but each one is manufactured slightly differently so they do not appear to just be the same but in other colors. Each has a unique look.

I just used the Savage panel for another head shot session and it worked very well. I have another panel on the way that I'll be using this week for a shoot.

Here is another shot using the 'Naples' panel.

Lighting for this shot is fairly straight forward. I have my main light at camera left with a 36" x 48" softbox and a white reflector as the fill source. The fill reflector was just out of frame which gave me very soft light to fill shadows and open up the shadow side of the face. If this were more of a classic portrait I would have changed the ratio and used a little less fill but based on how the image is going to be used I didn't want that much 'drama' and contrast.

When I light a shot like this I always pay careful attention to shadows and how the far (shadow side) eye appears. The eyes must pop or I'm just not happy. :biggrin:

I also have a background light hidden just behind her and angled up slightly. She is sitting about 4 feet from the background and at this distance I like to use the background light creatively to act as a hair light. Not a hair light in the traditional sense but instead I let the light that reflects just 'kiss' the subject to give me some separation without the appearance of a dedicated hair light, which again, I find more appropriate for a classic portrait than a head shot of this type. The fact that she has fiery red hair made that easy because as soon as light hit the hair it took on the exact quality I wanted without being obvious or overdone.

Simple and effective lighting and I let her personality and smile carry the image.

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The product originally mentioned sounds very useful. I don't like the creases and wrinkles in muslin and it's not very pretty to work with, which is why I ended up getting a big roll of thunder grey background paper a while ago. I've been getting very good use out of it by combining with colored gels, but I still have to be careful not to crease it when handling. It also lacks the mottled look, but I haven't found any particular situation where that was limiting.

I like broad and short lighting myself, but my last client found she much preferred the comparatively rejuvenating effect of butterfly lighting. She was well into her 50s, maybe more, and we tried both; after she saw the butterfly's softer shadows she immediately decided "Oh yes that's much better." Your last photo has a much more attractive person in it and I like the color combination. Those panels do look very nice.

Savage thunder grey paper with blue gelled flash on floor pointed up - after I considered the blue awfully intense, I edited in photoshop using selective color alteration to darken and desaturate the blue bg. Original color is here: https://photography-on-the.net …297214&stc=1&d=​1218871491

Oh wow, we stopped using white backgrounds around 1975 and by 1980 were sick and tired of black backgrounds, textured, black and white have always come and gone but I remember in 1990 going into a shop in New York when I was back there shooting and we were looking to rent a background and this place had several women down in the basement full time painting new backgrounds, there were hundreds for us to choose from to rent, as many textures as you can imagine and the still photographers were using them like crazy.

If I never see another white background I will be really happy but in the commercial film business it started to come back into Vogue somewhere around 1996, I don't know how long it lasted but everyone acted like they'd just invented it. About a year after I stopped shooting, I threw away my TV so I don't know what's "up to date" but I know that the fashion mags show a lot of everything, especially tones of grey.

We used the 12' wide cyc paper a lot for certain parts of commercials, here in the NW where it rains so much and the humidity can be so high, we'd never roll out the paper the evening before the shoot when doing the studio set up as it'd likely be puckered from the moisture by morning and we'd have to pull out new before we even started shooting, and it really shows on Dove Grey and Thunder Grey when they are uneven, yeah, that was another favorite "neutral" color the clients would ask for and then ask me to do something with it because it looked so "same" as everything else out there. Oh well

form wrote in post #6121108
The product originally mentioned sounds very useful. I don't like the creases and wrinkles in muslin and it's not very pretty to work with, which is why I ended up getting a big roll of thunder grey background paper a while ago. I've been getting very good use out of it by combining with colored gels, but I still have to be careful not to crease it when handling. It also lacks the mottled look, but I haven't found any particular situation where that was limiting.

I like broad and short lighting myself, but my last client found she much preferred the comparatively rejuvenating effect of butterfly lighting. She was well into her 50s, maybe more, and we tried both; after she saw the butterfly's softer shadows she immediately decided "Oh yes that's much better." Your last photo has a much more attractive person in it and I like the color combination. Those panels do look very nice.

Savage thunder grey paper with blue gelled flash on floor pointed up - after I considered the blue awfully intense, I edited in photoshop using selective color alteration to darken and desaturate the blue bg. Original color is here: https://photography-on-the.net …297214&stc=1&d=​1218871491

That looks like clam shell, not butterfly. Your lights are high and low, which is commonly referred to as clam shell. Did the butterfly have a bit too much to drink? LOL

Did I get them mixed up in my head? You might be right.