Question About Lighting Full Length Shots And Shadows

I just remembered!! Plexiglass!!!!!!! you can use plexiglass !!!

Yep but plexi can get a bit pricey.

airfrogusmc wrote in post #6171194
Yep but plexi can get a bit pricey.

Well then use tile board -from Zack Arias white background tutorail-

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eduardofrances wrote in post #6171331
Well then use tile board -from Zack Arias white background tutorail-

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There ya go..

airfrogusmc wrote in post #6170814

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This is exactly the type of shot I'm talking about. Sometimes the shadows are long, sometimes short but it must be pure white around the shadow and underneath the subject as you have in this image.

Am I seeing the image as shot with no post processing to get the floor white?

eduardofrances wrote in post #6171331
Well then use tile board -from Zack Arias white background tutorail-

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I know about tile board but again, in a small space with only one shooting location that must constantly change, I didn't want to get a 4 x 8 foot piece of tile board. I have to think about storage and ease or tucking these things away. It's tough when it's a small space and not a dedicated studio. I have a dedicated room but limited space.

I adjusted contrast and levels.

Oh forgot this...Sorry my background lights...Check those fancy light stands.

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TMR Design wrote in post #6169607
Oh ok, yes we have plexiglass here. I want to make sure we're using the same terminology.

I'm using white seamless and distancing my subject so there is no shadow and so the seamless is rendered pure white. I want to preserve the shadow (with it's gradient) that appears on the floor. Won't plexiglass still show the subject's shadow if the light source is coming from above the subject, regardless of reflection?

you're trying to do an impossible shot

I've done this a hundred times for clients. The kind of look you're trying to accomplish is done in PP

"Pure white" means no detail. If you're lighting a subject then you want detail in the subject...so it's not possible to get a "pure white" on the floor near the subject. It's not possible. Some people use those boards but it looks really cheesy. Also, a hard edged shadow requires a Fresnel.

I've taken hundreds of commercial photos on white. The client always cuts out the subject and added his/her own background with a shadow for the type of look that you're talking about.

I would try to use a BIG, big light source close to subject, Robert, floor to ceiling...have you tried your giant panels? (I don't have personal experience with this situation, but is what I would try first. When was the last time you saw your shadow on an overcast day? (It will be very difficult to achieve perfect white apart from standing the model on another light source, which ruins the lighting if too bright.)

Wilt I will disagree here. I have found the light spreads more with umbrellas than say a softbox. With umbrellas used properly you can flood the entire backdrop and I showed purposely folks with white lab jackets to show if done right you and still get separation. Heres a shot I did using almost the same techniques that was a spread in a health care magazine a few years back. Its show on 2 1/4 trans film so straight out of camera.

Airfrogusmc,

I didn't say 'softbox'. I said 'big, big panel'.
One can see in your photo that the ceiling is a conventional height, so your umbrella is achieving very diffuse coverage by the scatter to the ceiling, etc. If your shooting space was in a large warehouse, the shadows would be more prevalent. Had you aimed the umbrella to the white ceiling instead of downward toward the subject, the shadowing would be even less noticable. The floor to ceiling panel I suggested would fill in the space under the subjects as well.

I've used all kinds of light modifiers, diffusion devises both in the studio and on location over the years and I have found for these types of images you pretty much can't beat umbrellas. In small spaces they spread the light very evenly over a large area. I use panels and large softboxes for just the opposite effect, dark backgrounds if I want to keep them dark because umbrellas spill light every where you can't control the light spilling on your b/g the way you can with soft box of diffusion panels. I have never achieved the desired result from a large softbox or diffusion panel in a small space the way I can with umbrellas for this type of image.

One cannot argue with practical experience!

My suggestion of a giant panel was a exactly that...a suggestion on what to try. As for background, I would always light it separately.