Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2005/09/18
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]On 9/18/05 6:32 AM, "Ted Grant" <tedgrant@shaw.ca> typed: > Eric, > > On the occasion I used big strobes I'd put one lamp facing an upper corner > of the room, then you have light coming from above, ceiling. And off the > two >snippet< > Well thanks Ted I'm very "one light" when it comes to shooting on a white backdrop but in a room or even am event type situation I'd agree with your two light approach. Shooting events I've had an assistant with a slaved flash and you cant always wonderfully coordinate where they're going to be when you do a shot you try to get them behind what you are shooting but just to have some light coming from behind them lighting up the backs of their heads for those highlights or halo effect behind them and making sure that what's back there does not that the tunnel effect. Get dark. ... Is worth is. Same could work in a room when you're shooting people to look real enough a room normally dos not get all its light from one side of the room and then it would have a dark side of the room which would be visible in many of your shots. Not many rooms are like that in our minds eye at least. So two lights can light a room more evenly and more realistically and more excitingly. You'll get rim light effects. But if you only had one light I'd get it in the center as much as possible as if it was that lightbulb in the middle of the ceiling configuration. By far the most efficient way most rooms get lit in real life. That good old 100 watt frosted GE bulb. Which we're not reality emulating with a much larger light source but I say what the heck. Indirect lighting supposedly the worst thing Frank Lloyd Wright ever invented and worse then that even are spot lights coming from say track lighting making little tiny spots all over the place. Each little spot could have the same wattage as that lightbulb in the center of the ceiling of the room. Although dimmed slightly maybe but still ending up totally to several times 100wats. And only lighting up a foot or so each inside the room so the use of dozens. To the people who go crazy with lights shining all over the place maybe that's what they imitate. But one guy I knew who all he did is shot room sets used many many lights and lots of big sheets of foam core the idea being to get the room lit evenly with no dead spots. His subject was the room and it's furniture not "people". And Not the issue so much when you shoot people in a room interestingly. With the subject being the people not the room. But I love the two light approach as well as Ted uses. The big studiolike strobe lights tend to all have built in slaves in them. You walk around the room taking flash readings and in your brain remember which f stops are where in the room before you shoot like an f-stop map. Then you shoot. And the two lights would even that out and keep you using the same stop. Mark Rabiner Photography Portland Oregon http://rabinergroup.com/