Going to be taking head shots for actors & I REALLY need help with lighting?
Just a little info…i’m going to help family out and take some pictures for someones business that is still in the making.
I have no lighting equipment at all, but I do have an olympus e-500 camera.
I need to know what are the essentials that I will need to get decent indoor or even outdoor headshots with a pink backdrop?
I was reading about flash bounces, reflectors and umbrella lights. I need to know what do I need and how do i position it or use it? Do i need strobe lighting? What do i need? I’m honestly lost and need help!!!!!
Okay, so i’ve been into photography for about 5 years. The only amateur thing about this is, the lighting aspect. And it’s for a dance studio and i’m related to them. They dont have much money and it’s still on the ground. This is just temporary, so help would be appreciated….
You can’t do this successfully without practicing a lot before hand. I know you’ve read about it all, but you do need to practice some setups before the ‘real’ shoot. You WILL need Off Camera flashes.
Don’t know how much time you have to prepare, but here’s a pretty foolproof simple setup. Two flashes both either with softboxes or umbrellas either side of camera at 45 deg angle to subject. Have the lights both at the same distance to the subject and have one set one stop lower in power than the other – this will be the fill light & the main light is the ‘key’ light. Stops of power on the flash work the same way as your camera exposure, ie each change in stop is a halving or doubling of the light. If you main light is on 1/4 power then you want your fill light in 1/8 power (that’s a stop lower).
The closer you have your light to the subject the faster the light drop off will be. The further away you have your subject from the backgound, the darker the backgound will be (if you’re not using any lights to light it, just the subject).
ok, gear. You can buy a small starter studio kit (flash) for about £230 in UK. Alternatively you can look at hotshoe flashes (sometimes called speedlights) which can be fired wirelessly & are portable (easier to do outdoors stuff with these).
Full manually adjustable speedlights (Yongnuo 460-II) cost around £40 on eBay and a set of wireless triggers about £46 (for 1 transmitter & 2 receivers). RF-602 are popular & very reliable. You’ll need a couple of light stands (£20) and either a couple of umbrellas (£18 each) or a couple of softboxes (£40 each).
You might have come across the Strobist site in your reading, but if not do have a look (there’s a handy video further down the page on what you’ll need);
http://strobist.blogspot.com/2006/03/lighting-101.html
Most of the portraits I’ve shot have been with small speedlights off camera + modifiers mentioned above;
http://www.flickr.com/photos/deepbluephotography/sets/72157605751543769/
Lighting details are in the comment – click on image to see.
A pink backdrop could cause trouble if you get light reflected off it back onto the subject – they’ll have pink colour cast.
