This is a genuine plea for help guys!!! I've recently started a job as a photographer by pure blagging and blagging alone. it's been going fine, but now my boss is getting pissed about the heavy shadowing in some of my shots. He's showed me some pictures from other companies and all of their shots have pearly white backgrounds with no shadows!!! Where am I going wrong? he's keen to buy eqipment to help resolve the prob - but I can't even reccomend what to buy...perhaps you can?
Many, many thanks.
2007-03-28 00:40:29 · 6 answers · asked by Anonymous in Arts & Humanities ➔ Visual Arts ➔ Photography
As one of the previous posts says, the best solution is to use a fill lighting. For studio type photography, you'll want to get a slave flash. This is basically a separate flash that will go off at the same time as the hot shoe flash. You place this flash on the sides of the subject which will give at worst a lighter shadow, but normally flashes the background.
If you have bright lamps, you can also use this to light the background. However, this is hard to gage the difference in lighting from the flash. So you may still end up with a shadow but it will be reduced.
Lastly, one more technique I can point to is bounce flashing. This will cause the angle to be greater shortening the shadow. The shadow will still be there but much shorter than dead on.
It's hard to say which one will be right for you because I would need to know more of the conditions of the studio (subject of the photo, available space, equipment, etc.). Any which way, try experimenting with some of the things mentioned. The one I highly recommend would be the slave flash illuminating the background with the slaves.
2007-03-28 04:08:50 · answer #1 · answered by mchnnm 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
There are two things:
Firstly, light the background as well as the subject. This is a must. And be sure to have the background light shielded from the subject.
Secondly, if there are harsh shadows on the subject itself, bring the lighting closer, whether it be an umbrella, softbox or whatever. The closer the lighting, the softer the shadows.
2007-03-31 05:39:13 · answer #2 · answered by Piano Man 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
No need to tell you now that bragging can get you in trouble. Anyhow I could suggest what lighting to get, but perhaps you already have the proper lighting that you need but are not using it properly. As far as where you are going wrong, could you give us an idea of how you have your lighting currently setup either by showing us a lighting diagram or at least giving us a verbal description? Also in terms of the lighting could you tell us the manufacturer.
2007-03-28 02:49:50 · answer #3 · answered by wackywallwalker 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Two things to consider: the larger the light source, the smaller the shadow. So that's why it's typical to see large light sources such as soft boxes and umbrellas. The second thing is to separately light your background.
2007-03-28 09:14:06 · answer #4 · answered by Karl W 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
1
2017-02-10 23:29:20 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
i'm just a newbie hobbyist, but maybe you could try illuminating your background? since you're using a flash anyway, backlighting won't be a problem.
2007-03-28 03:06:41 · answer #6 · answered by paengc 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋