Lighting Help Please

[Chainsaw_Willie]

I'm a complete lighting JONG and could use some pointers from you more experienced folks.

I'm going to be doing an indoor photo shoot for a friend's small business. He has 6 employees and wants to get basic headshots of everyone to use in promotional materials and on their website. Folks will come in, sit at a desk, I'll take their picture, and then on to the next person.

The shoot will take place in a small conference room at their offices. The only equipment other than my camera and tripod that I have at this point is a light blue-gray backdrop.

I'm guessing that two strobes with softboxes, one on each side along with my SB600 flash+diffuser on the camera will be more than sufficient to provide nice, even lighting.

What I don't know is if that's the right approach or what specific equipment I should get. Would umbrella reflectors be better than the softboxes? If so, how big should the umbrellas be?

How powerful should the strobes be?

Any specific recommendations on strobes or other lights I should use (manufacturer, model, power output, etc. etc.) would be helpful.

Also, how do I trigger the strobes? Will I need any other equipment to make that happen?

Basically, treat me like I don't know what the fuck I'm talking about and help me get this right.

Thanks!

[systemoverblow'd]

Do you do any video? If you're not trying to freeze the motion of anything you may just want to go the continuous lighting route as you can use it for both photo and video.

For very short money you can get a 3 light softbox (or umbrella) setup from cowboystudio. It isn't quality stuff but I have a set at home and can light basic interviews and product shots just fine.

[Vandeezy]

This: http://strobist.blogspot.com/2006/04...in-corner.html

Reading through the Lighting 101 section on the strobist site will help you. Just the SB-600 should be enough with a umbrella or other large modifier and you should be able to wirelessly control the SB-600 if you have anything above the most basic models of nikon dSLR.

If you can get in there and practice with what you have to see if it works.

I still think the hardest thing is posing the people especially if you act nervous in any manner, at least in my experience.

[Chainsaw_Willie]

Not doing any video - just simple straightforward head shots with people seated at a desk.

I'm not planning to buy the equipment for this - it's cheap to rent this stuff and a generous rental allowance is factored into what I'm charging for this job, thus why I'm asking what the ideal equipment to use is. I can rent top of the line equipment for not much money for a one day shoot. If I was going to be doing a lot of this then I'd definitely be looking to buy.

My concern with just using the SB-600 is casting shadows. I was thinking with the strobes and soft boxes on either side and the flash in front that shadows would be completely eliminated.

Am I over-thinking this?

And yes, I can remotely control the SB-600 but it's not reliable for some reason. It sometimes doesn't fire remotely and I don't know why.

Thanks for the link, I'll read through it when I get home.

[crackboy]

http://www.zvork.fr/vls/

might help with setup

[Chainsaw_Willie]

Thanks for the suggestions! And crackboy - thanks for that link, that'll come in handy.

I talked to the guy at the rental shop, told him what I was doing and he suggested a kit they have that rents for $50/day that consists of two strobes with umbrellas and stands. The hot-shoe adapter for my D7000 is only another couple of bucks.

I'll pick the gear up tomorrow, play around with it in my living room tomorrow evening to familiarize myself with it then I can do the shoot Wednesday afternoon and still have time to get the strobes back to the shop by their 7pm closing time.

[Tippster]

Shadows make a portrait interesting. It's called "modeling." If you soften the source and bounce it from the other side, like the corner in the Strobist article above or a big piece of foam-core if a white wall is unavailable.

Flat Lighting:



Modeled Lighting:




Every head-shot shooter in the world should read that beautiful simple post. I actually use a very similar technique when shooting interviews, but do try to get a back/hair light up if possible.

[Chainsaw_Willie]

Thanks for the help everyone. The stuff on strobist is very useful/helpful/interesting.

I kind of wish I was doing more of this kind of thing. It's an area I have no experience in and learning new techniques is always fun/challenging.

The shoot went very well and I'm happy with the results. I hope they are. One thing that irked me and made things challenging is I specifically told the office assistant to spread the word that people should dress in lighter colors that day. No one did.

Tipp - I can't see the first pic for some reason, but I see what you are getting at with the second one. That's a good technique but perhaps a bit too "artsy" for what my friend wanted. He really wanted very basic, plain, straightforward headshots. He's in the insurance biz and apparently boring is good in that field.