New to Photography- lighting questions

[Designer]

Hello all. I have always wanted to venture into photography and have decided to take the leap. I have Nikon D3000 and a studio space with fluorescent lighting at the moment. All of this is new to me and I want to know what might be some suggestions for monolighting. Also, I understand the concept of modeling light but am unsure if this remains on all the time so I can have my fluorescents off? For me this is a self taught learning process and am also wondering if the monolights will be triggered with my run of the mill pop up flash? Thank you =)

The modeling light on monolights are not intended for general room illumination. Typically, one does not leave the modeling lights on all the time. It probably wouldn't hurt them, aside from shortening their life, but the existing room lights are much more efficient at general lighting.

With any type of room lighting you will have to deal with the light color and the white balance. If you do your own post-production editing, you can adjust the white balance after the shoot.

Most monolights do have an optical trigger that can be triggered by any flash. One thing to consider is how your built-in flash will help or hurt the other strobe lighting. It could be used as "on-camera fill", or modified in some way so as not to interfere with your other lights.

There are other ways to trigger strobes, such as; wired, using a PC cable (you will have to purchase an inexpensive hot shoe adapter), or a wireless radio type of trigger system, where one unit mounts on the camera, and the other unit(s) trigger the strobes, or using the Nikon CLS (using certain models of Nikon speed lights). Another way is to set a speedlight to operate as a "slave" and trigger it with your built-in flash. This is actually not the CLS, but it still works. I have a SB-910 that I use that way, and I think it works great.

[hk001441]

Jim-

So I shouldn't worry about the fluoro lighting in the room and just worry about my set up? I already took shots in raw and edited white balance post production. Just hoping monolights will improve my lighting.

[Colin Southern]

Hi ya Colin -

And I bet ALL your Fluoros are well looked after; replaced regularly and evenly (and the starters too); are all the same colour - probably soft white; and not one has neither Buzz nor Flicker . . .

I just can't stand fluoros . . . for all those reasons and more. Just too difficult to use and maintain 'best practice' for the Studio environment - yes they are good for AF - but I put the Model in a neck brace so she doesn't jump all over the place !

Regards
Bill

Hey Bill,

Hope your Air Cond is holding up!

Funnily enough, folks often ask why I don't turn the lights off during a shoot -- so a take a shot without firing the strobes and "show" them how the camera sees it (at F11 @ 1/125th @ ISO 100). I've actually had a good run out of my office florescents - I replaced them all for the first time last year -- must have got about 10 years out of them (with no maintenance) -- thought they did pretty well. We've learned that they're not the best to view prints under though.

[Colin Southern]

If you have flourescent lighting, you will shut those off while shooting.

There's not normally a need to turn them off if you're shooting at typical studio parameters (1/125th @ F8 to F11 @ ISO 100) -- about the only time they show up is if you take a shot of the actual light itself.

Here's a shot from a studio shoot where the strobes didn't fire - so just flouros ...

[hk001441]

Now that my lighting question is out of the way..anyone recommend a good backdrop support system or does price make much of a difference in that area?

[Colin Southern]

Now that my lighting question is out of the way..anyone recommend a good backdrop support system or does price make much of a difference in that area?

Hi Heather,

The "usual" is to use seamless paper (black and white being the two most common). They come in 2 standard widths (6 feet and 12 feet). For starters you'll need 2 stands - the retainers - and the roll holders ... they're all pretty cheap and "good enough", but there are several "gotchas" ...

- If you leave the roll suspended by the end points it'll eventually sag in the middle -- which will then put a crease in the paper ... so best to lay it flat on the floor when not in use.

- (especially) if you have both rolls in the air at the same time they tend to be somewhat unstable ... it "works", but it's easy to have the whole lot come crashing down if you're not careful. In the end I attached the tops of mine to some inexpensive chain and anchored them to part of the ceiling structure.

- The paper is easily dirtied - so if you "think ahead" a bit it'll have you $$$ in the long run (eg clean floor before rolling out -- don't walk on any more than absolutely necessary etc).

- The sad news is that if you want a white background in a shot then you need to light it with a separate light (preferably two) -- if you try to do it with one you'll either get a light gray background and a correctly exposed subject or a white background and an over-exposed subject. Sometimes I'm using up to 5 strobes to light the subject and background for white-background shots. Eg:

[Manfred M]

There's not normally a need to turn them off if you're shooting at typical studio parameters (1/125th @ F8 to F11 @ ISO 100) -- about the only time they show up is if you take a shot of the actual light itself.

Here's a shot from a studio shoot where the strobes didn't fire - so just flouros ...

The math says you're right Colin, but I have found that with a single light and reflector (which is often the way I shoot) and fairly to wide open (f/4 or so) at 1/60th (which is the synch speed of my D90) I do seem to get contamination from the ambient lights. If I shoot the D800, which has a synch speed of 1/250, not an issue.

[Manfred M]

Jim-

So I shouldn't worry about the fluoro lighting in the room and just worry about my set up? I already took shots in raw and edited white balance post production. Just hoping monolights will improve my lighting.

My experience is "it depends" on how you are shooting, see my comment to Colin. I don't know what the synch speed of the D3000 is, but if it is as slow as my Leica or my D90, you could have a problem.

[Colin Southern]

The math says you're right Colin, but I have found that with a single light and reflector (which is often the way I shoot) and fairly to wide open (f/4 or so) at 1/60th (which is the synch speed of my D90) I do seem to get contamination from the ambient lights. If I shoot the D800, which has a synch speed of 1/250, not an issue.

Fair point. For me, I'm "limited" by the minimum power of my fill lights - which typically means I can't shoot wider than F11 (or F8 @ ISO50) (@ 1/125th). Mind you, I wouldn't want to -- DoF can be an issue even at F11.

Might be time for you to upgrade your lights

[Manfred M]

Fair point. For me, I'm "limited" by the minimum power of my fill lights - which typically means I can't shoot wider than F11 (or F8 @ ISO50) (@ 1/125th). Mind you, I wouldn't want to -- DoF can be an issue even at F11.

Might be time for you to upgrade your lights

That is my goal. I have two Paul C Buff Einstein 640 lights and am looking at and am looking at adding to the collection. I dropped a lot of money on a D800 and the f/2.8 14-24mm lens over the last 8 months, so the photography fund is a bit bare right now. Most of my portrait shooting uses a main light and a reflector as a fill with the second light as a rim / hair light as required.

[Designer]

Jim-

So I shouldn't worry about the fluoro lighting in the room and just worry about my set up? I already took shots in raw and edited white balance post production. Just hoping monolights will improve my lighting.

Exactly! The biggest issue with the room lights may turn out to be this; when the room lights are on, your modeling lights may be somewhat hard to see the effect. If the room lights are switched in "banks", you can turn off the ones in the immediate area so as to see your modeling lights better.

As long as you have enough light from the ones left on so you can see the camera controls and avoid tripping over light stands, cords, or small children. Another method is to tape up some cardboard light shades on some of the ceiling lights in the area. You will know better if you need to do this after you get your strobes and try out the modeling lights. The worst case is you have to hire an electrician to install some extra light switches.

Yes, no matter what type of lighting is in the room, you will still have to monitor/adjust/edit the white balance, either before the shoot or in post.

If you get one of the brands that have been recommended above, your studio lighting will take leaps forward. Be sure to budget in money for light modifiers, light stands, etc.

I see you are already thinking of backdrops and backdrop holders.

[Manfred M]

Further to Colin's response on backgrounds, I use a Manfrotto system that consists of two stands, a cross pole and carrying bag.

http://www.manfrotto.ca/product/8373...t_Kit-Complete

Not having a studio, something that is simple to set up and tear down quickly works for me. I agree with Colin on the issues of having background paper crease, but have found that his solution of lying the seamless paper down flat does not work for me as it can introduce flat spots where it is lying. These show up in the images and are more noticeable when I use black paper. I find standing the seamless paper vertically in its shipping box works best for me. You will also need a couple of clamps to keep the paper from unrolling. I picked up a set of spring-loaded plastic ones used by woodworkers at my local hardware store for a few dollars. This solution works fine.

I shoot with black, white (which gets dirty quite quickly) and a medium gray. I don't know if I am doing something wrong but I find that when I shoot with a black background I have to spend a bit of time in PP removing white specs that come from light reflecting off the paper. I haven't found any solutions yet. I would like to try some chromakey shots (green screen) but will have to invest in a couple more lights and modifiers to do that.

[jcuknz]

One of the things I noticed as I used my bridge camera in a room full of people using their DSLRs ....I could see all the readings in my EVF while the DSLR guys seemed to need torches Not suggesting you use a bridge camera but get live view ... M4/3 has it too
Anti-Ques v. state of the art
Sorry I'm trolling again ....

[Graystar]

The math says you're right Colin, but I have found that with a single light and reflector (which is often the way I shoot) and fairly to wide open (f/4 or so) at 1/60th (which is the synch speed of my D90) I do seem to get contamination from the ambient lights. If I shoot the D800, which has a synch speed of 1/250, not an issue.

You can sync at 1/200s with the D90. You just have to select that speed, either in S or M modes. In A and P modes the camera defaults to the e1:Flash Shutter Speed setting, which defaults to 1/60s (but, for some reason, can only be set slower...not faster. I tried to get Nikon to explain why...but they couldn't.)

The D7000/D600 and pro bodies have an "X" speed choice for shutter, as well as being able to set the sync speed in the custom settings. So they've got more versatility in controlling the sync speed.

Also, if you're using AutoFP compatible flash units, there's always AutoFP, which works great for suppressing ambient light.

[Colin Southern]

The biggest issue with the room lights may turn out to be this; when the room lights are on, your modeling lights may be somewhat hard to see the effect.

Not really - modelling lights are next to useless because the human eye adapts to the different light levels differently to a camera. I suspect that most photographers quickly learn where to place lights without the aid of modelling lights. Personally, I only ever use them when using hard light (eg snoot) where correct placement is a matter of inches.

[Colin Southern]

but have found that his solution of lying the seamless paper down flat does not work for me as it can introduce flat spots where it is lying. These show up in the images and are more noticeable when I use black paper.

Hi Manfred,

To be honest, this sounds symptomatic of background light contamination (either too high ambient or spill-over from your key light / reflector). It's one of the reasons I like to shoot at higher F-stops to kill the ambient.

A good work-around for you would be to pop along to your nearest fabric shop and get some black velvet to use as a backdrop -- it absorbs a zillion times more light than the "black paper" (the "black" paper is actually a dark grey -- I can even turn it white if I hit it with enough power!).

[Colin Southern]

You can sync at 1/200s with the D90.

You can with speedlights ... but with studio strobes most are limited to around 1/100th to 1/125th.

[Inkanyezi]

You can sync at 1/200s with the D90.

You can with speedlights ... but with studio strobes most are limited to around 1/100th to 1/125th.

And the reason that studio strobes won't sync at the shortest sync time is that they have longer duration and are a bit slower to ignite, also because of using slave or other remote systems that have their own latency. So if you use a radio remote to sync the first studio flash, the remote needs maybe a millisecond or more, and then the second studio flash, slave, does not ignite at the same time, but after another millisecond or somewhat more. Then the studio flashes may have a duration of up to about three milliseconds, effectively needing a shutter time of about 1/125 to capture all the light. If they are triggered with an on-camera strobe or IR trigger, you might get away with 1/160.

[William W]

Now that my lighting question is out of the way..anyone recommend a good backdrop support system or does price make much of a difference in that area?

Yes: a big jump in price.

A Wall or Ceiling mounted system with solid rods to support paper rolls and heavy duty arms to support cloths, drapes or another materials is: secure; quick and very easy for one person to use: but very much more expensive than buying a couple of moveable stands.

If you went for a Ceiling Mounted System of Backdrops - then you would have the space (and likely the money) for a Ceiling Mounted Lighting Gantry to be installed – that gets rid of a few lighting stands, also.

Ceiling mounted gear is usually for physically BIG studios - but that does NOT exclude Portraiture Studios - especially useful for Full Length Portraiture or Group Shots.

***

In between buying a few stands and the ceiling mounted option - would be wall mounted. And not all on the same wall. If possible perhaps three backdrops mounted on two different walls – six in total as one example.

I'd guess it is likely that (wall mounted and ceiling mounted) gear would be cheaper in the USA, than acquiring it where I have set up Studios.

I liked the Corrugated Metal backdrop – I wouldn’t lose that, if I were you.

WW

***

{begin RANT}
As an aside – on the topic of the ambient creeping in and Fluorescent lights and etc. . .
With my Elinchrom Studio Flash I tend to Sync at 1/60s to 1/125s for Portraiture – and maybe 1/30s for most table top stuff. So, IF I had a lot of fluorescent lights burning I could get some nasty GREEN (yuk yuk), creeping in.

In any case -

For ‘Portraiture’ - I do not find fluorescent lights (used as the ‘house lights’) provide a mood for the Subjects which I want.

I find it is much easier to establish RAPPORT with soft, side, up lighting as the ambient Studio Lights – that point was not clearly made before.

And I seriously cannot stand the buzz some fluorescent lights make when they get weary.

And any flicker drives me nuts . . .

Hence my abstinence from them and my suggestion not to use them at all: forever and ever, amen.

{end RANT}

[William W]

. . . Hope your Air Cond is holding up!

Crikey it was 40.7°C in the shade on Tuesday . . . 27.1 in my office – with the aircon set at 19 . . . yes the little guinea pigs were running fast inside the compressor motor.
We expect another scorcher on Saturday – I am shooting outside – I am in the middle of negotiating my way out of that. . .

Bill