Bruce Dayton wrote: > Hello Scott, > > The room does seem a little challenging. One big issue is the height > of the ceiling. My umbrellas have a removable back that allows them > to either bounce or shoot through. When the ceilings are high I can > use them for bouncing the light, but if the ceilings are lower, then > shooting through saves me several feet. So that is one suggestion - > get shoot through umbrellas. Basically you need to have the light > high enough for the shadows to fall behind your subject. > > As to backdrop, Bill Robb has talked a few times about more of a > muslin like drop that you can make yourself - maybe he'll chime in. > In that size of width, some natural folds to the cloth might look less > antiseptic than seamless and might be easier to deal with. > > For lights, I use the Alien Bees. They are priced very competitively > and have features to match the high end systems. My understanding is > that they are lighter duty, so wouldn't be a good choice for a studio > that is shooting day in and day out. But for my usage, which is much > more hit and miss, they are excellent. It is certainly worth checking > them out. > > Anyway, some starting advice - hope it helps. > > Thanks, Bruce. Quite a few of you have suggested the Alien Bees. Based on the features they seem to be very competitive Ceiling height is definitely an issue. Bouncing off the ceiling is probably something we could do with a seated or prone subject. I would imagine that they're a bit low for a standing adult. Christie and I discussed Bill Robb's muslin ideas a while back and decided that our landlord probably wouldn't appreciate a couple gallons of paint splattered across the back yard. <g>
-- Scott Loveless www.twosixteen.com -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List [email protected] http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net
