As a beginner I did a bit of research on the various options available. I worked with hot lights in the beginning – these are bulbs that are specially manufactured to give out extremely bright lights but have a very short life (~8hrs). I often feel dangerous working with these, and I don’t really like their burn rate. Also they give out very harsh lights… didn’t know about special softboxes at that time.
Then I worked for a very long time with sunlights. Sunlight is free and works quite well, but it’s a bit hard to control, and they tend to cast very harsh light and shadow on the subject.
When I moved I no longer have access to a well-lit area for photography, which prompted me to search for another setup. Thanks for FilmMkr’s help I was able to pick a reasonable priced setup that is capable to producing pictures that far exceed the standards of the ones I’ve taken before. Here is an outline of the setup:
| Flash assembly: Alien Bees B400 Flash unit LS3050 Light Stand SB2436 Medium Softbox |
The flash unit is the life of the setup. The consensus of the amateur photography community is that Alien Bees offers the best bang for the buck. The B400 is about $220 at the time of writing. It will supply more than enough lights for photographing models… even at the lowest setting! You need a medium to soften the light, a reflective umbrella would work at < $20, but I went with a softbox ($99) as it seems to offer more control.
Finally you’ll need a stand to hold the flash and softbox. The one I bought (with 10ft pole) is not recommended for use with the flash+softbox assembly, but I decided to live dangerously and it kind of works… it really isn’t stable however |
| Backdrop | A non-reflective material with a neutral color would work best… wrinkle-free is a big plus  I got mine from the local Jo-Ann’s. I wanted to find a grey fabric since it tends to affect the balance of the pics less than colored materials. |
| Reflectors: Mirror White Cardboard Foam Board with viewport |
Since I have only one flash, I needed to have a few reflectors to bounce off lights. In fact, recently I’m relying almost exclusively on them to deliver light, as the flash light is very strong, and tends to overwhelm the details of the model.The mirror gives the strongest source of reflection. While the white foam board is also a good reflective medium, it is more diffused. I use it to give light to the front of the subject. For the longest time since I started working with flash, I could not find a way to get proper lighting to the models on the front. Usually photographers have a backfill flash to generate light for that area, but I’m too cheap for that  . Tried many ways, and settled on making a square view port in the foam. This allows the camera to poke through, while the foam board will reflect enough light on the front of the model. Now my kits are much better lighted. Finally, the white cardboard is the least reflective of all, and is used to balance out the right side. This way, the model will be better lighted on the left, which is ok since having the model uniformly lighted on all sides is a bit monotonic. |
| Turn table | I usually photograph models on a revolving base that I got from Tap Plastics these days. The turn table allows me to photograph the different views of the models easily, and I find that quite indispensible. I have no problems with the minor “aesthetic aberration” it creates. |
| Camera:
Canon G3 |
You don’t really need a fancy camera for models. The things I look for are:
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Cool setup, and pretty darn inexpensive to boot. I do have a couple of questions:
First, I assume that the angle of the softbox is due to experimentation, and not just a preset? I ask because I’ve seen most photographic light boxes with the softbox flash aiming straight down. The diffuser is large enough to cut out a lot of the hard shadows in those cases.
Second, what apature setting do you shoot with? My digicam allows, like most these days, to manually set certain things. I always shoot with the apature priority now so I can set my depth of field effects the way I want. This forces the camera to adjust the shutter speed depending on the lighting conditions. The results are pretty good so far.
Anyway, I think your reflection scheme is pretty good, although it could use some more permanent fixturing. In any case, so long as YOU like how things look, no one could argue with your rig.
J
[quote post=”108″]assume that the angle of the softbox is due to experimentation, and not just a preset?[/quote]
Experimentation. If I cast light straight on the model it seems to give the top too much light while not enough on the sides (the reflectors don’t catch enough). So I’m casting lights on the reflectors instead. I think lacking a backfill is the chief reason why this is happening (no horizontal light to balance out the top one).
[quote post=”108″]what apature setting do you shoot with? [/quote]
I usually shoot with manual mode at F8.0 and 1/1600 shutter speed so that I can get good focus on most depths. For shooting models, my G3 (which should be included in the setup :P) doesn’t always give me the best shutter speed I want at AP.
I agree with the fixturing part wholeheartedly… Rarely do photo sessions finish without the mirror hitting the floor with a loud thud đŸ˜€
I found a website that offers lessons for photography. There are some free lessons for tabletop/small product photography you can look at (I just read the free lessons). Mostly it talks about using flash/softbox photography, but also reflectors, umbrellas etc. Hope this helps.
http://www.webphotoschool.com
[quote post=”108″]http://www.webphotoschool.com
[/quote]
Thanks! I actually followed their car model tutorial when I set up my rig. It’s extremely helpful.