Tricky Lighting Assignment

[runnah]

So the local HS Football team is playing the final game this weekend. If they win they have asked me to take a team photo afterwards. Problem is that this will be at night. I plan to do it on the field so there is some light provided by the err lights on the field. My question is with secondary lighting.

The team with all players and staff is around 40 people. My plan is to do 2-3 rows with players kneeling in the front rows. My plan is to use 4 flashes. One on camera, 2 behind me and on either side about 8ft high and one kicker light in the back of the group. Now I've already done the math and figured out roughly the DOF, FOV and subjects positioning.

So any suggestions?

 

[Scatterbrained]

Do you have a light meter?

 

[tirediron]

I don't think your backlight will be of much use; if it's far enough away to light the whole team, it's going to be too far away to be effective, and if it's close enough to be effective, it's only going to light part of the team (unless you have a BAM* on it).

*Big-ass modifier

 

[Designer]

I agree with tirediron about the back light. Why not use the field lights as the back light, and get more flash in front? Actually, I might try all three flashes grouped fairly close together on one side, and the on-camera flash for fill with the field lights acting as the back light.

 

[Derrel]

My suggestion is to get the light source up HIGH, so the shadows fall "down and behind" the people in the front two rows!!! You want the light pretty high up: if you can get it to 10 feet high, that'd be good. If you have 13 foot stands, I would set them to 13 feet high. This is an OLD-TIME, banquet photography tip. You also do not really need to have the lights spaced that way; the old-time banquet shooters often used ONE, single,mondo-sized flashbulb (which has a HUGE flash output, equivalent to about a 1,600 Watt-second flash) placed up very high (13 to 20 feet), which sort of simulates noon-day sun, and creates only one catchlight [think eyeglasses] and creates a good, strong, deep black, under-chin shadow that makes the faces really,really stand out well, and with the high main light placement, it makes the shadows drop "down and behind", so you never, ever worry about a shadow from a front- or second-row person falling on the person behind or to the side of them.

I'd considered ganging the two monolights up, within inches of one another, and more or less only 15 to 20 degrees off to one side (actually, off to the left side of the camera, with the shadow falling ever-so-slightly to the right side of the nose,and I mean ever-so-slightly). Mostly looking for simple, direct lighting with each player's face lighted well with a good, deep shadow under the chin, and plenty of light raining down on the jerseys in the front row.

 

[runnah]

I only have 3 canon 600exrt and one sb800 to play with.

Good call on the back lights. My biggest concern is blowing out the front row and leaving the back row dark.

 

[ronlane]

You might consider having them sitting, kneeling, and standing to allow them to get closer together which will help with the lighting. (You could also consider a few of the smaller ones laying down in front of the group.)

Another thing would be to do it at midfield, because that is probably where the best lighting will be after the game.

 

[runnah]

You might consider having them sitting, kneeling, and standing to allow them to get closer together which will help with the lighting. (You could also consider a few of the smaller ones laying down in front of the group.)

Another thing would be to do it at midfield, because that is probably where the best lighting will be after the game.

Yeah I plan on having a combo of sitting and standing.

I plan on placing them at the 50 facing the sideline

 

[tirediron]

I only have 3 canon 600exrt and one sb800 to play with.

Good call on the back lights. My biggest concern is blowing out the front row and leaving the back row dark.

Don't forget to do your math on fall-off (inverse square).

 

[runnah]

I only have 3 canon 600exrt and one sb800 to play with.

Good call on the back lights. My biggest concern is blowing out the front row and leaving the back row dark.

Don't forget to do your math on fall-off (inverse square).

That is where I tend to struggle.

 

[Derrel]

I only have 3 canon 600exrt and one sb800 to play with.

Good call on the back lights. My biggest concern is blowing out the front row and leaving the back row dark.

You will have plenty of lighting power with those four flashes ganged up, and with the camera at ISO 800. There will NOT be very much light fall-off at the distances needed to light the group. As you know, light does not fall off very rapidly as the distances grow longer and longer. The depth of the entire group ought to be only about five feet from front-most face to the back row's faces, so there will be probably less than 1/3 Ev of fall-off...it'll be almost imperceptible as long as the flash units are "back a ways".

 

[Derrel]

GOOD VIDEO on why one wants to put the people far away from the source of light in a group shot, to keep the light falloff at a minimal level. See the 10:00 to end segment for the high points.

 

[runnah]

Thanks.

I am reconsidering my placement and might go for the bleachers type shot.

 

[runnah]

The result. Hard to get everyone paying attention after winning. But managed the chaos.

 

[tirediron]

Lighting looks good; what was your final set-up?