Alpha
Troll Extraordinaire
- Joined
- Mar 15, 2005
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I have a client who is a big time wood-worker and carpenter. He owns one of the only lumber mills left in our area of Virginia. He milled over 70 trees himself in order to build his new home, which he's commissioned me to photograph. I've done a bit of architectural work before, but I have never attempted to light anything this large or complicated. I need advice.
Here's the setup. The downstairs of the home is very, very open. The living room blends into the dining room and kitchen (no dividing walls). The living room itself is perhaps 40 sq feet. The upstairs is lofted, leaving the living room open all the way up to the roof. The apex of the room is probably a good 40 or see feet high. Given how wide and how tall much of the space is, I'm probably going to have to pick my battles, when it comes to getting what I want into the frame. I will be shooting it wide angle (of course), so it's imperative that I have ample and well-distributed light. For anyone who's interested, I will be shooting it in 4x5 with an 80mm Rodenstock, 645 with a 45mm, and a Rebel XTI with the 14mm 2.8L. I know that the Canon lens has an aspherical element, but I'll be using it mostly for proofing (as opposed to more costly polaroids for the 4x5, which will be my primary camera).
Given the size and layout of this space, lighting it well may prove to be a nightmare. I will probably shoot it mostly in late afternoon to cut down on window glare and blow-out. Putting up mesh scrims on the outside of the windows is not a cost effective option for me here.
As far as power needs, it's obvious that I'm going to need a lot. I've never worked with any strobe bigger than 1600 w/s. I've got a few high-powered options, though it's most cost effective for me to go with a Dynalite M2000 (2000 w/s) or the Speedo 206VF (4800 w/s). I'm worried about hot spots at power outputs this high. Any idea how much total power I'll end up needing to fill a room this size?
As far as dispersion, I was thinking about firing off of a silver umbrella and into the room, or off an umbrella and into a wall and back into the room. I may bounce off the ceiling of the living room for some shots. I want to be at or near daylight for most of these, and I want the light to be very very even.
I know that using a number of smaller strobes may help eliminate hot-spots. However, in a room this open it will be very hard to hide them, especially shooting as wide as I will be.
I could use some advice, if anyone has experience with this sort of thing.
Here's the setup. The downstairs of the home is very, very open. The living room blends into the dining room and kitchen (no dividing walls). The living room itself is perhaps 40 sq feet. The upstairs is lofted, leaving the living room open all the way up to the roof. The apex of the room is probably a good 40 or see feet high. Given how wide and how tall much of the space is, I'm probably going to have to pick my battles, when it comes to getting what I want into the frame. I will be shooting it wide angle (of course), so it's imperative that I have ample and well-distributed light. For anyone who's interested, I will be shooting it in 4x5 with an 80mm Rodenstock, 645 with a 45mm, and a Rebel XTI with the 14mm 2.8L. I know that the Canon lens has an aspherical element, but I'll be using it mostly for proofing (as opposed to more costly polaroids for the 4x5, which will be my primary camera).
Given the size and layout of this space, lighting it well may prove to be a nightmare. I will probably shoot it mostly in late afternoon to cut down on window glare and blow-out. Putting up mesh scrims on the outside of the windows is not a cost effective option for me here.
As far as power needs, it's obvious that I'm going to need a lot. I've never worked with any strobe bigger than 1600 w/s. I've got a few high-powered options, though it's most cost effective for me to go with a Dynalite M2000 (2000 w/s) or the Speedo 206VF (4800 w/s). I'm worried about hot spots at power outputs this high. Any idea how much total power I'll end up needing to fill a room this size?
As far as dispersion, I was thinking about firing off of a silver umbrella and into the room, or off an umbrella and into a wall and back into the room. I may bounce off the ceiling of the living room for some shots. I want to be at or near daylight for most of these, and I want the light to be very very even.
I know that using a number of smaller strobes may help eliminate hot-spots. However, in a room this open it will be very hard to hide them, especially shooting as wide as I will be.
I could use some advice, if anyone has experience with this sort of thing.