need help with lighting set up for small home studio

[jjchloe]

I have a windowless room in my basement that I hope to use for some family studio shots and want to ensure proper lighting and enough light or proper set up for a white background. I do have 3 overhead track lights - daylight bulbs in the room.
I have a Nikon D7000 and one SB 900 flash, remote trigger, CanadianStudio Pro 36"x36" Umbrella Softbox stand Kit for Nikon Canon Speedlite flash hotshoe mount bracket, CowboyStudio Photography/Video Portrait Umbrella Continuous Triple Lighting Kit with Three Day Light CFL Bulbs, Three Stands, Two Umbrellas and CowboyStudio Photography Black and White 9ft x 15ft Muslin Backdrops with Support System. Unable to get a white background and need help with this. Not sure if this is the best lighting or perhaps a more effective method/lighting is needed.

Help and suggestions would certainly be appreciated.

Thanks

 

[CameraClicker]

I have some continuous lights. I use them for product photos and macro. I find they are too bright if I use them and play the model, while not really being bright enough to satisfy the camera. Since you have them, lets start with what you have.

Put a white backdrop as close as you can to the back wall. Put your model about 5 or 6 feet in front of the backdrop. Set your continuous lights for key, fill, and rim. Take a photo. See what your settings are to get a decent exposure of your model. Add your SB900 to only light the backdrop about a stop brighter than everything else. You may be able to hide the flash behind your model on a short stand, pointing at the backdrop, or set it off to one side, angled to light the backdrop but not your model (add a flag if needed). Adjust to taste after a test shot.

 

[tirediron]

You simply don't have enough light. Continuous lighting (unless you get the very expensive, high-end stuff) is generally unsuitable for lighting people. It may seem very bright to you, but to the camera, it doesn't. The easiest way would be to either (1) not to worry about getting a white background, or (2) get more lights.

To start: Since this is a basement room, does really have the ceiling needed? 10' is the absolute minimum height you need to shoot standing portraits of the average adult, and 12 - 14' is much better. I have almost 15' of ceiling clearance on one side of my studio, and I sometimes find that isn't enough. You can do a lot with a single speedlight, but you're not going to get a pure white background and light the subject with it. Your cheapest bet for light will be a couple of old Vivitar or Sunpak type flashes. There are lots of them on the used market for <$50/each (often more like $10-20) and with GNs of around 80 - 100, they work very well in smaller studios. You will need a larger modifier however. As with many things, when it comes to modifiers, bigger is better. I have two large ones that I use when I'm shooting more than two people; one is a 50" Wescott SB, and the other a 60" "brolly-box". Both give excellent light, and wide coverage.

 

[WayneF]

Unable to get a white background and need help with this.

You didn't mention your procedure, but to get a white background, the first step is that you have to light the background independently, with additional lights just for that purpose.

For example, if otherwise, and if your background might be twice as far from the foreground lights as your subject, then the light on the background will be two stops down, and will appear dingy gray instead of white. A background behind cannot be as bright as a subject up front, unless independently lighted.

You said family shots and a 9x15 foot background, and assuming like a waist up portrait (can be seated if under a low ceiling), you would put the background light hidden directly behind the subject, aimed at the background a few feet back. If using incident metering, it should meter to make white be white, so does not need to meter greatly brighter than main light, but a little brighter, maybe half a stop. That is the easy way. But if a full length portrait (can't hide the one light), you have to use two lights on the background, one on each side. Depending on the width of your shot, this can quickly become difficult.

Bottom line, white backgrounds have to be lighted. If the background is a color not white, usually meter the background light to be about the same as the main light (but any choice can work).

It would be good to NOT mix incandescent and flash, because one, the color and white balance is greatly different, and two, incandescent is weak and flash is strong, so it will be hard for incandescent to compete with flash (probably very little contribution).