Ok how would you do it?

[ababysean]

I hope my picture is clear, excuse my drawing please....

I have been doing option 1, but not really with the reflector, someone suggested using it there to try to bounce some of the light from the flash that was coming off of the backdrop back onto the side of the kid.

But then I had an idea to do it like option 2?

I am using mostly natural light for this, just using my flash to make the backdrop white and this way I can use the light from the door to bounce back to the kids face on the opposite side?

 

[KmH]

Lighting a portrait is the same regardless your main light being a modified strobe, or a sliding glass door.

The problems with using a sliding glass door as a main light are - you are limited how bright you can make it, you can't point it.

You can use an inexpensive continuous light (or 2) with a daylight bulb Walmart.com: Bayco 10.5'' Brooder Clamp Light: Storage & Organization to light the backdrop and use the SB-600 and umbrella for your main light, using the sliding glass door light as fill or a souce of light for the reflector.

What size, shape, material is your reflector and what material is the backdrop made of?

 

[gsgary]

I hope my picture is clear, excuse my drawing please....

I have been doing option 1, but not really with the reflector, someone suggested using it there to try to bounce some of the light from the flash that was coming off of the backdrop back onto the side of the kid.

But then I had an idea to do it like option 2?

I am using mostly natural light for this, just using my flash to make the backdrop white and this way I can use the light from the door to bounce back to the kids face on the opposite side?

You will struggle to make the background white with one flash, one side will be white and the other dirty grey, i would go for a black background option 2 and swop flash and reflector round

 

[gsgary]

Or make the white background grey, flash at 45 from kid reflector 45 otherside for fill and move the kid at least 6 feet from background

 

[ababysean]

Lighting a portrait is the same regardless your main light being a modified strobe, or a sliding glass door.

The problems with using a sliding glass door as a main light are - you are limited how bright you can make it, you can't point it.

You can use an inexpensive continuous light (or 2) with a daylight bulb Walmart.com: Bayco 10.5'' Brooder Clamp Light: Storage & Organization to light the backdrop and use the SB-600 and umbrella for your main light, using the sliding glass door light as fill or a souce of light for the reflector.

What size, shape, material is your reflector and what material is the backdrop made of?

It is 43" I think. It can either be white, black, gold or silver, I've been using silver.
material? hum, not sure. fabric of some kind.

 

[KmH]

Lighting a portrait is the same regardless your main light being a modified strobe, or a sliding glass door.

The problems with using a sliding glass door as a main light are - you are limited how bright you can make it, you can't point it.

You can use an inexpensive continuous light (or 2) with a daylight bulb Walmart.com: Bayco 10.5'' Brooder Clamp Light: Storage & Organization to light the backdrop and use the SB-600 and umbrella for your main light, using the sliding glass door light as fill or a souce of light for the reflector.

What size, shape, material is your reflector and what material is the backdrop made of?

It is 43" I think. It can either be white, black, gold or silver, I've been using silver.
material? hum, not sure. fabric of some kind.

Silver produces harsher light than the white does, but the silver reflects more light.

The backdrop is fabric? And is white?

I missed the part about trying to use the angled strobe light to make the background white, and I agree with gsgary the background will be a gradient of white to gray because of the inverse square law. Inverse-square law - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[mwcfarms]

And the other day people were saying that you CAN light the whole background with one SB-600. Because when I tried I failed lol but I was shooting more than one person. Let me see if I can find the link.

this thread http://www.thephotoforum.com/forum/...rum-photo-gallery/231947-speedlight-gels.html

 

[ababysean]

oh sorry I thought you meant the material of the reflector...
No it is white seamless and yes, I swear I saw one SB600 was doable too. I wonder if I should put the flash on the other side then? since the side by the door will get more light?

 

[Derrel]

If the flash were placed immediately behind the subject at his mid-back height, and aimed straight back at the background set to a wide-angle beam spread, AND the main light exposure level is low enough in relation to the background light's output level, the background ought to be pure white.

The key is not how "much" light one puts on the background; no. Instead, the key is how much light one puts on the background relative to the main light's output.
If you need to make a large background white, the easiest answer with limited power is to apply LESS LIGHT to the subject,and by doing so, make the background light stronger in comparison. This process is called "key-shifting".

The problem with positioning a light right on the background, immediately behind the subject's back, is that it can be,at times, difficult to fully hide the light stand. But, it can be done. When aiming a light in from off to one side, the light tends to light in a gradient pattern, strongest near the light, then tapering off greatly at the other side of the background. To avoid that, the simplest thing to do is to use two lights, but then, that requires two lights.

 

[Buckster]

If the flash were placed immediately behind the subject at his mid-back height, and aimed straight back at the background set to a wide-angle beam spread, AND the main light exposure level is low enough in relation to the background light's output level, the background ought to be pure white.

The key is not how "much" light one puts on the background; no. Instead, the key is how much light one puts on the background relative to the main light's output.
If you need to make a large background white, the easiest answer with limited power is to apply LESS LIGHT to the subject,and by doing so, make the background light stronger in comparison. This process is called "key-shifting".

The problem with positioning a light right on the background, immediately behind the subject's back, is that it can be,at times, difficult to fully hide the light stand. But, it can be done. When aiming a light in from off to one side, the light tends to light in a gradient pattern, strongest near the light, then tapering off greatly at the other side of the background. To avoid that, the simplest thing to do is to use two lights, but then, that requires two lights.

What he said, but there's yet one more trick that can be used: Angle the background so that the light is off to the side of the subject, but still exactly perpendicular to the background, like this:

With the background blown white and OOF, the results don't give any visual clues that it's at an angle, and you don't have to hide the light behind your subject.

 

[Buckster]

And the other day people were saying that you CAN light the whole background with one SB-600. Because when I tried I failed lol but I was shooting more than one person. Let me see if I can find the link.

this thread http://www.thephotoforum.com/forum/...rum-photo-gallery/231947-speedlight-gels.html

You DID see that I lit the whole background though, right?

 

[mwcfarms]

And the other day people were saying that you CAN light the whole background with one SB-600. Because when I tried I failed lol but I was shooting more than one person. Let me see if I can find the link.

this thread http://www.thephotoforum.com/forum/...rum-photo-gallery/231947-speedlight-gels.html

You DID see that I lit the whole background though, right?

Yes I did lol and this is why I need to practice more lol.