Photoshoot tomorrow with lights

[Bryant]

I am shooting a photoshoot for a t-shirt design company tomorrow and went to my school's media library and they gave me 2 lowel pro lights with the barndoors and all the stands etc... Problem is that they don't plug into my camera so I cant have them go off as my flash. I plan on setting one up to light the person and then another as fill light.

But my question is how do I use just constant light to get the studio lighting as I've never used strobes or anything of that sort.

Thanks

 

[Flash Harry]

These lights possibly have slave cells, set them up and use your on cam flash to trigger them, if it works have a few practice shots to get the aperture correct, put camera in manual and off you go. H

 

[Bryant]

Alright, I'll find out soon enough about the slave cells. If not, how can I set up the lights as ambient lights and get it to be close to strobes by setting my camera?

 

[Big Mike]

It's likely that the lights to have slave cells...but using your camera's flash to trigger them, probably won't work. Reason being is that your camera's flash uses a pre-flash for metering. That preflash would trigger the strobes and then they wouldn't be able to fire again when the flash actually fired and the shutter was open.
(I see that you have a 580EX. You can use that, just put it in manual mode (not E-TTL) and then set the power down to a low setting like 1/64 etc. )

Is there not a sync cord with the lights? Your camera has a PC port for plugging in a PC sync cord.

f not, how can I set up the lights as ambient lights and get it to be close to strobes by setting my camera?

Most studio strobes have 'modeling' lights...which are meant to help you see where the light is going...but they aren't really meant for shooting with because they probably aren't very powerful...which would cause you to need a rather slow shutter speed. That's OK if you have a tripod and are shooting inanimate objects....but for shooting a person, you may be out of luck.

 

[GeneralBenson]

Are you sure that they're not just constant "hot" lights? Are you sure that they are in fact strobes?

 

[snowdir]

Bryant. Have you ever dipped into using a Nikon D90? Im on the fence right now. May get one may not. Also, do you shoot burton product? Like
the Burton Snowboards on this site? Is that what you mean in your footer? How do you land that gig?

Thanks!

 

[Bryant]

Yes they are probably just hotlights sadly... So i'll try my best. And I am a representative for burton snowboards, meaning that I ride on the flow team for them through my shop sponsors. Which is where I get some free equipment along with heavily discounted goods so that people see the products more on the mountain. I also go to stores in new england where i demonstrate the new products each year when the shops are just getting in their new years shipments, helping the salespeople become more knowledgeable. I have been with Dean Blotto on photoshoots for burton for action shots, but not products.

 

[bango707]

Alright, I'll find out soon enough about the slave cells. If not, how can I set up the lights as ambient lights and get it to be close to strobes by setting my camera?

The lighting will all come down to how you want it to look. Do you want it very bright or very dark and contrasty? There are many different looks in between so you really need to know what you want before you begin. This will determine what lights you might need and where they need to be placed.

As far as setting up your camera, you need to figure out how much ambient light you want, and adjust your f stop, shutter speed, and ISO accordingly. If you don't have a tripod then I wouldn't go below 1/60th unless you have a surgeons precision. Anyhow if for whatever reason there is too much ambient light and you want to get the room darker then you would raise your shutter speed to maybe 1/250 or whatever gets the desired effect.

If you want just simple, diffused (soft light) then I would try and put some diffusion (drafting vellum, a silk, anything white that light can pass through) either attached to the barn doors via clothes pins or in front of the light on a stand of some sort. You can use one or both lights depending on how even you want the light.

If you want to light it slightly more artsy then you can put your key light (your main light) to either the right or left side of the camera so that the light falls on 3/4 of the models face which should also provide enough light to light the shirt. If you can grab a silk and a c stand to diffuse the light this might look better depending on what you are going for. I would use the other light as a rim light behind the model on the opposite side from your key light.
This is a very simply lighting setup.

You said something about getting a studio look... does that mean that you are shooting this in a studio or is that just the 'look' that you are trying to achieve? I don't really know what a 'studio look' is seeing how you can make any subject look however you want them in a studio.

What is your background behind the model? Is there anyway that you can get additional lights or diffusion if need be? If not then you will need to rely on the ambient light unless you can light the model with only one light or maybe bounce light from a window or doorway.

You might want to take a look at this years buyers guide and look at some clothing advertisements to get a feel for how they did their lighting. Like I was taught in photography/film school, if it has worked before there's a good chance it will work again! You don't need to reinvent the wheel!

Good luck!!!