Recommendations for Continuous Lighting

[Chr2011]

Hello to all,

I need to take a lot of photos of leather jackets. Using flash lighting, the photos of the leather jackets look very flat. Using natural sunlight with a large sheet of diffusion fabric, the leather looks very rich, and you get a lot of nice tones.

Unfortunately, for many reasons, it is quite difficult to work outside taking photographs. Therefore, I would like to set up an indoor studio and take the photographs of the leather jackets with continuous lightning using softboxes.

My questions are:

1) What type of continuous light bulb will make the leather look rich and show a lot depth and nice tones? As stated, using flash lighting with softboxes and umbrellas made the leather jacket photos look very flat (the leather did not look good at all).

2) I am going to set up a studio in a room that is not very brightly lit. How many lights will I need to completely light the leather jacket on the body form?

3) I will also need to do portrait photography, and may want to take photographs of people sitting (half body shots) and standing (full body shots). I won't be doing groups of people, just a single person at a time.

Thanks very much for your help,

Chris

 

[Light Guru]

Flash is not the issue. Is the lighting set up.

From your description shoulda like you did not defuse the light coming from the flashes.

 

[Don Kondra]

The usual first question is how much are you willing to spend ?

Strobes with light modifiers would be the best solution, Adorama Flashpoints are often recommended as an affordable option.

Flashpoint II FP320M 150 Watt AC/DC Monolight Strobe FP320M

If you do decide to go with continuous you may want to consider multiple bulb heads with photo bulbs from Alzo Digital.

Full Spectrum Lighting from ALZO Digital

Cheers, Don

 

[tirediron]

Post some examples of your strobe-lit work along with a diagram of the set-up; I'm sure we can get you on the right track. As already mentioned, continuous light, while workable isn't the best solution. In the meantime, consider investing in this book.

 

[Chr2011]

The usual first question is how much are you willing to spend ?

Strobes with light modifiers would be the best solution, Adorama Flashpoints are often recommended as an affordable option.

Flashpoint II FP320M 150 Watt AC/DC Monolight Strobe FP320M

If you do decide to go with continuous you may want to consider multiple bulb heads with photo bulbs from Alzo Digital.

Full Spectrum Lighting from ALZO Digital

Cheers, Don

Don,

Would this lighting kit be a good choice?

2275 Watt Photo Studio Lighting Softbox Video Light Kit Boom Set & Carry Case, 2000WBOOMKIT

The light has sockets for 5 light bulbs. I'll use the Full Spectrum bulbs that you recommended.

Thanks,

Chris

 

[Don Kondra]

Well......

I started with continuous lights for product and within a year moved on to strobes.

I don't feel I "wasted" my time or money with the continuous lighting but strobes are much more versatile. More power, faster shutter speeds, less color cast problems, etc.

If you feel you would like to continue shooting in a studio environment after this current project I would suggest you skip the continuous lighting step.

Having said that, the kit in your link will allow you to adequately light product and shoot portraits if your models can remain still

Be aware some of the Cowboy Studio products are not exactly robust..

Cheers, Don

 

[cgipson1]

Hello to all,

I need to take a lot of photos of leather jackets. Using flash lighting, the photos of the leather jackets look very flat. Using natural sunlight with a large sheet of diffusion fabric, the leather looks very rich, and you get a lot of nice tones.

Unfortunately, for many reasons, it is quite difficult to work outside taking photographs. Therefore, I would like to set up an indoor studio and take the photographs of the leather jackets with continuous lightning using softboxes.

My questions are:

1) What type of continuous light bulb will make the leather look rich and show a lot depth and nice tones? As stated, using flash lighting with softboxes and umbrellas made the leather jacket photos look very flat (the leather did not look good at all).

2) I am going to set up a studio in a room that is not very brightly lit. How many lights will I need to completely light the leather jacket on the body form?

3) I will also need to do portrait photography, and may want to take photographs of people sitting (half body shots) and standing (full body shots). I won't be doing groups of people, just a single person at a time.

Thanks very much for your help,

Chris

I agree... you can do a lot more with flash... than you can weak continous lighting (it is only good for product shots... longer exposures.. and there are sometimes color / WB issues.)

If you have a large sheet of diffusion fabric... then use it! WITH FLASH! That is all you would need... and you can duplicate the results you were getting outdoors in the sun. You might need a more powerful flash... possibly several (but not for a Jacket).

 

[Don Kondra]

To expand on what Charlie is saying...

Off camera flash is an alternative to studio strobes and a step up from continuous lighting.

Lesser brand name flash heads can be had for ~ $100 a unit.

Ideally you would use three off camera flashes to shoot your jackets.

If you are at all handy you can make diffusion panels to shoot though. Then to make it even more interesting, you can also use reflector panels for some "fill" light

Very generally speaking, diffusion panels will give you a nice, even light and help control specular highlights.

Soft boxes will do the same but also allow you to "shape" the light.

Cheers, Don

 

[cgipson1]

To expand on what Charlie is saying...

Off camera flash is an alternative to studio strobes and a step up from continuous lighting.

Lesser brand name flash heads can be had for ~ $100 a unit.

Ideally you would use three off camera flashes to shoot your jackets.

If you are at all handy you can make diffusion panels to shoot though. Then to make it even more interesting, you can also use reflector panels for some "fill" light

Very generally speaking, diffusion panels will give you a nice, even light and help control specular highlights.

Soft boxes will do the same but also allow you to "shape" the light.

Cheers, Don

OP states in first post that they have a large diffusion panel... or cloth at least. Which is why I suggested that....

Using natural sunlight with a large sheet of diffusion fabric, the leather looks very rich, and you get a lot of nice tones.

 

[Don Kondra]

I caught that Charlie but perhaps I wasn't clear enough

Each flash needs a diffusion panel and I would use a minimum of two flashes.

Then you need to consider the size of the diffusion panel in relation to the distance from the flash head, he, he...

Cheers, Don

 

[Derrel]

I looked at the Cowboy studio kit. For $215, it seemed like a decent set up for use on something like a leather jacket. I'm not normally a fan of Cowboy studio, but the softboxes,fixtures, and boom stand and stands that came with their set-up for a little over two bills seemed to me to be worth the price. For products that do not move and which are going to be shown NOT with people, continuous light seems quite fine. It is, unlike flash, truly WYSIWYG lighting, which for the novice, is helpful, and it's easy to meter using the camera's metering system, unlike flash. I,myself, prefer flash for various reasons, but I started using studio flash (Speedotron Brown Line at first) back when Ronald Reagan was president, and the Soviet Union ws the big, bad boogeyman...but decent continuous light is VERY workable for many still-life and product shots. HelenB does it ALL the time, and she uses very low-cost, simple light fixtures. Results are not just the brand-name on the box, but come from the shooter's ability to light.

 

[cgipson1]

I caught that Charlie but perhaps I wasn't clear enough

Each flash needs a diffusion panel and I would use a minimum of two flashes.

Then you need to consider the size of the diffusion panel in relation to the distance from the flash head, he, he...

Cheers, Don

I have used large single diffusion panels with multiple flashes (large scrim.. automotive shoots, for instance). Which is more what I had in mind for the OP. Although for a single jacket... a large scrim (say 6'x6') with a single mono behind it should do nicely.

 

[Chr2011]

I looked at the Cowboy studio kit. For $215, it seemed like a decent set up for use on something like a leather jacket. I'm not normally a fan of Cowboy studio, but the softboxes,fixtures, and boom stand and stands that came with their set-up for a little over two bills seemed to me to be worth the price. For products that do not move and which are going to be shown NOT with people, continuous light seems quite fine. It is, unlike flash, truly WYSIWYG lighting, which for the novice, is helpful, and it's easy to meter using the camera's metering system, unlike flash. I,myself, prefer flash for various reasons, but I started using studio flash (Speedotron Brown Line at first) back when Ronald Reagan was president, and the Soviet Union ws the big, bad boogeyman...but decent continuous light is VERY workable for many still-life and product shots. HelenB does it ALL the time, and she uses very low-cost, simple light fixtures. Results are not just the brand-name on the box, but come from the shooter's ability to light.

Derrel,

I'm now thinking about this Cowboy studio kit:

4500 Watt Photo Studio Lighting Softbox Video Light Kit Boom Set & Carry Case, VL-9026S-2B-85WKIT

4500 Watt Photo Studio Lighting Softbox Video Light Kit Boom Set & Carry Case, VL-9026S-2B-85WKIT

Using the bulbs that Don recommended:

Full Spectrum Lighting from ALZO Digital

This should give me plenty of light for shooting a leather jacket on a body form and also for portraits?

Instead of using the softboxes, I could try taking my sheets of diffusion fabric and shoot through them? Should that give me different results than shooting with softboxes?

I really like the idea of suing continuous lighting because you'll see exactly how the object is lit before you take the photo.

I just want to thank everyone for all of their help,

Chris

 

[Derrel]

Softboxes like those shown will probably be fairly efficient with the bulbs they pack the kits with. I do not see the need for all that much diffusion for this leather jacket shoot...lighting is about angles, and reflection creation and reflection control. Diffusion panels require PLACEMENT...done with clamps and stands, or stands or booms and cordage (aka string, ropes, paracord,etc.). The softboxes ought to be adequate. What YOU bring to the table is as important (many would say more-impotant than) as the lights you have to use. It's kind of a garbage in, garbage out kinda' deal...if you set up good lights in a dumb manner, the results will suck..if you set up cheap lights is a good way, the results will look fine.

Throwing money at this in terms of lighting is not the best course of action. The most-needed ingredients are knowledge, understanding, and skill. You "ought to be able to" light a learther jacket on a form with any one of ten differ4nt kinds of lighting gear and modifiers and make something good...

 

[Chr2011]

I thought it over and decided that I should set up my indoor studio again with my flash lights.

I'll take some photos tomorrow and show you how they came out. I'll also take a picture of the studio so that you can see how I set up the lights.

Chris