Can anyone suggest a lighting set-up where you have to photograph, say, more than 5 people, and then the lights on all of them are all even? Or are the usual lighting set-ups with the main light and fill light thing still effective? Because I'm thinking, for example, if I set up a main light with a measurement of 8.0 to the right of the camera, and then a fill light with a measurement of 5.6 to the left of the camera, and then I'm taking a picture of two people side by side, wouldn't the person on the right be more illuminated than the person on the left? Is this correct?

And btw, can someone explain feathering the light to me? Thanks. :)

Assuming you place the lights equidistant from the center and set it as stated, yes one person will be less illuminated. But done properly, it will give more character to the subjects as compared to head-on flat lighting.

well can you arrange them so that their faces are more or less the same distance measured from the light source?

you may also try using reflectors to increase the amount of light hitting 1 subject. You would need to meter to make sure you have the same fstop.

those are just suggestions sir, im no lighting expert hehehe.

or maybe you can use more than 1 main source light but use gobos/barndoors to control the direction of the light.

Assuming you place the lights equidistant from the center and set it as stated, yes one person will be less illuminated. But done properly, it will give more character to the subjects as compared to head-on flat lighting.

so what IS the proper way of doing it? :) sorry, my knowledge of studio lighting is only up to the basic. Hehe.

well can you arrange them so that their faces are more or less the same distance measured from the light source?

you may also try using reflectors to increase the amount of light hitting 1 subject. You would need to meter to make sure you have the same fstop.

those are just suggestions sir, im no lighting expert hehehe.

or maybe you can use more than 1 main source light but use gobos/barndoors to control the direction of the light.

yeah, actually one of my friends suggested putting up a lot of bounce. Hehe. Thanks. :)

use a big softbox or umbrella to have more diffussed lighting and have an equal distribution.

One main and one fill light will do the job, but for a group of five or less than 10 you may need a 3rd fill light to get your desired result.

use a big softbox or umbrella to have more diffussed lighting and have an equal distribution.

I agree with Cris that big softbox will help a lot.

Thanks po. :D

nice... i learned much from this thread myself..

mabuhay

nice... i learned much from this thread myself..

mabuhay

yikes! even after reading all the replies i still don't have a clear idea of how it's done. care to post a graphical representation, masters? TIA!

I will be shooting a group of 43 people tomorrow in a hotel lobby. Conference attendees want to have an official souvenir picture of the event. I don't think I can put up a portrable strobe lights and umbrella.

However, I have two SB-24 and an SB-800 with portable lightstands as stated in http://strobist.blogspot.com/

Can anyone tell me on how to go about with this task.

i dont think you can use your SB lights. They arent strong enough to illuminate everyone.

what i suggest is taking the pic in ambent using a tripod and asking everyone to keep still until you say so. No other way i can see since it is a big group inside a dark lobby. Remeber that youll need to be around f11 to f16 for everyone to be in focus so the amount of light you get from the lobby will surely be insufficient.

Is this group big enough? :Grin: Used 6 pcs. Studio Lights, 2 in front acting as main and 4 bounced to the ceiling for fill.

http://www.photosbykengo.com/misc/afgm_group_sm.jpg

@noel - somehow, I can't find a way to upload a photo to share. Anyways, if you can follow the link, (http://www.flickr.com/photos/10555654@N00/296388825/) this photo was taken using just one strobe. A 110W/S at 1/2 power i think, positioned about 9-10 feet from the front row people. Enough to illuminate at f/8. I think I even had to decrease exposure in PS, it was shot in raw. The strobe was triggered with my on camera 550ex, on 45deg with stofen, on manual to expose at f/5.6. There was a large window the left of cam that gave a reading of f/3.2 @1/60 - not sure if this influenced the photo. The room had an 9 ft high off white ceiling.

Hope this helps.

Oh, forgot to mention, my light had a 3'x2' china made flimsy softbox. Height was about 8 ft and angled downward to face the chest of the guys standing.

Feathering? If this is the same as underwater lighting - feathering is utilizing the outside (penumbra) beams of your light source to light your subject. Tama ba?

two SB24 and a SB800 may not be enough, if you can borrow 2 more then better. But you can try setting them up at full and bouncing their light to a large styro foam board (you can get this from national bookstore)so you can increase the size of the light source (you may need some assistants to help you with this setup). Bring a stable tripod for your camera too as you may need to shoot on slower shutter speed. Hope this helps.

Good luck and let us know how it went.

thanks for the help guys. the shoot went well. Indeed, the sb-24's & sb800 were not enough. I have to asked them to hold still a few seconds after the flash.

The major hurdle on this activity was that I have to print it immediately at 8x6 so they can bring it after the dinner.

May I ask where you got the SB-24s? Im planning to get them or any old flash like SB-26. thanks

it actually depends on the situation and the poses and the positioning of the subjects.. an octobox on the center can provide a good source of main light. then you can use 2 softboxes, 1 on each side to give the fill. you can also use another light for the background... if the picture comes out flat, adjust, re-aim, and try to figure out where to add or reposition your lights. honeycombs or kicker lights can also work for highlighting details...

if ever you have limited strobes, bouncing can probably do the trick... i dunno..:Grin: