Um, in Australia you need south light! The north side is the sunny side....
John Coyle Brisbane, Australia ----- Original Message ----- From: "graywolf" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Saturday, November 29, 2003 1:58 AM Subject: Re: Advice re home studio > Good advice, Tanya. > > Before flash, before photofloods, there was northlight. That is big windows on > the north side of the room. Many still consider northlight to still be the best > portrait lighting of all. > > --- > > Tanya Mayer - Photographic Artist wrote: > > Lasse, I have done this MANY a time, and STILL only own one monobloc. In > > fact all of the work on my website is done exclusively with natural (window) > > light, reflectors and the odd bit off flash bounced off a wall or ceiling. > > There is no need for you to spend heaps of money on getting the "proper" > > equipment. God knows we all have better things to spend our money on (like > > nappies in my case!). > > > > My advice to you is this: > > > > - Paint or wallpaper your room in all white - white walls can make for great > > (large) reflectors of light. > > - Get thee a couple of car windscreen foil shade thingies in a variety of > > colours (I have silver, red, gold, green and blue) > > - Stick up a couple of curtain rod brackets and a curtain rod as your > > "backdrop holder" > > - Capitalise on the window in your bedroom and try to bring in as much > > natural light as possible. I find it very flattering and also a great > > thing to use when shooting kids as they don't get intimidated by the big > > stands/umbrellas/flash heads etc. > > - Get yourself a decent flash meter and you can use all the flash that you > > like, whenever you like. > > - Purchase about 20 metres of 2.5m wide muslin, cut it into 3 lengths and > > hem either end. Chuck some paint on it here and there, dye it a bit, scrunch > > it up and put it through your washing machine a few times, and you have > > yourself 3 nice backdrops. (side note: I have found that 2.5m is often not > > wide enough and being a sewer, I often sew a few widths together if I am > > doing large families or formals/debutantes etc) > > > > My favourite setup is to have them facing a window, and using a white wall > > or big piece of white foam (you know, like the stuff that broccoli boxes > > are made out of?) or silver/gold reflector to fill in the shadows on the > > side furthest away from the window. I do this all the time and it is > > particularly handy for weddings etc. to give a "studio" look to the > > portraits. Bounce a bit of flash off the ceiling, or use your 500ftz slave > > capabilities to light the backdrop and bam! one home studio. > > > > Keep in mind, size wise, you need to have LENGTH in your room to allow you > > to use portrait length lenses. I have a personal favourite - an old Tamron > > 135mm f2.5 manual focus that I use CONSTANTLY, and have found that I need a > > space at least 4-5m long to be able to use it freely. Oh, I just read > > Graywolf's post, and totally agree his suggestions. I prefer to have my > > subject even further away at times from the backdrop. > > > > Another issue is ceiling height - one of my favourite things to do is get > > right above my subject and shoot down on them - particularly kids and > > fashion type shots. > > > > Have a look here: http://www.tanyamayer.com/fairmaidens/pages/a.html > > > > All of the pictures that you see in the gallery (except for those that are > > obviously outside) were taken with the above setup - noone except for my > > clients/models would have any idea that they were in fact sitting in the > > middle of my kids toyroom/on my front verandah when they were taken! I'm a > > makeup artist too, and it helps to have that background, but you should > > still be able to get some great results for little outlay. > > > > Oh, and doing it that way, also means that you have a spare room all the > > time for when you and Stan have sleepovers! hehe. > > > > I am currently converting our two bay garage (6mx6m) into what will become a > > full-time professional studio, and the first thing I have done is cut big > > holes in the sides (much to my husband's dismay!) to allow for biiiiiig > > windows and thus, that natural light that I love so much. I can easily > > black them out when needed. I might post some pics as the project > > progresses... > > > > tan.x. (aka "fairy") > > > > ----- Original Message ----- > > From: "Lasse Karlsson" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > Sent: Friday, November 28, 2003 8:55 AM > > Subject: Advice re home studio > > > > > > > >>Hi all, > >>I've got this spare room around 4 x 2.7 meters (ca 13 x 9 feet) (yes > > > > Stan - in case you're reading, the one you used for a guest room) and I was > > thinking of trying to use it for some sort of a portrait studio (or maybe > > for shooting smaller products, in case there will be a demand for it). > > > >>Later on I'm planning to also (or instead) use (part of) my garage for a > > > > studio. > > > >>I will probably put up new wall paper with shooting pictures in mind. > >>I plan to attach some "holders" for backgrounds to a few a the walls. > >> > >>Initially I will simply try it out shooting some models, using and > > > > "calibrating" whatever flashes I have. > > > >>(I have the MZ5 (autofocus doesn't work), a Chinon K-body and a bunch of > > > > lenses. (Yes some very old cheap MF cameras too that I might have a play > > with). Probably I will buy the Canon 300D digital soon.) > > > >>I've got the Pentax 500FTZ, as well as some five-six small basic flashes, > > > > another slave trigger as well as a number of tripods. > > > >>I am sure that quite a few of you have had some experience in trying > > > > something similar and I've got a few questions for you. > > > >>1. Choosing wall paper - texture and color. Any good ideas - things that > > > > work, things that won't? > > > >>(I thought about repainting but figured any paint will still be prone to > > > > cause reflections when using flash.) > > > >>2. Will I be able to find wall fitted photo background "holders" (is there > > > > another word for them?) ? > > > >>3. How far will I be able to get using flashes only? When > > > > (photographically speaking) will I find some sort studio lights a necessity? > > > >>(Don't even remember the various types of them) > >> > >>4. (I don't want big stuff, and I don't have much money). What would be a > > > > low budget, but still useable, (type of) studio light(ing) to start off > > with? > > > >>5. The thought of using and mastering multi-flash set ups is intriguing. > > > > However how tricky will it be to learn, and to use it in practical shooting? > > Is there any obvious way to go about achieving this? (Types of flashes, > > slaves, connectors, cables or IR remotes etc.) > > > >>Thanks for any input on any of my questions, or on things and aspects I > > > > may have overlooked. > > > >>(Or should I join the local photo club and start using their studio?) > >> > >>Lasse > >> > >> > > > > > > > > -- > graywolf > http://graywolfphoto.com > > "You might as well accept people as they are, > you are not going to be able to change them anyway." > >
