Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2002/11/01
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]>> As for flash......use it sparingly, if at all. Flash-on-camera tends >> to flatten >> the planes of the face and cast ugly sharp shadows. Try to diffuse >> the light by >> reflecting from a white card or umbrella, or flash through an >> umbrella. Anything >> to enlarge the light source. Better yet, use one softened flash on >> your camera >> and underexpose by at least a stop, and another slaved flash off >> camera about >> 45degrees at correct exposure, through an umbrella, preferably held >> by an >> assistant. This will give you repeatable, perfect studio light on >> almost any >> location. I rarely use flash but that is the system I use for >> emergencies. None >> of this works too well with an M6 and 1/45 sec flash synch if you are >> using >> 400ISO film! My portrait lighting set-up, which Henry Ambrose turned me onto, is really simple, but big. A flash fired through an umbrella, fired in turn through a REALLY FRICKEN BIG silk on a frame. You can make the silk yourself easily (just go into a pro camera store and ask for the biggest silk they've got, play with it, then go to a fabric store and a hardware store and build one yourself). My silk is 8'x6' and it could still be bigger! Anyway, the light from this setup is great. Put it off to one side, block out all the other light in the room, and use a reflector on the shadow side as necessary. That's it. Lovely light. Window light, in fact, near as dammit. - -- Johnny Deadman - -- To unsubscribe, see http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html