For my entire photo career I have been a location and SLR guy, but at the beginning of this year I put together a small studio with 25x17 foot compound cyc wall, broncolor lighting and a H2/P45 system. I am shooting people at the moment, but I will be moving to product as well in the near future. All is well, except for one thing, and that is that the cyc wall is really just a giant reflector. Every cyc I have ever seen in my life (I have not seen that many) has been white, so that was what I painted mine, but now that I am using it, I realize just how much light that white wall sends around the room. Even with flags, it is very hard to make a hard shadow when I have lights lighting up the wall. Fine for high-key, though, but not for dramatic light. If I had space, I suppose moving 30 feet from the wall would solve this, but I really can not put my subjects more than 15 feet from the wall. Keeping in mind that most everything I shoot in front of the wall will be for knockout, is there any reason not to have an 18% gray wall instead of white? I am only considering this to try and cut back on the bounce light, but I would really appreciate a little feedback from others before I spend the $ on trying this out for real.
Thanks,
Eric Cable