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Author Topic: Lighting Group Shots at their Home  (Read 5013 times)

rollsman44

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Lighting Group Shots at their Home
« on: February 26, 2017, 10:04:05 pm »

Lighting Group Shots at their Home
When I have to go to a family;s house to do a Family group shot I use an umbrella or Big Softbox. What I like to know from others do you use a background light( or lights) to separate them from the background. The background is usually whatever is in their home. I would like to see what others have done in similar situation. Thank you
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langier

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Re: Lighting Group Shots at their Home
« Reply #1 on: February 26, 2017, 10:21:03 pm »

Sometimes it's a matter of using the flash sparingly with only a dome diffuser by a light wall and usually for skin tone consistency. I then balance it to the ambient in the background adding a sense of place with a more natural, environmental look. If there's room, then I can use a soft box or umbrella. Each case is different and sometimes I'm lucky and the light is perfect without the need, but that's rare. I'm more likely to to shoot the family in their yard, especially if the family is more than just a few members and then I'll light it with a large octadome which can light a fairly large group and add separation from the landscape.

My goal with these situations is to minimize the intrusion, minimize the lighting and maximize the uniqueness of the image all to tell a story, rather than simply recording a bunch of faces.
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Larry Angier
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BrownBear

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Re: Lighting Group Shots at their Home
« Reply #2 on: February 27, 2017, 05:31:48 am »

Lots of variables. There's often a trade-off between room size and group size, with the added "bonus" of reflective surfaces including windows in the background. Then there is the potential for shadows in the background if your group is too close to a wall. If your lens gets too wide for larger groups you can introduce distortion in the people too, and they'll really know it when they see it.

We ended up bouncing light off the ceiling most of the time for background shadow control, and as room dimensions allowed a high hair light angled from behind. Ceilings were often too low for umbrellas, so it just worked better to bounce. Gotta watch unflattering shadows below chins with bounce, and especially with heavyweight or multi-chin subjects we'd add a floor light aimed up along with the bounce. 

Our standard location kit was two power packs with 8 lights and an array of modifiers, so we had more options than shooting with a single light.
« Last Edit: February 28, 2017, 05:40:18 am by BrownBear »
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David Eichler

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Re: Lighting Group Shots at their Home
« Reply #3 on: May 19, 2017, 07:30:33 pm »

Lighting Group Shots at their Home
When I have to go to a family;s house to do a Family group shot I use an umbrella or Big Softbox. What I like to know from others do you use a background light( or lights) to separate them from the background. The background is usually whatever is in their home. I would like to see what others have done in similar situation. Thank you

Impossible question to answer. Depends on the look you are trying to achieve and environment. Plus, background lighting is not the only way to separate the subjects from the background. Might want to study a range of books on location portaiture.
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