Help with shadows

I have decided it is time to move on... from my black backdrop to a white one. I shoot as a hobby; mostly of my two girls. I ordered a white backdrop and was so excited to test it out but apparently I need some help with my lighting. I get horrible shadows. I have an Alien B-600 used with a white shoot thru umbrella and a couple "ghetto" lights (as my husband calls them). I am thinking of ordering another light (B-400) and a reflector but want to make sure I am going in the right direction before I order. I have a Nikon D70 if that makes any difference. I also have decided it is time to invest in a light meter and would love any recomendations on meters.

Thanks so much.

You all rock with your advice and knowledge!!!!!!!!

Lisa

Lisa,

Congrats on taking the next step with your studio work. Could we see an example of the "bad shadow" shots? I'm curious because with umbrellas there no real reason you should be getting harsh shadows.

Try bouncing the flash into the umbrella (not shoot-through), make sure the light is well above your subject's eye level, and try to move both light and subject away from the white bg a bit. Even with one light, these should all help soften the shadows...

Thanks for the advice. Unfortunately I do not have access to my photos right now to send you one of my "bad shots". I had to fly home unexpectedly due to my grandmothers failing health so I am many states away from my equipment right now. Being away from home I actually have a bit of time to sit and try to research my shadow problem. I am very anxious to get back and try out your suggestions. I dont know why but it never occured to me to turn the darn light around to let it bounce back. If that fixes the problem I am really going to feel like a dork. I never imagined the solution would be so simple.

Thanks so much. Any recomendations on light meters?

Another thought... You said your advice would soften the shadows. Is there any way to eliminate them completely. I am dying for a bare bottom shot of my daugher (while she is still an infant). I have visions of soft white and just her. Thats my goal anyway.

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Originally Posted by Lisa Marie

Thanks so much. Any recomendations on light meters?...

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Well, I guess it depends on your budget. I'm partial to Sekonic, and have used the L-358 for quite a few years now. The L-308s is a bit cheaper but looks pretty good, too. On the high end is the L-588 Dualmaster, but that's kind of a luxury unless you make a living with your lights, heh heh.

Honestly I just signed up to post this reply and I am not sure if I will even remember this site to see how you go, but lets hope I do.

How I would go about it, use a couple of extremely soft lights surrounding the subject, a bit like this:

>> http://www.studiolighting.net/homema...t-photography/

That would remove all shadows ... just a thought :)

The way I would go about it, bounce the light off the roof as shown above, or use four softboxes, you don't need to spend a fortune, just throw a white silk sheet in front of the lights, that should soften them enough, and if it is just for your personal use, who cares if it doesn't look 'professional', it will do the job good enough :)

If you are using the umbrella, bounce the flash into it, not directly to the subject, if the above lights are soft enough, it should create a gentle low-light / high-light on the subject, but remove all shadows ... just play around with it.

Another option if the subject is not directly on the background, meaning you have a space between the subject and the background like with normal portraits, simply put a light behind them pointing at the background, a harsh, strong, light and it will light up the background perfectly white, as long as you expose correctly.

>> http://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic2/368532

As for light meters, My dad just bought me the L-308s, though I have to pay for it ... Its my first light meter, better than using a grey card and I dont need anything expensive atm, I brackett most of my photos anyway just in case, but then again ... I am still using film, especially trannies, and they have a lot less tolerance to wrong exposures. I have to convince my fiancee to let me buy the Canon 5D ...