Problem with shooting with a bright white back drop

[That_Look_Photography]

I don't even see a way to do that on the d100..The book says when you use manual mode ttl will be on.

Mike

[NavajoCoast]

The only problem I see with spotmetering the background is that the background is not grey, but probably white. A spot meter and a light meter would likely give different readings.

I would light meter the model at f8 and meter the backgournd to f11. If you use spot metering, use a grey card for the model and the background. Set the camera to manual mode at f 8.

[That_Look_Photography]

Ok.. This is getting to funny.. Spot metering is a camera setting. And I am not using it. Maybe I should but I never get good results with it. Maybe the question I should be asking is this..

Does anyone use a D100 and has worked with a bright white background ? What were your camera settings ?

Then all I would need to do is compair settings.

Mike

[stevenD]

ok, perhaps you are getting too hung up on "numbers" and "going by the book".

Put your Camera on MANUAL, F8, 250

set your main light to 3/4 power (if you have something like an Alien Bee 800)

then set your background lites to 1/4 power

then just SLIGHTLY turn up or down each set of lights until you get what you are after....

it took you longer to type all this stuff than it should have took you to dial in your settings, which will vary because other varibles such as the distance yor lights are from the subject. Just make sure the subject is far enough away from the background as to not get any spill light on them...

[n5wd]

[ QUOTE ]
Does anyone use a D100 and has worked with a bright white background ?

[/ QUOTE ]

Mike,

OK, let's start at the beginning (and yes, I also shoot a D100 so what you're hearing is what works for me).

First off, when you put the camera in the manual exposure mode, your in-camera meter doesn't do a darned thing. So fergget about it.

What you need to do, when you are purposely setting up a model in front of a white background for a 'high key' effect is to set the lights so that the background is getting about a stop to a stop and a half more light than the model.

Here are two ways to determine your expsoure...

(a) if you have a flash meter .... meter on the model's face. Then meter on the background. The model should be 1-1.5 stops less light than the background. Make sure that none of the light from the background spills over onto the model or you'll have to worry about additional light overexposing the backside of the model.

(b) if you don't have a flash meter... find a piece of white paper. Say, your background paper or something. Get out your instruction manual and notice that there is a way to set the display in the LCD so that it flashes on any of the image that is overexposed to the point of losing all detail. To do that, you move the big round button on the back of the camera one press to the right from where you see the histogram displayed.

Now, set up the model and have her hold the white piece of paper (make sure it's not glossy) right up to her nose (I usually use a Macbeth color chart.. it's got one square of white that works well for this, and also gives me the added benefit of known colors and grey boxes to use for other things as well). Pop the flash. Is the white sheet of paper flashing? Nope? Open up the aperture one more click (1/3 of an F stop) and repeat the flash. Find the smallest opening at which the LCD shows the flashing part of the image that shows it to be overexposed. Now, stop down 1 F stop from that point and use that as your F stop. You'll actually wind up just a teeny tiny bit underexposed, but you can deal with that easily... you can't re-establish detail in a white surface that has been overexposed to the point of losing detail.

Now that you have the model set up, do the same for the background.

Or, if you prefer, you can set the background lights first (looking to make sure the light across the background is even and that the flashing begins all across the image instead of just on one side or the other) and then light the model. Whatever works for you.

Been shooting the D100 for a couple of years now.. love it to death. Lemme know if you've got other D100 specific questions.

Wayne



Shot with the (B) metering method as described above... Yeah, I've got flash meters, but this is quick, dirty, and foolproof!

[That_Look_Photography]

thanks.. I will give it a try..

Mike

[Gunfitr]

Mike:

Are you using the flash built into the camera or an on camera light? I see you say you are using "strobes" and a pocket wizard, (but that doesn't mean you couldn't still be using an on camera flash)

The reason I am asking is that the problem you are describing would occur (even in manual mode) with an on camera flash.

The only reason I can think that either spot meter or matrix would come into play if you are in manual mode is if you were using an on camera flash.

Then yes, it would do exactly what you are describing.

If so, the simple answer is to make sure the flash is in manual mode.

If you have it on "A" mode, or "TTL" mode, then spot metering under these circumstances versus matrix would give you fits.
Mark

[Andy_Pearlman]

I got so frustrated reading this thread I had to jump in. First off, I'm STILL not sure you understand that when you have the camera set to manual, NONE of you meter settings - matrx this and 3d that - are doing anything. Nada, zip. (Maybe you don't really have it set in manual?) YOU are setting the camera and whether you shoot tight headshots with the white seamless, or wide shots where the model is only in a corner of the frame, theoretically she should be consistently exposed from start to finished. I say theoretically because other elements like flare into the lens, and falloff in the corners that you can't see, could affect the way it looks. Second, as someone said, if you have a built-in flash on that camera, make SURE you have it set to not fire. If it does, it might be setting off a pre-flash that is firing your bigger strobes before the shutter opens, and then there's no juice left for the real flash. Third, as we have discussed here a few times, the proper over-exposure for the background is approximately 2/3 of a stop. Any more is a waste and will create bounceback into the lens, creating flare or a halo around the model. Definitely use a flashmeter to take an incident reading from the model position, and also from the background paper, to get the 2/3 stop overexposure on the background. There is no such thing as an in-camera flash meter for standalone strobes, so whatever you think you're reading, you're not. You can set your shutter speed to the highest your camera will go for strobe sync. (Again theoretically, high-powered studio strobes get some of their power from longer flash durations, some as long as 1/325th, but that is probably not happening to you. If it was, setting the shutter to 1/125th would fix it.). Make sure you have locked down the shutter speed and especially the f-stop setting. In my Nikon D70, they are easy to accidently change when you don't notice, so I use gaffer's tape to keep them set. (Interestingly, my old F100 film camera has a lock for both settings). Finally, make a mark on the floor for your model to stand on. If the model moves around, she's changing the correct exposure by moving closer or further from the light, which is what exposure is based on.

Its really simple, but once again, you have to understand that your in-camera meter is NOT working and has no effect on anything when you have the camera set to "manual", which is where it should be when using manual (studio) strobes. And yes, use your LCD screen and histogram to give yourself a guide as to what is going on. Here's a shot done exactly as descibied above.



Regards,
Andy Pearlman
Andy Pearlman Studio

[That_Look_Photography]

Hi Andy,
I am starting to wish this whole post would just go away. I am doing everything you said . My mistake seems to be in my fstop. If I go with what my meter says the image is under exposed. So all I need to do is change my fstop. I did a test shot and it looks like it will work. The one thing I did find out is the stuff about inside camera metering. I thought it was still working while in manual. I never onece said I was using the on camera flash. I still have no idea why anyone thought I said that. So thanks for your info on this..

Mike

[That_Look_Photography]

I see what my mistake was.. Thanks alot...

Mike