Im starting this thread to try to find out what setup you guys use to take photos of your model? ie: Do you bother setting up the lighting behind the camera and make sure the light is soft enough or do you just shine direct light on your model?

I used to take photography back in my college days and even though the pros use light reflectors and all the other fancy equipment to take their photos, i have seen some pretty good photos taken using stuff that you find in your household. It is these tricks that i really want to learn so please do share!

I think the best place to take photos of your models is outdoors, using natural light

The couple of photos that I have taken have been with multipe light fixtures aimed at the model. No flash. Use Halogen bulbs for better color rendition. Back ground should be neutral. Camera on a tripod is a must. Happy shooting.

The last pics i took were whit a blue screen down an in the back of the model, and indirect sun light coming from behind me. I set the camera without flash, medium resolution, and voila! I guess those were good. here you got two examples






no fancy things at all, just a little care of myself ends in a fairly good final result.
regards

Hi, Jeremy
Its pretty simple. A couple of ordinary office lamps, A blue cardboard background and most inportant of all; A tripod for the camera. (BTW I have not bothered to get the extra lamps or the background.)

You can experiment with the light setting and differences between light and shadow. Normal daylight will normaly be the best light sourch, but you might have to use a reflector (white card board does the trick) to get the light where you want it. Using a tripod will insure you of getting sharp pictures. You can set the speed and shutter manually, and get very good details. Here is a couple of examples

This picture is taken with the blitz on the camera (big no, no acctually) and hand held. Not very sharp, and the blitz screw up the colors.



This picture is taken with a tripod, very long shutterspeed and high "contrast". White balance is set to match the artificial light. You can see that technically it is a much better picture than the one above.


That should pretty much cover the technical aspect. The artistic part is up to you. Hope this is a bit helpfull. Before I forget: Both pictures are taken with a Nikon D-100 with a 24-85 zoom.

Cheers
Erik

Here's my "photo studio." Looks like a modeling bench, doesn't it?

Take a look in my gallery to see the results. For the record, I don't use a tripod.
Personally, I find most direct sunlight pictures too harsh in scale. You'd need a fill in flash or a light bouncer/ummbrella, etc. to fill in the shadows and get a really good image. Consider most posed outdoor photographs, whether wedding or Swimsuit Issue, cotrol the light to a great degree with these tools.

My setup is similar to Al's in that I use three light sources. I have one on the right side, one on left side and one shining from the top sort of over my head when I am taking the picture. In all three of my lamps I use (I am not sure if this is what they are called) "true color" light bulbs. They give off white as opposed to yellow glow. This helps in rendering actual colors.

I use a mini tripod for macro shots and regular tripod for the overall shots. No matter how steady your hands are, a tripod for macro shots is a must, otherwise photos come out blurry.

Wow these are good tips coming. Be great if the moderator could make this thread a sticky thread so everyone else can learn these ways.

I too find direct sunlight a bit too harsh and normally try to wait until there is a slight overcast before taking the photos.

Im surprised some of you used direct light although im guessing most of you who do use a low energy bulb which is all good.

Would love to see more shots of your improvised photo studio.

Make sure your hot lights are 5500 kelvin. They are usually blue. Unless you can change the color temperature on your camera then you should go with the blue lights.

5500 Kelvin the measurment of light for outdoors. Don't get the lights too close your model. The are very hot and could melt the plastic.

Ken Bizzigotti
Staff Photographer javascript:PasteSmiley(':-H')

----DAY-LIGHT bulb ---some contrast backing ---my little--FUJI A2055-----in the "mitt"---"POP!!
No flash---and if I remember ---a mirror each side---does me :-)
Only for my use!

So if they come out --great --if not --try again ----love them or
leave them :-) :-) :-)
aye
BARV
0GOSMG)

My photos are taken in the same place I model- on the dining room table! Everything has to be taken down when I've finished or someone wants to eat!!
There's a window by the side, one halogen desk lamp that also doubles as illumination when painting and a collapsible blue backdrop.
For matt finished vehicles it works ok but too harsh for figures as anyone viewing my work will have noticed. Perhaps I'll try the idea of a reflector on the other side from the lamp - white card perhaps.

I use 3 things, a photo box I made, a tripod and halogen work lights.



I built this box from 2 pieces of foam core, it folds up flat for storage.



For lighting I have a tripod mounted twin 500w (1000w total) halogen work light. It telescopes up and down so I can adjust the angle of the light and the 2 light heads independantly turn as well. I also have a pair of clip on 150w halogen lights I started with and occasionally use for additional light but I rarely need them.

The tripod is a chep thing I picked up at Walmart for $20, works great. I do not use the camera flash but I do use the timer which helps avoid jiggling the camera. I use a 4mp pocket style digital camera with a 3x optical zoom, so nothing particularly fancy about the camera although it does have a close up setting, but not a real Macro setting, I use the zoom to bring the model closer.