quick video 3: studio setup for a large white background
Today “the look” in advertising and editorial work is often a clean white background. At Daylight Photo we’ve set up a semi-permanent large white sweep for just these jobs. White seamless paper was too temporary a solution and a permanent cyc wall (cyclorama) would be too costly for what we needed. We ended up going with a 10 foot wide roll of discounted vinyl flooring that we’ve flipped upside down and painted white. It’s proven cost-effective and durable.
As for lighting, well, this isn’t one of those cases where we pull out a household bulb and a stick-in-a-can. While I like to show how simply things can be done, sometimes a little extra horsepower helps out. This set has 6000 watt seconds of power available through 1 main light and 3 background lights. This allows us to shoot groups and have plenty of depth of field for moving subjects. This set is designed so that once the subject steps on it we can start shooting.
While you may never set something up with this much light power, I thought you might find it interesting…
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Wow that’s a lot of light!
Hi Jim,
How do you calculate howmuch watt/sec you need for specific setup?
Matthias
Wow! – thanks Jim. What an inspired idea in using vinyl for the backdrop. Even on a small scale I can see what a great saving and practical solution this is. Brilliant, keep up the great work. These clips really are the “dogs chocks”
Steve
Hey
Thanks for the info. Now that’s a bunch of lighting power!
I got a question and I’d love to hear your answer for this
Which focal lengths (FLs) (and apertures?) do you use for portraits in this or other setups? And how does the used FL depend on which parts of the body will photographed? Or is FL mainly a question of which distance I want to have to the model? I know that photos with longer FL look flater than wide FLs – when do you use that effect?
Thanks in advance
Greets,
Martin
I’m glad you like the “big light” setup.
As for determining how many watt seconds we’ll need on a shoot, reader Cincinnati Steve recently quoted the great photojournalist, Eugene Smith: “I’m an available light photographer…I’ll use any light available”. There’s some truth to that. I thought I could answer this question simply but there’s a whole bunch of decisions made before we do a setup. Or we just go on location with four monolights and “make it work”. I’ll write more on this in a post.
When it comes to focal lengths for portraits, pretty much anything goes now. For a classic portrait I still subscribe to the old school thought of using a short telephoto lens (100 or 105 being my favorite). The thought is that wide angles distort a person and really long lenses flatten perspective too much. A focal length of 80-135 (on a full frame camera) takes away the wide angle distortion but still leaves some “roundness”. For full length standard portraits I like to stick with 50mm or longer. This would be a good one to jump to the discussion forum, I’ll try to do that later.
I can’t believe there isn’t a nick name for that huge sweep.
A nickname? Hmmm…the really big white sweep made out of flooring? The RBWSMOOF? Nope, it doesn’t seem to be working. “I got nothin’”.
haha, white-SMOOF sounds fun.
And thanks a lot for your answer about the FLs, Jim
Jim,
How wide is your setup and how big of a group can it accommodate? I have a 54″ back drop and struggle to have more then 2 people on at a time. I guess a 107″ roll would be able to accommodate 4-5 people.
Why it’s the Fweep … Flooring sWEEP.
Hey Mike, the sweep is actually 12′ wide (144″), I just measured it. It will handle 7 or 8 people if they’re tightly bunched.
That’s a great idea… the White-SMOOF that is.
Is there any specific type of paint (latex/oil, flat?) or technique that is required? Do you just need a typical 2 or 3 coats? Any need for a clear coat or anything if people will be sitting on it?
Oh, and once it’s painted, is there any danger in rolling it up tight back on the spindle or do you pretty much have to leave it out (like you implied with your “near permanent” comment)?
ie if you roll it up, will the paint flake or weaken (why I asked my first questions about paint type etc)?
Not quite a cyclorama, it’s the original SMOOF-Orama!*
*patent pending
Hey Richard, I pulled out the paint can so I’d have it in front of me. We use a heavy duty white primer/sealer/stain-killer as paint on the background: Zinsser Bulls Eye 1-2-3, to be specific. There’s never been a flake, crack or chip in it. Open the windows and doors when you’re painting, though.
The backside of the flooring is a little absorbent so you’ll need a couple of coats the first application. The paint has a slight shine that allows it to be swept and lightly mopped for quick cleanup. After that we can do either light touchup with paint or a complete additional coat.
We normally leave it up but have a one foot diameter tube we made out of a concrete footer form (large cardboard tube) to roll it up, if necessary. Then we store it standing up. It takes a couple people to do this.
For hanging we staple the flooring to a 2″x4″ and then screw it into the set wall. Again, call a friend to help.
I think that’s it, let me know if you have any other questions!
I tried white backgrounds on a smaller scale with portable strobes last week, so it’s interesting to see the industrial strength version.
One question: how are your background lights aimed? I found the smaller strobes needed to fire directly on the background from the sides; yours look to be bounced, perhaps?
For smaller sets I’ve done exactly as you, Matthew, firing from the sides (your shots look great, btw). On this we were looking for the big universal setup where kids could run around, etc., so we really wanted to blow some light around. We have 3 background lights up there but normally only use the outside two. They are bare bulbs aimed upward, no reflectors, so the light goes in all directions above the set but it is bounced down by a large white flat and the top/back of the seamless. Part skill, part luck, but it really does the job.
No flakes huh? I guess if you avoid tight rolls you’ll be OK.
I only have a Canon 580EX and 430EX, so I don’t think I’ll be blowing out an infinite white sweep that soon. I doubt one light on the BG would be able to evenly light it for full body shots.
Sounds like I need to save up for some studio strobes!!
I guess you wouldn’t want to hang this from a normal BG support… if you value the life of your subjects I guess. Wrapping around a 2×4 and mounting to a wall sounds like a more secure idea.
Thanks for the banner and link!
Your site looks great, I know a dozen people I can recommend it to. Hobby photography runs in my family. Take care!
Jim,
Thansk for sharing this great video. I guess you have a the firemen on standby with so much watts/sec
Doesn’t the background give a heck of a flare?
We know the local firemen very well.
The black card is really important to prevent lens flare but there’s no flare off of the background. It’s a lot of power but the light spreads out very evenly with no hot spots…part skill, part luck!
nice your lite is very good.i am very impress your photography i need your help for photography some tricks for photography e mail me and thaks for video
[...] quick video 3: studio setup for a large white background prophotolife If you’ve followed Zack Arias’s white background series, you’ll love this. A quick video on how to provide a white background in a full studio environment (A LA huge octagon and multiple flash units). Quick math produced 10,000 Watts/seconds. [...]
Hey Jim, Just another questions on the vinyl backdrop, specifically what kind of vinyl flooring was used? Would this be the same as using laminate flooring? Thanks.
Hey Corey, I don’t think I’ve ever heard it referred to as laminate flooring. Personally, I think of laminate flooring as brands like Pergo where the flooring pieces slide and lock together.
There’s no mistaking this stuff, though, it’s the large rolls of flooring sold in different widths. We bought some really cheap closeout stuff since just the back side was being used. Hope that helps.
The flooring is just simple linoleum flooring. You can find remnants or discontinued flooring for cheap. Nice work Jim! My first portrait shoot is with family this Saturday. I look forward to it!
GT
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