 Suzanna Yun |
Lighting a Mannequin I need to take shots of clothes on a mannequin. I was wondering what lights I should buy for this. I have a small area to work with. I am shooting with a digital canon rebel.
|
|
|
|
||
- Gregory LaGrange Contact Gregory LaGrange Gregory LaGrange's Gallery |
With a super-tight budget, I'd bet you could do it with two flashes, one bounced off the ceiling the other off the wall. It'd be cool to do it outside in a public place. Use a slow shutter speed to blur people walking by, have the mannequin seated on a bench, at a bus stop, standing out on a sidewalk.
|
|
|
|
||
|
Suzanna Yun |
What flash models/brands do you prefer? I'm just a new photo student trying different techniques. I won't actually be taking a photo studio class until next semester. If I were to buy lights, what would you recommend? I cannot always take my pictures during the day because I have work. Thanks for your help.
|
|
|
|
||
|
Andy |
Suzanna, Since you have a Canon digital camera, I would suggest you use a Canon flash system. Others may recommend other brands of compatible flash. It is only good if you intend to use the flash on your camera. The type of shots you are asking is better to move your flash off the camera to achieve professional look. It just happens that I also use a Canon system, and I found their wireless flash system is the easiest to use. Scenario 1: One flash on your camera: I would recommend the Canon 420EX (about $165) or 550EX (about $310), or any compatible flash that allows the flash head to be bounced and swiveled. You can bounce the light from the ceiling to get the frontal lighting or from the side wall to get the side lighting ONLY if you and your subject are close to the ceiling/wall AND the ceiling/wall color is as close to white as possible (of course you can use reflectors or white board to bounce the light; your camera may use white balancing to correct some color casting too; but what about if the color of the wall is green, purple, brown, etc.) Scenario 2: One flash off the camera. There are quite a few options to connect your camera to your flash. a) Using the Off-camera Shoe Cord 2 (about $50). But the cord is coiled and can be stretched up to 2 feet only. b) The combination of TTL Hot shoe Adapter 3 (about $60), Off-Camera Shoe Adapter OA-2 ($30) and Connecting Cord 300 ($45) can be used on most EOS cameras except your digital Rebel. c) Speedlite Transmitter ST-E2 ($180) on your camera and one 440EX or 550EX. You can use an umbrella, a reflector, or a white board to bounce and direct the light onto your subject. Like in the previous scenario, you can use a reflector or white board to fill in the shadow side of your subject. Scenario 3: More than one flash. This is when the Canon flash system comes in handy. You can use the Speedlite Transmitter ST-E2 or one 550EX flash on the camera as the master unit and control one or more 440EX or 550EX flashes. It is easy to set the flash ratio on different flashes. It is also very lightweight and portable for location assignments (I do not have my own studio). And there are NO wires, and the system is expandable. To start, I would recommend a 420EX on your camera and get a reflector/white board to see if it achieves the result you want. If not, get the ST-E2 and move the flash away from your camera. Of course, you may need to get a few more accessories like the light stand, bracket for your flash, a tripod and remote release for your camera, stuff like that.
|
|
|
|
||
|
Suzanna Yun |
Thanks for your response. I was thinking about getting lights, which I thought were going to be expensive, but using flash may actually be better and easier.
|
|
|
|
||
|
Andy |
You may find some light systems (new or pre-owned) quite affordable. You can also use the household lights, since your camera can do white balancing on the fly. It's just the type of photography I do most. I need mobility. If you are just taking photos at home, you may even use some flood lights as your basic lighting system. Hope I did not confuse you.
|
|
|
|
||
|
This old forum is now archived. Use improved Forum here
Report this Thread |
||