Lighting help??

[Lisa Black Photography]

I am shooting a Christmas card for a local bar this week. I have 2 hotlights, a mini boom, and 2 diffuser umbrelas, the area we are shooting in has very low light and my model will be standing in front of a beer can Christmas tree and a shiny mural...I'm worried about too much shine or glare off the wall and tree (which are very important elements in this shoot). Any suggestions on how I can set up to avoid this? I'm still pretty green when it comes to lighting but I'm working on it!
Thanks!
Lisa

[Edson Carlos]

knock knock, photogs help?!

[Filmmonkey]

How big are the hotlights wattage wise. Do you have any flags or other ways to control the light? Any reflectors?

How wide is the shot? As in how close can you get the lights w/o them in frame. The umbrellas will work for you but can cut a lot of the light. If it's a wide shot and you have to pull them back they just aren't going to throw much light at all.

[Lisa Black Photography]

I have 2 500W and on the boom a 250W.
I was thinking of making some reflectors with foam core and/or tin foil but I don't have any right now., I've never used them before but think I should really start trying too,especially on my limited budget. The shot will be pretty tight as there is not a whole lot of area to work with. Everything will have to be pretty close plus the ceilings are quite high and black.
My town has no photography supply stores, heck you can barely buy a camera here so I don't have time to order anything. Anything I do will have to be cheap and creative.
Thank you for your reply!

Filmmonkey said:

How big are the hotlights wattage wise. Do you have any flags or other ways to control the light? Any reflectors?

How wide is the shot? As in how close can you get the lights w/o them in frame. The umbrellas will work for you but can cut a lot of the light. If it's a wide shot and you have to pull them back they just aren't going to throw much light at all.

[Filmmonkey]

In addition to what sfpj said (which btw was a great crash course in 3 point lighting),

Pick up black and white foam core. If you want to use foil to make a reflector I'd crinkle it up a little first or you may end up getting a hard bounce effect, more like a mirror which defeats the purpose of reflectors.

I'm guessing your lights don't have barn doors to help control the light?

You can use the foam core to prevent light from spilling onto the wall, but be careful with it too close to the hot lights. If spill is really bad you can make a snoot, or basically like a foil tube that wraps around the hot light head and makes a little tunnel for the light. The foil will still spill a lot and this makes the bulbs hotter (if you can imagine), but sometimes you've got to do what you've got to do.

Take your time and really study your viewfinder. Go ahead and turn on the grid display to make sure you're not too focused on the subject that you're not seeing something obvious.
Also, if you're not 100% sure of the exposure, don't be afraid to bracket it. One stop up and down, just to be sure. If your camera has a histogram display that will definitely tell you if you're getting glare from anything.

And lastly, have fun with it!

[Lisa Black Photography]

I don't have a light meter, I usually use a grey card and my in camera histogram, and bracket if I'm feeling uncertain. I still have a lot to learn! I like the hot lights because I can see where the light is going to fall before I take the photo but they have many downfalls. On the other side of that I can't afford the flash head or strobe set-up I'd like, but again I think I have more learning to do before I jump into that. I don't have barn doors but I have made snoots before to control the light for a film noir style shoot I did.
Thanks for all the suggestions! Most of the time I do shoot with the 3 point lighting style, but I have problems with fall off and blow out occassionally. I'm definately going to play around with some foam core and keep on working on my lighting skills!
Thanks,
Lisa

[Filmmonkey]

Well for my money, you're doing the right thing. Any kind of formal schooling is great and never a waste of money, but there is nothing quite like being thrown in to the maelstrom.

And we damn sure want to see pix from this shoot...

[2d1jh4f6bcokc]

LISA.....For this I would use one hot light on each side of me( camera pos ) Set light about 5-6 feet out from center and raise up to get a little down angle on model. Lights should be bounced off of unbrellas to soften light so no hard spots on shiney surface. Really basic and nothing to buy. It should give you some nice even lighting. You could make it a little more interesting by moving one light back out to make it look like a reflector is being used or even move the light more out to the side to get a different look too. The boom I would use from behind to high light the models hair( like george Hurrell used in the 40's) . Make a snoot to close down the light and skim it across her hair..... it makes pictures POP !!!