Forums > Photography Talk > What's the Brest Way to Mimic Sunlight In-Studio?

Photographer

Yves Duchamp- Homme

Posts: 3212

Virginia Beach, Virginia, US

I really just wanted to do the shoot outdoors with a backdrop (kinda like those CK ads with Eva Mendes, or the topless photos of Sharon Stone for that French magazine), but I'm having difficulty doing so. Ceilings are also pretty low. Just thought that detail would help. I know the light shouldn't be diffused at all, but other than that, I'm at a loss.

Nov 10 09 04:57 am Link

Photographer

Yves Duchamp - Femme

Posts: 24436

Virginia Beach, Virginia, US

*Best. Not Brest, the city in Brittany, France...

Nov 10 09 05:01 am Link

Photographer

Will King Photo

Posts: 1895

Virginia Beach, Virginia, US

You can try a single beauty dish or even a bare bulb strobe.

Nov 10 09 05:04 am Link

Photographer

Neil Snape

Posts: 9474

Paris, Île-de-France, France

Yes Brest a naval city on the west coast far from Paris near to the heart.

A lot of people like HMI as what you see is what you get. Next option is tungsten fresnels or PAR lights.

I cannot afford either of the two so I use either heads in smaller bowls, bare bulb, or small fresnel flash heads (Picolite).

The pictures on my site are mostly done with a flash head about 3 metres or more from the subject which give a hard edge, which usually you'll want to fill a bit as sunlight rarely is without.

OF course my studio is south west and real sun streams in when it's not darn grey as it is today in Paris.

Nov 10 09 05:07 am Link

Photographer

ward

Posts: 6142

Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Nov 10 09 05:07 am Link

Photographer

Chris N

Posts: 1401

Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

look at the properties of the light in that Eva Mendes spread. It's a bit hard and focused...sharp shadows. Technically, you could achieve that shadow with a variety of lights/modifiers, depending on how far away the light to subject distance is. I would try it with a a light and reflector or also a fresnel.

Nov 10 09 05:08 am Link

Photographer

Yves Duchamp - Femme

Posts: 24436

Virginia Beach, Virginia, US

Neil Snape wrote:
Yes Brest a naval city on the west coast far from Paris near to the heart.

LOL.

Nov 10 09 05:13 am Link

Photographer

Paul Bryson Photography

Posts: 48041

Hollywood, Florida, US

Installing a glass ceiling would be the best way. tongue

Other than that, I saw a Mythbusters episode where they recreated the Apollo moon landing, and they used a huge spotlight to mimic the sun...worked pretty well.

To get a definite answer, I'd have to play with different things and see what works. But it does seem like a fun project. smile

Nov 10 09 05:21 am Link

Photographer

Yves Duchamp- Homme

Posts: 3212

Virginia Beach, Virginia, US

Haha. Thanks all. I will play with distances, reflectors, and bare bulbs to see what I get! If the damn weather would just clear up, then I could just use the real sun. sad

Nov 10 09 05:22 am Link

Photographer

Fashion Photographer

Posts: 14388

London, England, United Kingdom

Shon D.- Homme wrote:
I really just wanted to do the shoot outdoors with a backdrop (kinda like those CK ads with Eva Mendes, or the topless photos of Sharon Stone for that French magazine), but I'm having difficulty doing so. Ceilings are also pretty low. Just thought that detail would help. I know the light shouldn't be diffused at all, but other than that, I'm at a loss.

Try a fresnel or gridded beauty dish placed far away.

Nov 10 09 05:27 am Link

Photographer

Images by mhiser

Posts: 135

Virginia Beach, Virginia, US

I bare bulb a strobe with a 5" reflector  and custom white ballance . . . works fine for me

Nov 10 09 05:30 am Link

Photographer

Robert Randall

Posts: 13890

Chicago, Illinois, US

Images by mhiser wrote:
I bare bulb a strobe with a 5" reflector  and custom white ballance . . . works fine for me

Do you get uneven multiple shadows when you do it that way?

Nov 10 09 05:39 am Link

Photographer

Robert Randall

Posts: 13890

Chicago, Illinois, US

If I'm trying to emulate a sunny day, I use a 14" Desisti Fresnel strobe head with a 1/4 straw gel for warmth. I then bounce a number of umbrellas into the white ceiling for sky fill. I put blue (3208 I think) gels on the umbrellas and power them to a subtle level. The later in the day that I am trying to emulate, the deeper I go with the filters.

Nov 10 09 05:45 am Link

Photographer

Daniel Norton

Posts: 1745

New York, New York, US

IMHO a Fresnel Lens is the closest feel to direct sunlight (when the sun is  low in the sky) simple reflectors are hard like the sun, but to me are a bit too hard in the transitions..

You can rent a Fresnel head from many strobe makers or use something like an Arri or Mole 2k

Nov 10 09 05:48 am Link

Photographer

I love Photos

Posts: 144

Delhi, Delhi, India

I use strobe light with softbox but no cover. It works pretty well but harsh to the model's eye, so need to give models breaks very often.

Nov 10 09 05:48 am Link

Photographer

Laubenheimer

Posts: 9317

New York, New York, US

Sunlight is sunlight...everything else that tries to mimic it just looks like it's faking it. If you want sunlight use sunlight.   My entire portfolio is sunlight.  I tried artificial lighting but it's just not the same.

If you want a hot dog use beef, not vegatables, because nobody puts catsup on vegatables.

Just my three cents.

Mark (:

Nov 10 09 01:14 pm Link