Comments on: All white seamless background: lessons learned

By: Jacob Vorpahl

Jacob Vorpahl — Tue, 04 May 2010 11:41:08 +0000

I actually didn’t extend the width, it was the length. And yeah, I’m with you on the storage issue. I’d like to get a complete set up, but I don’t have ceilings high enough to store the seamless paper. So the best I can do right now is what I have, which is only around 4.5-5ft wide.

And your welcome for the posts. I love this stuff so why not share it with others.

By: Jono

Jono — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 16:52:43 +0000

Hey great blog! I was wondering, on your second run with the white seamless how wide did you extend the paper with the cloth? I’m really itching to try a similar setup in my living room but the 9′ roll of paper is going to be rather hard to store (upright to prevent wrinkles). Thanks again for the informative post(s) and taking the time to share your thoughts on photography!

By: Jacob Vorpahl

Jacob Vorpahl — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 15:09:57 +0000

Sorry about that… umm.. for some reason my blog has a glitch right now. It shows the comments for the wrong article, so I was looking somewhere else to find your comment and I couldn’t, yet here it is. Very weird.

Anyways, on to your questions:
1: clamshell lighting is whenever you have one light above the face and one below, in the shape of a clamshell. They are at 45 degree angles and then you have them put their face.. well, into the shell created by the lights (usually umbrellas). You then stick your camera in between the two lights and take the photo. I suppose you could use a reflector. It just may or may not create the lighting ratio you’re looking for.

2. Those are called barn doors. You can use those to direct the light coming out of the flash. I believe I purchased those from B&H or Adorama around a year or so ago.

3. I was using two flashes, one in each umbrella, and it was either an SB-24 or an SB-25, both triggered via Skyport recievers.

4. They were set on Remote mode, where they are triggered by the optical slave. It’s basically manual but the flash is triggered by another flash going off.

5. Flat light is where the subject’s face doesn’t appear to have depth. That’s what makes good pictures look three dimensional. You know those pictures you get with a point and shoot cameras flash? That would be a kind of flat lighting. It results from there being no shadows on the face to help your eyes identify their facial structure and features.
A good example from the above photos of non-flating lighting would be the first of larger photos I posted. Notice the shadows under the cheeks and on her neck? Also look at the third one down: see how you can see the three dimensional aspect of her face?
Now look at the one right underneath that one. If not for the holes in her nose, can you tell where the curves are in her face? No shadows = flat lighting. No definition.

Hope that helps! Let me know if you have anymore questions.

By: ML

ML — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 13:24:54 +0000

…no response? ))

By: ML

ML — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 14:28:55 +0000

I like the results. A couple of questions:

1) “Clamshell” = umbrella + reflector?
2) What are those attachments on your SB-800s?
3) What flash was used with the shoot-through umbrella?
4) What mode was selected on SB-800s?
5) What makes a “flat” light? I know this is an odd question, but putting 2 photos side-by-side for comparison (flat light, not flat light) would help me visualize what to look for.

Thanks in advance!

By: An afternoon spent shooting my wife (nowhere near as bad as it sounds...) | OneBrightSpot.com- Jacob Vorpahl's Blog

Mon, 24 Aug 2009 17:19:28 +0000

[...] of the shot being used, I decided I would tackle Zach Arias’s white seamless setup again. I tried once before, eventually finding some shortcomings in my set up that prevented me from creating the technique [...]