For a client shoot I have to do soon, I want to do something different, the client wants a not so standard family photo. After giving it some thought I asked her if she would like it to do something with silhouettes of her and her husband and the kids in "normal" light. As a divider I thought that foil (the type you use to cover your furniture when you are painting your living room) would be nice. And it has to be done outside.
So before I make a huge ass of my self, I decided to test the concept first on an out side location and see what kind of problems I would encounter.
The set up:
Setup: Dreaming, a photo by Ragoem on Flickr.
The setup was pretty easy: A mobile background with white bedsheets hanging from it. In front of that two light stands with a cord between them, to hang the foil on. All secured with some guy-lines so it would not blow away in the wind. So I thought I covered all the problems. But theres always something you don't think of isn't there? Yep, in the wind the foil just ripped because it's that thin. Fortunately I had two assistants to help hold the foil down. But I know that I only have one assistant on the client shoot.
On with the lighting part: I used 4 flashes (2 LP160 and 2 5400HS) all four on the background to see if I could over power the sun the way I want. Result: in the shade: Yes, in direct sunlight: No. So it's back to the drawing board on that. But may be I already have the solution, which is to use a light colored building's shadow side as a backdrop.
Now I knew that what I wanted to know I decided to get one flash in front of Roos an the foil to light her face. And with the two assistants to hold the foil tight I asked Roos to lean into the foil and close her eyes.
