Assignment 4 Environmental Portrait Indoors: Pre-light report and analysis

1. What is your intention in terms of how you plan to use the available light (as your main, your fill or even a hair light)?

I want to use the available light as my main light. I want the background quite brightly lit. I want a feeling of space. I want the lights running along the ceiling to create a sense of perspective.

2. What is the reason for your lens choice (do you want the compression of a long lens or the exaggerated perspective of a wide angle)?

I want the exaggerated perspective of a wider lens. I want to give a sense of the workspace, rather than focusing on the subject, and/or the machine.

3. What aperture do you plan to use and why?

I'm vacillating between 3.5 and 5.6. I don't want the background too out of focus, but I don't want it too sharp, either -- I don't the background too crisp or creating too much of a sense of busyness, which will then detract from the subject in the foreground.

4. What shutter speed to you plan to use and why?

It depends. To have enough ambient light in my test shots, I was at between 1/60 and 1/100. I will be shooting with flash, I still want the available light to be bright, and I also want my shot sharp. Maybe if I shoot with a tripod I can get away with that shutter speed.

5. Do you have enough available light to achieve these camera settings?

I may have trouble with the exposure for my ambient light.

6. Do you have enough strobe to achieve these settings?

Yes.

7. Do you have too much light to achieve these settings?

Possibly. I have a feeling my strobes will be too powerful. I will try using neutral density filters on the final shoot to achieve the effect I'm after.

8. Are there any technical problems with your test shot that will need to be addressed at the shoot or in post-production?

Just colour balance, I think. The focus in my test shots is off. I will need to be very careful of that at the final shoot.

9. How will you be addressing color balance?

I'll be using green gels on my lights, and shoot with a grey card.

10. What is the equipment you will need for the shoot?

- camera
- tripod
- two stands
- reflector
- 1 profoto flash kit
- extension cords
- 1 medium sized softbox
- 1 strip softbox
- green gels
- neutral density filters
- transmitter/receiver
- laptop
- lightmeter
- two speedlights (sunpaks)
- two hotshoes
- two umbrellas


Settings for the test shots below were (left to right): 1/60 sec at f/2.8, focal length 24mm, ISO 800; 1/100 sec at f/ 2.8, ISO 800 with a focal length of 24mm.