Need help with DIY Lighting setup for a portraits for a small group

[kuul13]

Hi Guys
I am new to lighting and very new to photo shoots. I am invited to click some pictures of Valentine's Day Party in a hotel. It would be all indoor shoot and mostly group shots with some local celebrities and some family portraits. I would only be going for head/shoulder shots. I don't have access to location until the D-day. I am trying to find a lighting help for any situation (whether the light is good on location or not). I won't be able to buy anything at this time but I have the following to make the shoot look good (I guess):
-DIY Backdrop with white muslin (10x20ft).
-1 strobe (Sigma EF-530 DG Super), which fires by on camera flash
-2 clamp lights from Home Depot
-2 100W CFL Daylight bulbs
-Nikon D80 with remote
Do you think that with these things in my hand I can create a good lighting setup? I did some research but most of the setup that I came across were pro-setup with couple of high end soft boxes and some strobes. Appreciate if someone can suggest how can I get some great shots with DIY lighting setup.
Appreciate your help in advance.

[jerome.oneil]

I don't think the 100 w equivalent cfl will do anything for you in combination with your flash. They just are not bright enough. I bought 4 300 w equivalent CFLs and was still disappointed with the output. These cfls are full spectrum (5500 k) studio cfls and I think they were about $15 each and they are about 12 inches in length and 4 inchs wide (very big). Do some testing before you head out for the shoot.

Good luck,
Jerome

[kuul13]

Originally Posted by jerome.oneil

I don't think the 100 w equivalent cfl will do anything for you in combination with your flash. They just are not bright enough. I bought 4 300 w equivalent CFLs and was still disappointed with the output. These cfls are full spectrum (5500 k) studio cfls and I think they were about $15 each and they are about 12 inches in length and 4 inchs wide (very big). Do some testing before you head out for the shoot.

Good luck,
Jerome

Thanks Jerome for the prompt response. I just have 10 days to go and not sure what is the alternative then? Do you think if there is any other cheap and better alternative?

[zona5101]

you can trigger the 530 from your camera?
Get it off camera and into an umbrella. Get a piece of white foam core for a reflector.

[kuul13]

Originally Posted by zona5101

you can trigger the 530 from your camera?
Get it off camera and into an umbrella. Get a piece of white foam core for a reflector.

Bruce
Yes, I can trigger 530 off camera with inbuilt camera flash. So what/how should I setup? So I would be using only my 530 w/ umbrella and camera flash? Appreciate if you can explain how should I setup.

[zona5101]

Originally Posted by kuul13

Bruce
Yes, I can trigger 530 off camera with inbuilt camera flash. So what/how should I setup? So I would be using only my 530 w/ umbrella and camera flash? Appreciate if you can explain how should I setup.

You will need to buy/borrow a light stand, a swivel bracket and an umbrella. Since the 530 is triggered via optical slave, you will probably need a white shoot thru umbrella. I'd be concerned with a standard silver umbrella that the light from the camera wouldn't register and trip the 530. So the umbrella flash and stand would typically be set off axis from the camera position, 45 degrees is pretty common to give nice shadowing across the face. Of course if you're not shooting portraits, your light position might change. Foam core reflector on shadow side to bounce some of that light back into the scene. You'll need to shoot in manual, at a shutter speed at or below your sync speed. Fstop will be dependent on your flash output (or visa versa you can set your flash output based on your desired fstop)

[kuul13]

Originally Posted by zona5101

You will need to buy/borrow a light stand, a swivel bracket and an umbrella. Since the 530 is triggered via optical slave, you will probably need a white shoot thru umbrella. I'd be concerned with a standard silver umbrella that the light from the camera wouldn't register and trip the 530. So the umbrella flash and stand would typically be set off axis from the camera position, 45 degrees is pretty common to give nice shadowing across the face. Of course if you're not shooting portraits, your light position might change. Foam core reflector on shadow side to bounce some of that light back into the scene. You'll need to shoot in manual, at a shutter speed at or below your sync speed. Fstop will be dependent on your flash output (or visa versa you can set your flash output based on your desired fstop)

Thanks Bruce for suggesting the setup. At first I was not planning to spent anymore but after getting comments from you guys and reading some light techniques over the internet, I have ordered 2 white umbrellas with light stand and swivel bracket. I guess I can use one of the umbrellas as you mentioned on the right with my 530, another one on my left with CFL and in middle I have my camera with popup flash (do i need to do something to this popup flash? meaning should i lower the power or put some tissue?) and finally I have 3rd stand with bare 100w CFL to use. but where should I place it or don't use? I still have two clamp lights. Again i would appreciate if you can suggest if any modification needed in the setup. Another thing, does the setup change with group pictures? Thanks!

[ArmySoldier777]

Originally Posted by kuul13

and in middle I have my camera with popup flash (do i need to do something to this popup flash? meaning should i lower the power or put some tissue?) and finally I have 3rd stand with bare 100w CFL to use. but where should I place it or don't use? I still have two clamp lights. Again i would appreciate if you can suggest if any modification needed in the setup. Another thing, does the setup change with group pictures? Thanks!

I'd set it to the lowest setting where it won't have an affect on the image lighting, while still being registered by your off camera flash. You don't want that ugly harsh flash in there. I'm pretty sure you're off camera setup will overpower it fairly easily though. Be sure to do a set up and test a few shots to make sure though. Honestly, the clamp lights with such a low output probably won't make much difference when used with the flash setup, if they're even noticeable at all. But you really don't need them anyway.

With group pictures, yes it does. You're going to have light falloff from your flash, and the intensity of the falloff is relative to the distance your subjects are from your flash/umbrella. When dealing with a group, if they're too close to you're umbrella, you're going to have a sharp falloff. This means that the person closest to the umbrella will be properly exposed, but the rest will fall off into darkness. You need to find that distance where the light falloff begins to even out so that they're all exposed properly. It's called the Inverse Square Law. You can read more about it here Strobist: Lighting 102: 1.2 - Position | Distance

The biggest thing. Set it all up, recruit a few people to be your guinea pigs if you can, and just start shooting away until you get all the details worked out. This way you don't have to worry about all the basic stuff at the party, and you can just focus on dealing with all the other issues that are sure to pop up at unexpected times.

[zona5101]

David makes some solid points.

On your constant lights...if they aren't daylight balanced your going to have color issues so if you use them and if they are strong enough to add to the exposure I'd use them on background or as rim lights. Using those lights is definitely one you'd want to play with before hand to see the results. good luck

[Doug Sundseth]

Gel your flash to match the color temperature of the continuous lights (this can be done the other way around, but gelling flash is usually easier). When the lights are the same color temperature, you can adjust your white balance in post. When they're not, it's almost impossible to get a good color balance.

Set your camera so you're getting a good exposure from the flash, then raise or lower your shutter speed to get a good continuous light contribution. The shutter speed (so long as you don't go faster than your max sync speed) has no effect on the flash contribution to the photo.