Hello everyone,
I got an email asking if I could do some bridals for a bridal-wear company that wants 45 wedding dresses photographed. It would be very similar - same background, same model, just different dresses. She sent me the attached file as a reference...

Click to view attachment

What lighting would I be looking at hiring for this?

I was thinking 1 large octa 5-7' + gridded rear light for separation.

Please help!

Thanks!
Jonathan

Hard to tell since the images are so small - but it looks like at least 4 strobes to me (background, hair light, fill light, main light) - possibly more like 5 or even 6 (two back ground lights, fill light, main light, hair light). You could pull off a similar look with three - it would be difficult, I think, with two.

You'd need a hair light, a background light, and a main light. Ideally you'd have a fill light as well - but you *could* use a giant reflector for that. It's possible to pull off studio lighting with one strobe - but not if they want that exact look and style.

Sounds like they may be trying to get you to do it on the cheap. Just a hunch. I am not a lighting guru but it looks simple enough I cant stand shoots like this too controlled for my taste. But hey we all gotta pay the bills. Best of luck hope it works out!

peace,
parris

1 large main light source, could even be window light if you have a ceiling to floor window. The main moves from right to left here so it's probably a big box. The background looks lit very softly too, like a large box, or spill from a window.

I'd do it like this--(since this is what I have available, you could say I'm using all available light)--
Main=6 foot softbox, feathered forward, f5.6
Fill=48"softbox, feathered way off to the side, f2.8 and a half
Hairlight=8x30 strip, feathered forward, f2.8 and a half
Accent=8x30 strip, f2.8 and a half
Background=48" soft box, f4

I'd shoot it at f5.6 and a half, and as low a shutter as I felt comfortable with to soften the shadows from the background with as much ambient as there is there..

He doesn't need four lights to get this look.

You need a softbox or a shoot-through umbrella and maybe one more strobe for the hair light. If there's a window nearby, you could use that for the hairlight. A lot of the bridal fashion photogs are getting into ambient light shooting with a small hint of strobe. Just pick up a copy of BRIDES magazine. If you go in with 5 or 6 lights, you're only going to add more stress to the situation.

In any case, get her away from that white column. It's yucky.

Yep. That would pretty much do it right there.

Cheers,
Zack

However you do it, do it better. I really don't like these shots, the background looks like Olan Mills, just everything about it...yuck...

Thanks for the input guys..
I agree I wouldn't want it to look similar... She wants more of a dark background so we can get away with maybe less lights - Certainly a different environment for the dresses.... UGH!!

Ive managed to persuade the client we need to take photos more like the attached - dark background etc. I have 2 months anyhow until the shoot (all 45 dresses are being made) so I have some time to figure out what the heck I am doing with the lighting!

Click to view attachment

Thanks for input! - this new example should be alot easier to photograph.

Jonathan

This is a 3-light set-up. There's a main, a fill, and an accent. To recreate this, use a strobe with an umbrella (silver reflected, not shoot-through...there's never any point to a shoot-through umbrella. Those are just an excuse for lighting equipment dealers to sell you more useless crap) as the fill light, straight on, a softbox on the main light off to the side (45 degrees up and down) and then maybe a parabolic with (or without) a diffusor for the accent on the side/hair. I'm almost certain there is no background light given the fact that the background appears about a stop darker than the brides, and they're very close to the wall. And you can see the shadows. I'm pretty sure that BG is just lit by the main and the fill.



How would you plan to get a 48" softbox on the background there? And for what purpose? If I felt a I needed a BG light on that, I'd probably bring the girl about another 3-4 feet away from the wall, and put a monolight behind her with a half-moon. I'm pretty the BG in this image is just lit by fall-off from the main and fill. I also don't see a hair light in any of these images...only an accent in 3 of them (1, 2, and 6...the rest are only 2 lights).

Well, you're right as usual, Matt. I don't know that I could get that big box on the background, but I would if I could, because I don't want those shadows from the subject there. I've never used the background light from behind the subject in shoots like this because I don't want it flattening out the detail. I'd rather shoot it from the same side as the main to create direction. And there is no hair light in these pics, but adding one would make a huge difference, as would an accent light.

At a bare minimum I'd use either a large window or the 6' box, and a hair/accent light from above opposite the main. I could do it with those two and get images that would satisfy, but not be as good as they could be.

If you want some great examples and inspiration of a dark, funky background for bridal dress shoots, check out Ines Di Santo's collection. If you look under her "Collections" page - Ad Campaign 06-07, there's some pretty fantastic stuff there.

Oh, and the initial collection of photos that you put up were by Maggie Sottero.... love her dresses, thumbs-down on the photo set-up (much like everyone else here!).