fake window sun with a flash - DPChallenge Forums

Sony FE 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G OSS

12/03/2013 03:44:44 PM · #1

Hi everyone, thanks for the welcome backs I've been getting. Missed all you guys (all gals).

i have an issue i need help with. I have a photoshoot where i need (or wish) to replicate sunlight coming through a window. Shoot is at night and i cant just a set a flash out side, gel it and fire it through the window since the window will be on the second floor.

I'm looking to recreate sunlight through a shear curtain, so i need to diffuse it but im not sure what will work best since i'm very limited on space between the window and the curtain.

im going to set it up this weekend for a test but i'd like to hear some ideas how to keep the flash inside and modify it properly.

sort of what im trying to accomplish:

//500px.com/photo/53076324

//500px.com/photo/47545362

Message edited by author 2013-12-03 15:48:47.

vawendy

Sony Alpha 1

12/03/2013 03:50:25 PM · #2

I went to a McNally seminar, and how he faked a window was a large softbox (the kind with dual diffusers) with another large diffuser panel a foot in front of that.

tanguera

Nikon D750

Nikon AF-S Nikkor 17-35mm f/2.8D IF-ED

12/03/2013 04:26:40 PM · #3

I was going to say, if you're going to have a curtain in front of it, a large softbox would do the job.

Spork99

OM System OM-1

Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 USM Macro

12/03/2013 04:44:59 PM · #4

You can put muntins on the window with narrow black tape on the softbox

Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM

12/03/2013 08:15:58 PM · #5

but where do i put the soft box? there isn't much room between the curtain and glass.

Devinder

Canon EOS-5D Mark III

12/03/2013 08:22:56 PM · #6

standard ways the softbox.

if you can't, try experimenting with a few layers of cloth/scrim couple inches from the flash. that should be thing and do the job - more light loss but it should work.

I haven't had this issue, so i haven't tried the idea i just threw at you for a backlight situation that makes sense to me. Experiment it out ? i m thinking with the couple layers and good enough positioning, the flash's center hotspot shouldn't stand out.

best of luck. and welcome back.

Message edited by author 2013-12-03 20:25:53.

spiritualspatula

Panasonic LUMIX DMC-LX100

Nikon AF-S Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8G ED VR II

12/04/2013 12:08:15 AM · #7

Just to confirm- you are utilizing the window in the background of the shot, yeah?

The second shot doesn't actually NEED a window, just a big light source.

Put a sheet (or better yet a white silk if you have it) in your background, back your flashes up from it to prevent hotspots and fire into it. It becomes a gigantic diffuser. That's what folks are saying so far as using a softbox- you do that when you are simulating window but aren't necessarily showing an actual window frame etc.

If you NEED the window itself... well then you need to figure out a way to mount your flashes on the other side of that window.

What lights are we dealing with here and what sorts of grip do you have? Also, do you have a softbox big enough to cover the entire window you're utilizing?

MattO

Nikon D4

12/04/2013 12:37:46 AM · #8

What I have done in the past when needing window light and having a window but not the light is to setup my strobe and a softbox outside the window and let it shoot through the window and the lightly colored curtains. I just double the baffle in the softbox and set it back from the window a bit. If I'm on the second floor I'll use a boom and a superclamp to attach it to something outside..... oh and use plenty of safety cables.

Matt

spiritualspatula

Panasonic LUMIX DMC-LX100

12/04/2013 01:06:18 AM · #9

Originally posted by MattO:

Exactly.

12/04/2013 07:38:20 AM · #10

Originally posted by spiritualspatula:

im not replicating those shots, just the lighting condition i hope to create. i would like to see a window in some of the shots, but if i have to i can just hang a curtain in front of the box, but there is another room on the second floor that i would like to use where i dont have the space to do that. i wonder if i covered the window in white paper or foil and fire a flash or two into it, almost like a bounce umbrella...

i have to try out different ideas, but thanks for this so far.

alanfreed

Nikon Z9

12/04/2013 10:47:18 AM · #11

I don't have a lot of advice to offer on this one, but this thread reminded me of the time I was able to spend on the set of the movie "Groundhog Day" back in 1991. There's a scene in the movie where Bill Murray is getting piano lessons from a woman at a house. Rather than shoot it in a controlled studio setup, they used an actual residence to film that scene.

They wanted to have the appearance of sun shooting through the window for that scene (and it was a dark, cloudy day, and the sun probably wouldn't have been in the right spot for them anyway). They set up a fairly sizable scaffolding in the yard, along with a large light, pointed at the window to simulate the sunlight.

In these shots, you can see the light in the yard, and in the second picture, you'll see Bill Murray's stand-in (along with the piano teacher's stand-in), and how the light looked like it was naturally coming in through the window:

Message edited by author 2013-12-04 10:47:48.

Canon EF 24-105mm f/4.0L IS

01/08/2014 07:37:59 PM · #12

as a follow up, here is the final product. basically i hung a shear and curtains from the ceiling and and fired a bare speedlight (some gelled with CTO) through it.

sorry for the links but i'dont have them uploaded here.

ungelled:

//500px.com/photo/57177750

//500px.com/photo/56280254

//500px.com/photo/56000896

//farm8.staticflickr.com/7373/11845391695_18012c7b20_c.jpg

gelled

//farm6.staticflickr.com/5520/11845390395_26517bbe7e_b.jpg

//farm4.staticflickr.com/3704/11845847374_a27640f1d5_b.jpg

//farm4.staticflickr.com/3827/11845848374_a8c6e227c5_b.jpg

Art Roflmao

Canon EOS-6D Mark II

01/08/2014 08:27:42 PM · #13

Damn, Mike - those are all fantastic, IMO. I like the ungelled shots better fwiw. Thanks for posting the follow up.

grahamgator

Nikon Z7II

01/08/2014 08:33:18 PM · #14

Those are great Mike. I agree with Art, the ungelled are fantastic.