Nikon SLR Cameras

One strobe portrait setup?

Kiley
Kiley

I'm struggling with an assignment in a photography course I'm taking online.
Part of the assignment is to take a couple portraits with using only artificial light. All I have for lighting equipment is an SB-600 for my Nikon D90; and I can't for the life of me figure out a setup. I've spent a lot of time reading the strobist blog and others, and now I just feel overwhelmed by this whole concept.
I'm just looking for some simple suggestions or if you have links that may help that would be great!

screwdriver
screwdriver

A good one light setup for starters is Rembrandt Lighting

http://en.wikipedia.org/...t_lighting

You will need to get your flash off camera for this as per the Strobist Blog.

Eric Lefebvre
Eric Lefebvre

You could go for a film noir type of shot like this one I did:

This was my very first off camera lighting shot with my new cheap triggers from ebay. Not a great pic but I still had fun doing it.

Tim
Tim

You don't have to use expensive lighting equipment. Nor do you have to use your speedlight. You can use a couple of powerful lights from the hardware store. 2 300 watt quarts lamps will only cost about $40.

The other thing you might want to try is using a reflector. If you don't want to spend money on a good one, you can go to an auto store and buy one of those silver windshield things. They work really well as reflectors for less than $10.

Tracey C
Tracey C

Bluespeedbird The D90 will trigger the SB600 off camera with out any additional equipment.

I like Tim's answer, as that is what I would have also said try.

bluespeedbird
bluespeedbird

You must get the SB-600 off the camera for a decent portrait… Use an extension cable or remote wireless triggering. Both can be found cheaply on ebay.

§ Black background
§ Subject sited some distance from the background to avoid spill onto the background
§ Keylight at 45 degrees to the subject (camera right or left - your choice)
§ Fit a pop-up softbox if you require a diffuse light. If you want the light to be strong and directional forget the softbox.
Note: Lighting is more directional and less diffuse when further from the subject - (Pin light)

§ Use a reflector to fill the shadows slightly on the opposite to the lit side. If you don't have a reflector just use something white to reflect the light into the shadow.

I used a snoot on a studio strobe for this: http://gallery.harmanimaging.com/#2.3 but a straight speedlight on a low setting would work and you could fashion a snoot out of some black paper to pool the light in one place.

If you require them:
Pop-up softbox here: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/...27b2dc5561
Wireless Trigger: http://www.amazon.co.uk/...001C9DI4S/

You'll need a stand for the softbox but you can pick them up fairly cheaply if you don't have one already… Or you could get someone to hold it for you.

EDIT @Tracey C… Yeah I'm fully conversant with Commander mode… I use it all the time with my SB800 and 900s… But on a low key setup… The on-camera flash will have an effect on the shot no matter how low you set it, spoiling the desired side-lighting effect. Without ducting the light, I'm not sure how you'd get around that problem.