Yeah, right. First I had to make sense of the buttons, settings, icons, options, ratios and other assorted intricacies. Then I had to teach myself how to position the lights. I wanted to eliminate any shadows on the background and maintain a proper exposure. A few Google searches later led me to conclude that I needed at least another flash, an umbrella or large softbox, and any number of expensive accessories. All that stuff isn't in the budget right now, so I better figure out how to most effectively use what I have at hand. One of the accessories I figured I was going to need for portraits was a backdrop. I looked around the net and found those things weren't cheap, either. But I also found DIYPhotography.net and a page describing how to make your own. I didn't go the tie-dye route; I did mine in the washer. The first pass got me a uniform light blue color. Okay, not bad, but I could have got that from a cheap bedsheet at Wal-Mart. Thinking creatively, I rolled up and wadded the material and stuffed it in a large enamel kettle with just enough hot water to cover the fabric. I mixed some dye with hot water and salt and poured that into the bucket and just let it sit for about 15 minutes. That did the trick. Just enough mottling to give it some texture and make it interesting but not so much as to be distracting. Homemade backdrop stand? Oh, yeah, that was easy. I pulled out the old movie screen - remember the kind with the tripod base and the screen that unrolled and hooked at the top? Perfect, and free from the back of your grandparent's closet.
My wife patiently stood there while I messed with different exposures and positions for the flashes. She put her sunglasses on so she wouldn't be permanently blinded. I'm going to need to get another diffuser, though. I only have one, so I made one out of cardboard and a couple napkins. By the way, the cardboard for the homemade diffuser came from the packaging for the Lumiquest Ultrasoft diffuser I bought last weekend. It's not technically irony, but I think it's kind of comical.
So, how did it all look? You be the judge:
I think it turned out pretty well. If I really wanted, I could clone out the shadows in Photoshop. I'll probably do that on single portraits in the future, but I don't see myself doing that on a large shoot where I have dozens of separate orders. That's a lot of work for something that a lot of folks probably won't notice or worry about. I guess that's the difference between a dabbler like myself and someone who does this for a living. I'm thinking the other option is to position my subject further from the backdrop. It may soften the shadows a bit, but it seems it would also produce a greater offset, making the shadows more noticeable. The only way to learn is to play with it! (And spend lots of money on lighting equipment.)
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