Paul C. Buff, Inc. Technical Forum

Using the long hallway at school, I'm planning to shoot a group photo of middle school kids (between 7 and 15 kids per group).

The kids will be in the middle of the hallway facing one end. The first light will be a PLM aiming at the front of the group.

The second light is aimed towards the back of the group. I'm thinking of placing it around 30 feet away or more. I want the effect of the second light to show as if there's a spot light aiming at their back creating a nice glow around their back.

So in this type of setting, which is a better fit for my 2nd light: Long Throw Reflector or Omni Reflector?

Any help is much appreciated.

Thanks,

Leo

At that distance for that effect, I think you would be splitting hairs to see a difference. Roughly the same power and angle, nominal difference in size at that distance (not to mention as a rim light, size is not generally an issue). If you have one or the other, I would use that. If you need to buy either, I would think about what else you could or would use it for.

If only considering this shoot, the 11" is smaller to pack and probably cheaper to ship. However, I would rather have the Omni if I could only choose one.

Thank you for the input.

The 30 feet was just a guess. What will be the ideal distance if I'm using Einstein/Omni, at full power to get the effect I'm looking?

Thanks,

Leo

If we assume 12' wide on the back row, then placing the light 20' back, it would hit everybody. If the back row is 6' wide, you can cut that distance in half.

However, placing the light closer or farther away will give you different effects in the periphery, like back lighting lockers.

I decided to get the Omni Reflector.

Leo

Are you going for a look like this?

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10202702128873140&l=df9c2fc45a

I used a WL800 with a giant softbox (FSB3060) for key light and a standard reflector ( 7AB/R 7-inch silver field reflector) on a WL800 for back light.

Yes similar to that. Thank you. Will use PLM (on Einstein) for the key light and Omni-reflector (on Einstein) as the backlight.