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Wed Aug 31, 2011 8:04 pm

Joined: Wed Aug 31, 2011 7:58 pm
Posts: 5

Hello,

I'm wondering what the difference is between the Extreme Silver + Diffusion Fabric vs Soft Silver without.

By January I plan to be doing full body shoots on a backdrop along with close up portrait pictures. I want to make sure the backdrop is lit while having that pop seen in various fashion photos.

As of right now I use a PLM 64" Extreme Silver with White Front Diffusion Fabric and it does work well for lighting my subject, however unless it is straight in front of the subject there is a little bit of light falloff on the backdrop. I normally use this light 45 degrees on the left side of the backdrop.

Also, If I wanted to have a sort of concentrated spotlight effect, would it be possible to use the Extreme by itself and then the soft silver / extreme silver + diffusion as a fill? I do still want the backdrop lighted and I'm not going for a gridded look, more of a light converging towards the subject look.




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Wed Aug 31, 2011 8:51 pm

Joined: Fri Dec 18, 2009 11:50 am
Posts: 306

Shoyriazu wrote:
want to make sure the backdrop is lit while having that pop seen in various fashion photos.
As of right now I use a PLM 64" Extreme Silver with White Front Diffusion Fabric


?
You usually don't associate "pop" w/ a softbox (essentially what the PLM w/ front diffusion is...big round softbox). If you want pop, get rid of the diffusion fabric...or use a beauty dish...




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Thu Sep 01, 2011 12:54 am

Joined: Tue Apr 26, 2011 2:41 pm
Posts: 102
Location: Los Angeles, CA

"unless it is straight in front of the subject there is a little bit of light falloff on the backdrop. "

you need a beautydish to get that effect. light is shaped with different modifiers. the plm is extremely versatile but you have to use the right tool for the job. the only way you could achieve the look you are trying to go for with the plm is if you have a black circle of fabric with a hole cut in the middle attached to the plm.

otherwise, the light qualities of a beautydish are unmatched at the moment.




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Thu Sep 01, 2011 1:46 am

Joined: Wed Aug 31, 2011 7:58 pm
Posts: 5

Hmm okay, so if I want the pop either get rid of the diffusion fabric or use a beauty dish then huh?

Does that mean I should use the extreme with diffuser as a fill for the background then get a beauty dish as a main light?




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Fri Sep 02, 2011 2:50 pm

Joined: Tue Apr 26, 2011 2:41 pm
Posts: 102
Location: Los Angeles, CA

I suppose you could do that, but there will be light falloff regardless of where you put the light with the silver extreme + diffusion on the background. (i've tried it before using a white seamless paper backdrop.) you will get a slight gradient effect but you won't light the backdrop to a full white backdrop as you would require two lights on each side.

If you are trying to get a darker backdrop, then a beautydish has much more control vs the plm. Use the right tool for the job.




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