5 Strobe Set-Up for Bridal Fashion

I posted this on Model Mayhem, but it might be more appropriate here. I have been asked several times for setup information about some of the studio work I do for clients, especially shooting white gowns on bright or white backgrounds. When I speak at workshops I generally am only able to make 1- or 2-light demonstrations. In addition to that, I have failed to record a lot of the setup information from my fashion shoots for clients. However recently I did take the opportunity to capture some wide shots from a built set for a plus-size bridal shoot which I did for the gown designer for their catalog and advertising.

When I do these shoots I am brought in to the client's location, in this case Southern California, to set up working studio for a 5-7 day shoot depending on the season. This particular client has a few different lines (brands) of gowns and they seek to have a different look for each when I shoot. These looks range from simple to complex, but all require lighting that shows the detail in the features of the gowns so that prospective customers can see the value in each gown. Some looks have a 'healthy' contrast range that show the silhouette of the gown against a medium or dark background. However this particular client has specified that some looks are in bright environments that require careful lighting control to capture the gowns details, display the silhouette without blowing out the highlights.

For the look below, we built this set in a bare warehouse space using real elements like wall board, floor panels and French doors that can be picked up at most Home Depots and hanging curtains from Ikea. We also use 'fake' elements like window panel created from a wood frame covered in diffusion material (Lumilux) and sheer nylon material. We used this particular set for three different lines by manipulating the wall decorations and floral elements. The back wall is actually a single wall flat (built set piece) with the diffusion panels clamped to it and extended by the curtains hung from crossbar. The side wall is similar with the exception that the wall flat is replace with the French door pieces (also covered in diffusion material). The floor is made from 4x8' textured particle board normally used for wall panels, but we have put decorative paint on them for the appearance of a bleached wood floor.

For lighting, there are 5 Profoto strobe heads powered by 2 Profoto Pro7 packs.
-window/diffusions panels: single head with regular parabolic reflectors firing into foam reflectors (V-flats) behind each panel
-French Door: Large (3x4') softbox firing into the glass windows which have been covered by diffusion material
-Main Light: Extra Large (4x6') Plume Wafer softbox camera left firing at model with black flag creating dead spot for highlight control
-Separation Light: Chimera Beauty Dish camera right and behind model, aimed at main light firing upstage across model which creates edge light on model's face and balancing the main light and enhancing texture of the lace on the gown.

In general terms, the light from the window panels and French door light the set while the main light and separation light illuminate the model. However, I found that by playing with the power setting of the softbox in the French door I was able to create a stronger side-light on some gowns or even serving as the main light for the model when shooting the back of the gown. The set up allowed for some variety in positioning the models for various shots on each day.

I absolutely love the light from my extra large softbox for the main light (a hint of it can be seen in the upper left of setup shot). It is a great tool for lighting both large areas and full-length fashion. I like to use it up close the model for softer light on some occasions. This can create problems with blowing-out highlights on white gowns. In these situations I use a double-scrim or black flag to create a (darker) dead-spot on the edge of the gown that is closest to the softbox. This allows the exposure to be more even across the gown as the light spreads (sort of cheating the inverse-square law). Depending on the amount of contrast I want in the shot I can also use a 4x8' Foamcor reflector (V-flat) or a black card (Negative Fill) for different feelings.

Currently I am using a Nikon D810 camera shooting RAW/NEF files into Capture One Pro. Most of this project was shot using the Zeiss Otus 85mm f1.4 ZF.2, but this particular frame was with my Nikon 70-200mm VR-2. The setup shot was captured with my pocket camera, the Nikon Coolpix A, using the same wireless flash synch (Pocket Wizard Plus III) and same exposure. For the final output we (my on-set digital technician) uses the High Dynamic Range tool in C1P to further control the highlights.

There was a thread in another forum about getting it right in-camera. The setup shot shows that in this case we were able to control the lighting within strict parameters to achieve the final effect mostly in camera. I have a fairly long history shooting gowns which has given me some experience in holding the highlight details. We actively use the highlight warning indicator and spot checks on specific spots on the gowns to keep our histograms in order. With attention to the histogram we generally do not need a lot of High Dynamic Ranch manipulation or shadow recovery, but that only makes sense because we created the environment (set) to make it easy to work in.

All of that does not mean that we are always able to deliver results from a single capture. Despite the many techniques we employ to make the gowns look great on the models, there are many times that we have to capture elements of the gowns in more than one way because of manufacturing or fit problems that are outside my control.

http://www.danhowell.com/Unforgettable_SetUp.jpg
http://www.danhowell.com/Unforgettable_Final.jpg