This sample four-light setup uses AlienBees B400 Flash Units to light both your subject and your backdrop. A white backdrop is used in this sample with enough light used specifically to light the backdrop and keep it a bright, even white. This setup could be used for portraits - for 3/4 or full-length portraits when your subject is sitting or standing.
One B400 (shown in
Alien Green) is used as a
Main Light, softened with our SB3060 Large Softbox or FSB3060 Large Foldable Softbox positioned vertically to illuminate your standing or sitting subject. The closer that the softbox is placed to the subject, the softer the output will be. You can begin by placing this light as close to your subject as it can get while still being outside of the framed shot, then adjust forwards and backwards.
The second B400 (shown in
Martian Pink) is used as a
Hair Light, with our HG20 20-degree Honeycomb Grid to control the beam spread and direct the light on the subject's hair. Using the LB11 Boom Arm allows the light to be placed above and angled towards the subject. The hair light softly illuminates your subject's hair, to help separate it from the backdrop and give your subject a more real, 3-dimensional feel. If your subject is standing, you may wish to let some of this light fall on the subject's shoulder tops as well. It is important to control the output and position of this light and use the modeling lamp to see just where the shadows will fall so that you can make adjustments.
Positioning this light above, but slightly behind your subject's head will help keep the light on your subject's hair and shoulder tops. Make sure that the overhead light is not positioned to create unattractive shadows below your subject's nose, eyes, ears and chin.
The third and fourth B400 units (shown in
Deep Space Black and
Mello Yello) are used as your Background Lights, positioned on opposite sides of the backdrop on the short LS1100 backlight stands. The two lights are angled up towards the backdrop with one positioned higher on the light stand and one positioned lower to light the upper and lower portions of the backdrop respectively. The light will overlap slightly in the center of the background behind the subject’s head. Depending on the size of the backdrop area that will be visible in the frame (obviously more when your subject is standing), you can adjust the positioning of each unit left and right and up and down until the overlap is subtle and the light is even behind your subject. You may wish to use just the standard 7-inch reflector supplied with each unit or control the beam spread of each unit with honeycomb grids. Using the same accessories with the same output setting will make the total coverage even between the two lights. You can begin by setting the output of the two units at full power, then adjust the output as you take your meter readings, metering the background separately. To ensure that the background is bright white and that the shadows from the subject are overpowered, the background should meter approximately two f-stops brighter than your subject.
Note: If you find that your subject needs more illumination or more detail on the side of their body opposite to the main light or on their lower extremities, you can add a reflector panel. The white, silver or gold bounce side of our CRK42 5-in-1 reflector panel kit can be used as a
"Fill Light", either to fill in some of the shadows cast by the main light or simply to highlight details on this side of your subject. The panel surface that you choose will depend upon the subject: using the silver side will increase highlights with a bright, higher contrast bounce and can be used to bring detail to particular areas; using the white side will create a softer, natural bounce; and using the gold side will provide a warmer glow.
Using four B400 units allows you to get a true
"What-You-See-Is-What-You-Get" modeling preview, as you can set each unit's modeling lamp to the "track" setting and maintain the accurate preview despite output adjustments and various accessory use.
To connect your setup, you'll simply plug each flash unit into your standard Ac power source (or Vagabond system). You can then connect one flash unit to your camera with the provided sync cord, and allow the other units to fire simultaneously with their built-in slaves. You could also use the CyberSync Radio Remote Control System or LG4X Wired Remote to control triggering and/or output.
