Here is a small selection of the pictures shot at last Mondays studio lighting workshop.
Rolls of Calumet background paper and a Kia car in the scene dock made a funky background for this Broncolor ringflash shot.
We had a fantastic day exploring the properties of shadows, the hardness of light sources and the techniques used to light the face. All of the pictures were shot on either a mid grey or a white background.
We started with just one single hard light source and explored the system used to reveal the shape of facial features.
Here you can see the set up with the grey background just touching the floor. Ive added a 3/4 backlight to separate Holly
We had two set ups and a ratio of 4 photographers per model. Here Dagmara is lit with a soft key light and a hard 3/4 backlight.
Here I upped the power of the backlight.
A hard key light with a high backlight was used for this simple shot.
I used a high viewpoint for this shot. I normally shoot from below the eyeline but it is worth exploring all angles.
We next explored using hard kick lights combined with a backlight and a soft key light.
Some call it butterfly lighting, I call it an upstage key from the left and a kick light from the right.
Next it was time for a little distraction. I used my Broncolor Mobil head gelled up in pink in the back of this light cube. I used this prop together with a pair of subtle kick lights.
As above but without the pink.
A pair of gelled up kick lights introduced a bit of colour to this image. All the shots so far have used spill light from the key to light the background.
Four hard lights plus a fresnel spot for the background were needed to light the girls. Each light needed careful placement to create the right look. The background is white and about 4m behind the girls.
I used just three hard lights and a white background for this shot. It
Please feel free to comment on these pictures and the strategies used to make them. It is worth noting that the delegates understanding of the lighting process was the key aim of the day.
Damien I saw that for 18cm reflector are 4 differents grids that i can buy… 10°, 20°, 30°, 40°. What type do you recommend?
Hi Joe,
It depends how far your flash is from your subject and how wide you want the spot to be. It’s like asking what focal length lens to use. I use all the grids for different things often at the same time.
Kind regards,
Damien.
Thank you Damien. I am looking for very harsh light because my 55cm beauty dish with grid is too soft :( I think about fresenel (no flash) light but I am afraid of heat in my studio. Maybe first of all I will buy 18cm reflector with grid….
Hi Joe, LED fresnel is cold running :) Much colder than a flash head with a modelling light. Take a look at these: http://www.lovegroveconsulting.com/lupolux_dayled_lights.aspx
Cheers, Damien.
You wrote “Four hard lights plus a fresnel spot for the background were needed to light the girls.” what was the modificator? Beauty dish with honey? Or standard silver reflector?
Hi Joe,
By hard light I mean a point source. Beauty dishes unless used from a distance are soft lights. It was a long time ago but I think I would have used 18cm reflectors with grids at about 4m working distance. I hope this helps.
Damien.
Thank you Damien for a brilliant day.
The workshop gave me confidence with studio lighting and made me realise not to be afraid of it but to experiment and have fun with it.
Really pleased with the images we shot that day. A very enjoyable and informative course.
Denise
Thanks for a great day Damien.
Even after a lot of pruning I came away with over 100 ‘keepers’ of different poses and lighting set ups.
As an amateur the techniques involved were straight forward and the results very pleasing, I can highly reccomend the day.
Holly and Dagmara were very patient with us, I am coming down to the Winter Wedding day on Moanday (8th) so will try and bring a few prints for them.
Thanks again
Jon