I always like to get a shot of every model using this set-up.  Once you set it up, it’s so bullet proof, even I can do it without too much head scratching.  Often called “clamshell lighting” as the lights resemble an open clam from the side, there are many variations on this lighting set-up, however they all have one light centred over the top of the model but angled more towards the horizontal, with another light or reflector below.  You can then light the background from the front or the back.

Nah….

You can actually buy a thing called a “triflector” from Lastolite that has 3 panels that reflect from the bottom, left and right for a wraparound fill.  I don’t use side reflectors – I find it makes the face look fat.  In fact, I don’t use a reflector at all – I prefer to use a powered fill light, as I can then position it lower out of the way, and can have as much power in it as I like.  I almost always use a small beauty dish directly overhead and centred, sometimes with the diffuser on, sometimes not – depends on how good the subject’s skin is:  putting the diffuser on will smooth it out a bit by reducing the micro-shadows around any skin defects.  For fill, I will use a softbox on a floor stand angled up just off horizontal – maybe 30 degrees.  This is powered up to 1 stop below the main light.

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Ah um so this is another one the great wizard of photons – Mr Joe McNally casually did one afternoon (well that’s what it seemed like when it was edited together with a load of other shots in a Kelby Training video) and I just thought “oh yeah – I could do that” followed by “ah but…”  and then “unless you…” and finally “I could do that”.

I’m talking about mixing ambient light with flash in a selective way – either outside, or using continuous lights.   Normally, in the studio, I would start off by confirming I’d banished the ambient light so this was going to be interesting.   Joe has a phenomenal shot in his portfolio shot in Beijing of a woman in traditional looking Chinese garb with lots of flowing patterned silks streaming out behind her in the wind.  As it moves away from her, the fabric becomes more and more blurred from motion.  Joe made this happen by lighting only the front of the model with flash, and adjusting the shutter speed to dial in the required amount of blur on the trailing silks that were hidden from the flash light. Continue reading →

Been meaning to try out a Joel Grimes style high-key blown-out image for a while.  I got a message from a local shooter – John Gannon, who’d recently built a studio – in his back garden, was busy teaching himself to shoot pictures and had a fantastic model – Sarah Rae from Bournemouth, at his studio all day.  It just said – you’re local – fancy shooting with Sarah in my studio – just pay Sarah for her time.  Well

– how could I refuse?  It would seem rude! John’s back yard studio is a good size and he’s equipped it with basic lighting, a lot of backdrops, and even a little make-up station.  Sarah showed up right on time with a massive wardrobe packed into 3 cases.  She had been on tour in the North West for 3 weeks or so.  I only intended to spend a couple of hours there, however Sarah has such a fantastical look – intense impressions, with an overwhelming sense of concentrated attention – and John’s a brilliant bloke – very generous, helpful and dead easy to get on with.  I ended up spending 4 hours shooting with Sarah, and we got some great results.

So, first up was the Joel Grimes nuclear detonation light-everywhere shot.  Joel uses some really big modifiers to provide fill left and right and a medium/large softbox to provide slightly more directional light from the front and centre.  Go watch his videos on “Lit Up” – they’re really useful. I didn’t have 2 really big modifiers, however, the walls of John’s studio are all white, so I pointed both of his small softboxes at the left and right walls/pitched roof which had the perfect angle to reflect that light as a massive soft light source back onto Sarah. Continue reading →