Foolin' about with a strobe

amolitor · Jan 20, 2013

Noir-ish lighting on purpose, in case that's not clear. C+C welcome, o' course. She looks a bit like she's just shot Miles Archer, but I assure you she's actually watching Peter Pan.

bigtwinky · Jan 20, 2013

I get it was on purpose, but I dunno about the very dark left side of her face. Would of liked just a lick more light in there to bright out some minimal detail. As it is, it looks like she has half a face.
Maybe a second flash in the back to create a rim light that will better cut her out of the dark background?

nycphotography · Jan 20, 2013

amolitor said:
Noir-ish lighting on purpose, in case that's not clear. C+C welcome, o' course. She looks a bit like she's just shot Miles Archer, but I assure you she's actually watching Peter Pan.

View attachment 33162

Was it a bare flash? Not bad, but I think it needed to be a little higher to catch the top of her head more and then to fall off more on the shirt. You can probably knock down the bright hearts w/ a gradient mask layer, and maybe even bring up the hair with another one, so you're within the realm of the fixable.

Was it a speedlight or a monolight? If a speedlight, I saw someone here made a snoot/grid from corplast. Perfect for a shot like this.

Noir light is VERY hard and VERY directional, so take it to that next level and snoot and/or grid it.

Finally, to really get the noir pop, you need some kind of a context... a prop of some kine. a steel desk, or chair, a swivel desk lamp, a fedora, a toy gun, or an old graflex ;-)

amolitor · Jan 21, 2013

Thanks, guys!

Yeah, it was a bare Vivitar 585 (I think that's the number it ain't in front of me). I do snoot the thing with a newspaper sometimes, but not on this day. Good suggestion!

Derrel · Jan 21, 2013

"Young girl, by Weegee."

http://museum.icp.org/museum/collections/special/weegee/

amolitor · Jan 21, 2013

I am flattered to be compared with Weegee! I can't find the exact image you're referring to, but I definitely see the similarity in the lighting. He was using a giant flash bulb just up and to the left of the lens which is.. hey, wait, that's where I was holding the Vivitar! Totally unconscious. I'm sure I picked this one out of the pile specifically because it had that 1930s paparazzi look, though, since that's the flavor I was poking around for.

Thanks, Derrel. I'm always happy to get the references sorted out, especially in my own photos!