Hair light questions, help needed.

[Pallycow]

This is another from my V day promo shoot. It is just the raw processed with only a slight wb adjust, nothing else done yet. It is not the final version, there are things I have planned to do to it, the neg space is there for a reason, for text, mis placed backlight...but I'll fix all that jazz later.

My question is about the usage of the hairlight. This was my first time ever using one, we have a large light on a boom in the studio..and it has a snoot on it with about a 4-5 inch circumference opening...no grid, and after watching vids I wanted to try it out.

On a few of them I kept getting light falling on the mans forehead, much more than shown here. I adjusted many times to get it to where I wanted. I just wanted to get it on her hair and fall on shoulder a tad. I could not seem to get it right.

Can anyone tell from this image where I went wrong? Was the light too far away, too close, too high, too low... etc.

any help would be appreciated.

 

[tirediron]

VERY difficult to say without seeing a diagram of your lighting set-up. The hairlight is definitely a stop or two hot and seems oddly positioned to me (I would likely have gone high, camera right). I think closer in, and lower power, and/or tightening the snoot (a bit of stiff paper and gaffer's tape will do this) would have helped.

 

[cgipson1]

Pallycow >> http://www.lightingdiagrams.com/Creator

 

[tirediron]

Great link Charlie!

 

[Pallycow]

If I recall correctly, I metered the HL at 5.6 or 4.0, with ML at 5.6. I was trying to keep supplemental lighting a stop or two lower.

I had ML CR at 45 metered at 5.6, Reflector at CL 45 metered at 4.0 to 2.8 depending, backlight (in wrong spot...lol) metered at 4.0 to 2.8, and HL back Cr about 6' high pointed downward...maybe 5' ish away metered at 5.6 to 4.0.

Next time I will write things down for sure so I'll know exactly which setup worked and did not work and not rely on my brain.

I was thinking of putting a black card up on left side of snoot to help direct light traffic as I saw that done in the video...but I think I was just frustrated and moved on by that point.

Was I going in the right direction as far as ideal usage? In just hitting hair a tad and shoulder? Or is that really a personal preference sort of thing.

Thanks.

 

[Pallycow]

Pallycow >> http://www.lightingdiagrams.com/Creator

Gracias mi amigo

 

[cgipson1]

Pallycow >> http://www.lightingdiagrams.com/Creator

Gracias mi amigo

de nada, mi hermano!

 

[Pallycow]

That link is really cool. I love it.

 

[Pallycow]

I tried to get the HL as real as I can recall...so I think it was that far away as in the diagram. I think next time I'll come in closer and stop it down 2 stops as a starting point.