Play-Day in The Studio

[DanOstergren36 2]

A good friend of mine owns a local rental studio, and sometimes he will let me use the studio to experiment with lighting. When this happens I just ask him to be my model, which works out because he is the type of person I gravitate towards photographing anyways.

This first lighting setup incorporates just one flash and a white V-flat reflector. The flash is in a large octabox (any sort of softbox modifier should work though) positioned behind the backdrop, but higher than the backdrop crossbar. The white V-flat reflector is positioned to camera left, reflecting very soft light back onto the subject. For this setup you want to avoid letting the light modifier hang over the backdrop, otherwise it will cause every wrinkle and crease in the backdrop to show.

Lighting diagram:

Results:
1

2

3

The second lighting setup incorporates two flash heads and a white V-flat reflector. The main light is in a 65 inch parabolic white umbrella with a diffuser, positioned camera-right, aimed directly at the white V-flat reflector which is positioned to camera left directly opposite the main flash. The point of this is to make it so that none of the light from the main light source is falling directly on the subject, instead only using the indirect falloff light, while using the V-flat reflector to bounce some of that light back towards the model for some fill light. The second flash was used as a subtle hair light, in a 4ft gridded strip box. For anyone unfamiliar with the term hair light, it's a light source positioned above and slightly behind your subject, aimed at their head. This is used to light up the hair a little bit with a little bit of rim lighting, but in this case because my subject has a shaved head, I kept the output for this particular flash very low in order to have a very subtle effect.

Lighting diagram:

Results:
4.

5

6

7

 

[terri49]

Wow - this is really interesting stuff!

I like the results from both setups. Interesting that for the 2nd setup, not only are these full body shots but he's wearing all black and is illuminated just fine. Still seems like nice subdued light.

Great set! Hope you're satisfied with it, too!

 

[zombiesniper129 28]

Great set.

I also like that you used a lighting design site to lay out your shot. I used to save them in the same folder (usually named the same as the corresponding image with the addition of the phrase "lightdiag" after the image name). I.E. Micheallighdiag.png. It allowed me to go back and quickly reference previous lighting set ups and makes learning what works a lot faster.

It will also help you reverse engineer a shot you see online. After a while you'll be able to see an image and set a studio in under 5 minutes to get the same lighting.

 

[DanOstergren36 2]

Wow - this is really interesting stuff!

I like the results from both setups. Interesting that for the 2nd setup, not only are these full body shots but he's wearing all black and is illuminated just fine. Still seems like nice subdued light.

Great set! Hope you're satisfied with it, too!

Thanks Terri!

That second setup was on a relatively dark gray backdrop as well. I think the reasons I was able to get such good separation were the hair light, as well as I think the lighting setup by nature creates more ambient lighting that spreads out softly, rather than creating higher contrast by aiming the light sources right at the model. It gives the light a nice spread across the entire set.

I'm pretty happy with it, but feel like there are some aspects that could be improved. One thing I want to try with the first setup is to open the aperture up a bit more while lowering the light output, hopefully to achieve a more dreamy sort of look. I think I'd want to use a model with a full head of hair for that though.

 

[DanOstergren36 2]

Great set.

I also like that you used a lighting design site to lay out your shot. I used to save them in the same folder (usually named the same as the corresponding image with the addition of the phrase "lightdiag" after the image name). I.E. Micheallighdiag.png. It allowed me to go back and quickly reference previous lighting set ups and makes learning what works a lot faster.

It will also help you reverse engineer a shot you see online. After a while you'll be able to see an image and set a studio in under 5 minutes to get the same lighting.

Thank you!

I agree lighting diagrams can be really useful, and it's something I need to do more often, as well as pull-back shots that show the entire lighting setup, like this one. I also need to start writing down the output settings of each flash. I say all the time that I need to do these things, but I really struggle with remembering to on the day of the shoot.

 

[DanOstergren36 2]

A few more from this session. Had to take a break on editing to work on other things.

 

[zombiesniper129 28]

Photo #1 nominated for POTM

 

[CherylL1]

Great set! Thanks for sharing how you set up the shots.

 

[IpseLux9 8]

Perfect ratio of key to fill. All are beautiful. I'm partial to the monochromes. And that first shot with the light behind, very well done. Very popular portrait lighting in male sports portraiture. Defines the edges well. Very strongly.
Good choice of background too. Well done.

 

[DanOstergren36 2]

Photo #1 nominated for POTM

Wow, than you!

 

[DanOstergren36 2]

Great set! Thanks for sharing how you set up the shots.

Thank you, and no problem. I'm going to start TRYING to remember to take pull-back shots of my studio setups from now on, but can't make any promises. I already try to remember and still forget most of the time.

 

[DanOstergren36 2]

Perfect ratio of key to fill. All are beautiful. I'm partial to the monochromes. And that first shot with the light behind, very well done. Very popular portrait lighting in male sports portraiture. Defines the edges well. Very strongly.
Good choice of background too. Well done.

Thank you so much!

 

[Splitpair11 9]

A good friend of mine owns a local rental studio, and sometimes he will let me use the studio to experiment with lighting. When this happens I just ask him to be my model, which works out because he is the type of person I gravitate towards photographing anyways.

This first lighting setup incorporates just one flash and a white V-flat reflector. The flash is in a large octabox (any sort of softbox modifier should work though) positioned behind the backdrop, but higher than the backdrop crossbar. The white V-flat reflector is positioned to camera left, reflecting very soft light back onto the subject. For this setup you want to avoid letting the light modifier hang over the backdrop, otherwise it will cause every wrinkle and crease in the backdrop to show.

Lighting diagram: View attachment 300827

Results:
1
View attachment 300824

2
View attachment 300825

3
View attachment 300826

The second lighting setup incorporates two flash heads and a white V-flat reflector. The main light is in a 65 inch parabolic white umbrella with a diffuser, positioned camera-right, aimed directly at the white V-flat reflector which is positioned to camera left directly opposite the main flash. The point of this is to make it so that none of the light from the main light source is falling directly on the subject, instead only using the indirect falloff light, while using the V-flat reflector to bounce some of that light back towards the model for some fill light. The second flash was used as a subtle hair light, in a 4ft gridded strip box. For anyone unfamiliar with the term hair light, it's a light source positioned above and slightly behind your subject, aimed at their head. This is used to light up the hair a little bit with a little bit of rim lighting, but in this case because my subject has a shaved head, I kept the output for this particular flash very low in order to have a very subtle effect.

Lighting diagram: View attachment 300828

Results:
4.
View attachment 300829

5
View attachment 300830

6
View attachment 300831

7

View attachment 300832

He's a rather handsome man, but with those arms I don't think I would want to get punched by him.

I would probably land in the next county over.

 

[DanOstergren36 2]

He's a rather handsome man, but with those arms I don't think I would want to get punched by him.

I would probably land in the next county over.

Generally speaking I wouldn't really like to be punched by anyone, so I would have to agree.