Transformers - more than meets the eye!

adamhiram · Nov 1, 2021

Every year, I try to get creative when photographing my son in his Halloween costume. This year he dressed up as Optimus Prime, so I wanted to create something inspired by the packaging that the original toy came in, similar to this and this. Everything was done in-camera, with the exception of the stars which were added in post. I shot this from near-ground level for more of a "hero" angle (plus it made it easier to hide the floor without using an extra 8' of seamless paper). Any feedback is welcome!

Lighting setup (see pull-back shot for full setup)

Key: I used a 12"x56” gridded stripbox camera left for almost-split lighting. I ended up moving it a little more forward to make sure the front of the subject was illuminated, as well as create a tall vertical catchlight in the eyes.
Fill: I used a tall rectangular piece of white styrofoam as a reflector, with the shape intended to match that of the key light. This was moved in relatively close to provide enough fill to preserve some shadow detail, but still somewhere around a 4:1 key/fill ratio.
Background: The background is lit with 2 gelled strobes in reflectors with barn doors to control spill. On the left/bottom is the red gelled light, and on the right/top is the blue gelled light. The backdrop is an 86" wide roll of seamless paper in fashion gray.
Stars: These were added in post using a modified version of the tutorial I found here.
Miscellaneous: I also wrapped an apple crate in black seamless paper for the subject to stand on, which helped isolate the subject and hid the pattered area rug underneath.