| Tips for Using Harsh Light Sources |
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| Written by Steve Dantzig | |
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I was excited about working with Cathleen since meeting her s couple of weeks ago. She’s a pretty lady with a very fresh face. As usual, I began to think of ways that I wanted to light her when she sent me a link to another model’s portfolio showing the type of look she wanted to create. [NOTE: There is nothing wrong with looking at other people’s work for inspiration—you just cannot create an exact duplicate without getting into copyright issues]. The lighting that Cathleen wanted would be quite harsh and dramatic. I chose a small Stripdome for my main light for two of the sets. An 18” beauty dish acted as a fill source for one set and the main light for one set. A spot light with a 20 degree grid for a hair and rim light was used in all three set-ups. The smaller lights are what create the high contrast desired for this look. While they can be very effective for this purpose, they can also be more difficult to work with. The shadow side of your set will be much darker than if you used a larger, softer light. Reflectors can help soften some of the shadows, but as I explain in my upcoming Back to Basics book, reflectors are less effective with small lights because there is less light passing your subject to be caught and bounced back. The positioning of the reflector is critical. Please Log In or Sign Up for a FREE Silver Account to access the rest of this article or others on ProPhotoResource.com |
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