So I've got this band promo shoot coming up in a couple of weeks for a local act called
Southside Serenade, and I wanted to be as prepared as possible for the lighting setup I plan to use. Honestly, most of my studio stuff is fairly straightforward lighting-wise, and I've pretty much got it to the point where I don't even think about it anymore. But out on location you've got a number of factors to consider, such as the amount of ambient light, the quality/color of that light, weather, wind, space limitations, etc. Basically, I didn't want to have to deal with all of that
on top of figuring out a new lighting setup for the first time, so I called a good friend over to sort of "model" for me. Besides, he needed a new Facebook profile pic anyway. ;-)
This lighting technique involves 3 strobes, two on either side of the subject and slightly behind them, and then one light up front as key. Generally the sidelights, also called "kickers" or "rim lights", should be about a stop and a half hotter than your key light (having a light meter is very handy in these types of situations-- I use a
Sekonic L-358). It's a very dramatic, contrasty kind of lighting that is very popular these days, and I think it's a good technique to have in your back pocket alongside your usual setups. Now, bear in mind that I wasn't exactly shooting for portfolio-worthy images here-- I was merely experimenting with a new lighting technique....so don't start playa hatin'. ;-)
Anyway, so I shot this with three
Alien Bees B1600 strobes. The two in back were fitted with their standard 7" reflectors along with a set of barn doors to help control the spread of light. I could have just as easily used gridspots instead of barn doors (which I'll try next time), or gone with the 7" reflectors by themselves, but this time around I just happened to have the barn doors attached. The key light was fitted with a 16" beauty dish and a diffusion sock.
Here's a setup shot showing all 3 strobes firing (again, this isn't portfolio-worthy stuff.....I'm sure you'll be quick to notice that this shoot took place right in my back yard. Hey- I said no hatin'!!):
Now bear in mind that this was just before 5PM Eastern, so the direct sun was still blazing. In order to overpower the sun and produce the effect you see (which looks more like 7:30PM), I had to put my 2 rear strobes on pretty much full power. That's the beauty of shooting with high-powered strobes-- you have maximum control over the light in any given situation. Now, if I had Elinchrom Rangers instead of Alien Bees, I could make daytime look like midnight....pretty dang cool. Maybe one day I'll be cool (and rich) enough to be able to drop several grand on a strobe setup. But until then, it's okay to dream, right?
So anyway, that's pretty much all you gotta do....set up your lights, adjust the ratio so that your kicker lights are about a stop and a half hotter than your key, use your light meter to determine the appropriate shooting aperture, put your camera on Manual, and go to town. Below is the effect you'll get (notice the "rim" light on the edge, which really helps separate him from the background, and the hard light on his cheeks that really gives kind of a sculpted/chiseled appearance). If you have any questions, or would like some pointers on where to find great lighting information on the Net, please leave a comment or drop me an email.
PS - no, this wasn't edited in the slightest, and yes I need to clean my sensor. ;-)
---BLOG-HEADER.png){kind=logo}
Posts
