At least they strike me as being lit with the ‘feeling’ or ‘mood’ of the photograph foremost in mind. I have made some notes on what intrigued me about each of the images. They will get the ol’ juices goin’ for thinking about light before we think about the gear.

Each of these images seem to hold a bit of a cinematic view… shadows that are un-mitigated, soft light contrasted with contrasty light, a ‘natural’ feel that may not be natural light, but with the warmth and subtleties that draw one in. (BTW… take a look at the pool at LE Flickr… there are a lot of great images there, and this choice in no way is meant to slight the other images there.) This post comes right after the post on “Emotional Lighting”, a recent Rant.

You know, I do workshops all over the country, and some selected dates out of the country. I meet so many great photographers and beginning shooters and models and just great people where ever I go. One of the reasons I am so optimistic about the future of photography are the people I meet at the workshops. Dedicated, interested, invested, committed, and creative, there are some terrific people pursuing this wonderful art of imaging.

I also hope to see some of you at the workshops this year. We are keeping them very reasonably priced, and very exciting. New curriculum, challenges and examples to work through. More media, more notes, more hands-on. If you are thinking about a workshop this year, I hope you consider mine. Checkout Learn to Light for more information. We will be coming more into line with a lot of other workshops next year, but for now my goal is to meet and work with as many small groups as I can.

There is a lot to think about this year. Some people are saying the recession is over. I am not so sure, but I don’t feel it tanking as fast as it was. We have to be nimble and able to create more channels of income into our pockets as professional photographers. Does that mean that commercial guys start doing weddings or wedding photographers branch out into industrial? Maybe. Does it mean we all have to start shooting video? No, of course not. Should we be investigating the new tools including video? Oh… yeah, we most definitely should.

If you think things changed fast last decade, hold on to your butts. Change will come more rapidly and on more fronts than in the oughts, and that is certain. We need to be nimble and we need to adapt to the changes. Are you dabbling in social media? You better be… or it will change so fast and the learning curve / ‘buy-in’ capital will be so high that it could be ten times as daunting as it is now. Read TechCrunch for some ideas of what is coming. Social media for the enterprise and filtered for content delivery by Google and Yahoo? Yeah. If you don’t know what that means, you need to find out. It affects us all in small business.

I hope you join in and become active in taking the idea of photography by the horns. Tackle the Ideas of lighting, the nuances of lighting, and how they all tie in to posing and gesture. Both grand and small, gesture is what makes the image speak to the viewer. Even the lack of gesture is a gesture in its own right.

The 24 images you are about to see come from the Flickr Lighting Essentials Pool. I hope you join us there for more discussions, a picture sharing forum, and a chance to meet and talk to some incredible peers. We aren’t about any one kind of light, we have no mantra other than to make great photographs, and for the most part we’re pretty darned nice.

Be sure to check out the Going Pro category and if you are looking for the shorter, one page posts, hit Rants & Raves. In the recent post on “Emotional Lighting” -the one that proceeded this one, there are some links to photographers that will inspire you. Also see the “8 Essential Sites for Emerging Professional Photographers” for some places to bookmark.

Now let’s go see the images and be sure to visit the photographer’s Flickr sites after the jump.

As with all the Lighting Essentials posts, clicking on the image will take you to the photographer’s Flickr stream – and I hope you take some time to leave a comment or two.

The flare in this image takes it up a level and helps connect me to her eyes.

Bringing the face forward with the spotlight is so theatrical. Spotlights have great impact on the viewer.

While we are talking about the focused light , check how the light makes something we all see (as parents) into something more evocative.

Keeping the shadow adds drama to the shot… even the blank wall takes on part of the composition.

I love the way the face emerges from the shadow. Very shallow DOF and the wonderful, soft lighting invite us in to the image.

A pool of light surrounds her, while a key keeps her lit in front. The rim light on her leg gives the image a cinematic look. In total keeping with her outfit.

She gazes off toward the light. The light becomes a part of the shot as it lights the area behind her and then falls off in the direction that she is looking. Classic cinematic approach.

Simply exquisite crop, and light makes this image so strong and revealing. I love how the sides of the face fall off leaving a very nice, clean light on her center face. Light is part of the emotion of the image.

Such beautiful backlight, and the way the tree limbs are in and out of the light makes you feel like you are there. Love this kind of light.

Letting the background burn in so hot sets the mood of this glamour shot. Front lighting is just contrasty enough to make it believable while still well lit.

The sidelight sculpts the masculinity so well. And with the subtle light on the background (shadow of the subject side) it really draws the viewer in. The very judicious use of the rim light sets the image off from the background.

The DOF and bright lights behind her add to the overall feeling of flare to the image. Her slightly bottom lit face also lets us know that she is engaged in the event at hand.

Everything works so well here. Pose, attitude, gesture and light. The emotion of emerging or ‘new’ (hope) is heavily felt.

Soft light and colors let the subject be a part of the environment while keeping her well lit. Careful placement kept the subject from ‘melding’ into the white gate.

The soft, but directional light adds dimension to this shot. I particularly love the shadow of the cigarette and under her chin. Pose and lighting working so well together.

Can’t you just feel the warmth in this shot? Exceptional use of flare and gesture.

Color, pose and light working together to provide a wonderful sense of place for the subject.

Sculpting the face from all angles and then adding a slight vignette, this portrait really draws in the viewer. Cinematic and powerful.

It’s all about the light in this exceptional edge/form headshot.

Using the light to enhance the pose and the environment. The light behind her brings some mystery to the image.

The softness of the light on her with the contrasty light behind makes this shot seem like a frame from a story. Intrigue and beauty.

The feeling of an off camera light source, bringing the shadow in front, is so cinematic. You can almost hear the light here.

Subtle back light and a soft ambient foreground give this image a spark that adds drama. it doesn’t have to be a big gesture of back light, sometimes just a hint will do.

The light wraps the ballerina almost like a mist. The background seems to lift her off of it and ‘present’ her to the viewer.

Thanks for visiting Lighting Essentials. I hope this post entertained you and gave you something to think about before you pull out the gear. Lighting for effect, emotional effect, is quite a powerful tool.

RECENT LONG FORM ARTICLES YOU MAY ENJOY:

Spend a Day Shooting Portraits
“Why Did You Light It That Way?”
Natural Light for Natural, Subtle Beauty
Thinking About Portraits: 6 Studies in Beauty
And don’t forget the Going Pro Series for emerging photographers.

For the “Rants and Raves” section, click here.

See you next time. Follow me on Twitter, or visit my Learn to Light site for information on my

lighting workshops.

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The beauty dish was used as a background. I wanted a big flare thing going… it was what I was seeing in my head and I thought that the big black hat could really be cool for that.

I always see an image before I start to light it. When Briana and I were trying to figure out what we were going to do with the black hat I saw the light come through her hair. That triggered an idea for having a lot of light ‘flaring’ around her. I knew the umbrella wouldn’t work, but the beauty dish may.

We placed the beauty dish off to one side a bit to get the flare on only that side. Both lights have the same power and the beauty dish was aimed right at the camera. Flare? Oh, yeah… we got some flare going then. Here is another shot from the series:

Here is a setup shot showing the placement of the umbrella and the beauty dish:

Information for today’s photographer. From novice to pro, LE Magazine has it all.

This side shot shows the distances of the lights. Keep in mind that it is shot with a wide angle lens so the items seem a little more distant than they actually were. When the beauty dish popped, Briana could feel the heat on her back… it is pretty close.

I shot with both my 100MM 2.8 and the 80-200mm 2.8L zoom. Interestingly I got a lot less flare from the beauty dish on the 100MM than on the 80-200. It may be due to age, the zoom is an older model, but it was definitely very noticeable on the screen.

You can see the ‘flag’ to keep a little bit of light off the background. It was getting so much spill light that it was going to bright. I wanted it just a little toward the light gray. Placing that large card did give me enough to make that side of the image a little gray, allowing the bright side to seem so much brighter.

Here is a snapshot of the Photoshop technique I used for the main shot. I will be doing some more Photoshop tutorials, with movies and work files. Watch this site and the magazine site for more information.

Part Three
Part Two
Part One

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I did have a third light going here, but it is totally optional for a back light. The model is still lit with only two lights: a Zebra umbrella and a Beauty Dish. I added a shiny fill for under her chin so that the light would be dramatic under the hat, but not too much under the chin and in the neck area.

In this shot you can see how the lights, which are very close, create a soft look to the skin while providing a dramatic shadow area where the light does fall off. You can see how fast it falls off on her left side on the cheek into the hair.

The light from the Beauty Dish is metered at f13 and the light from the umbrella is metered at f12. So it is only 1/3 less than the beauty dish… and that is OK with me because the object that light is hitting is the brightly colored hat and I don’t want to run any risk of blowing out the highlights. Using the Canon 100MM USM 2.8 lens at f13, I was able to move in very close to her to get the shot cropped any way I wanted. When I was back farther, I had to watch for the beauty dish to make sure that it wouldn’t slip into the frame… that is how low it was to the shoot angle. BTW, I use ISO 100 in the studio whenever possible.

Here is a set shot from the shoot:

You can see how close the dish is to her and how low the umbrella is. For a shot like this, flare can always be an issue. Interestingly enough, in this shot the beauty dish provided the flag for the hairlight, keeping any flare off the lens… pretty cool, eh! Take a look at the shiny board as well to see how it is as close to the subject as we can get it, just barely out of frame on the 1/2 shots.

Speedlight Information:
Two matched speedlights in silver umbrellas could be a place to start. Or two shoot-thru umbrellas in very close. Go with equal distance from the subject and go for something like f8 on both. Keeping the light close will help the drop off. You can always use a DIY beauty dish with an umbrella for the hairlight.

Here is the set from the side. You can see the backlight softbox. I used it to give a little light-to-dark on the background, but it is totally an option that you can choose to do if you want. You can also see that I am not using any fill cards so the image is totally lit from direct light coming from the front.

One last shot to take a look at.

Information for today’s photographer. From novice to pro, LE Magazine has it all.

Let me know how this shot works out for you. I will be creating a place to post assignment work soon, so watch for it. Thanks for visiting Lighting Essentials and keep on lighting!

Part One of this Workshop.
Part Three of this Workshop

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This shot of Lynne is created with three lights. Two of them are providing backlight and one is providing the front, or main light. It is a simple setup, one that can be done with studio or speedlights with consistent results.

I am using very small matching umbrellas here. they are 22″ soft white umbrellas and are about two feet from Lynne. They are matched for height and angle as well as distance. I wanted the light to be even across the back.

For this shot they are mounted on medium Bogen stands, and angled down at about 30% to have a little top feel to the light. They are about 20 inches above her (bottom of umbrella to head).

The front light is a beauty dish, this one is my old Norman dish which I love. I may buy a new one to have a matched pair, but this thing is really so fun, showing 20 years of dings, tape, marks and all kinds of ‘work’ marks. I have it about 3 feet from Lynne and slightly above the camera (10 inches or so). In this case, it is well between the lens and Lynne, so I am shooting under it. It is mounted on a Bogen Boom arm to keep the stands out of my way.

The power to all lights are equal. The meter gives me f8 from the front light, f8 from each of the backlights. The way I meter is to take a reading from the front light blocking the side light from any contamination of the pure reading (in this case not a big problem cause the backlights are behind her). I then take a reading of the backlights as it falls on the model. In other words, I turn my Minolta Flash Meter toward them and measure the light falling on her as though they were main lights. I will take a final reading from the subject toward the lens with all flashes firing to make sure I am not getting anything I was not expecting.

All of these lights are now giving me f8 and that means they are even. So why does the backlight work to show the light. It is because they are hitting Lynne at an angle and her skin and dress start to catch the light and reflect it toward the camera. Do you see how it highlights her neck and chin from the edge forward? That edge is catching the backlight at an angle to throw it right into the lens. It seems brighter, and essentially it is.

Remember also that my main light is only 3ft from her, so it is already falling off as it clears her shoulders. The backlight is catching the receding light and kicking it back up.

The dark area under her right cheek is from the natural area caused from her hair blocking the backlight, the contrast is because the main light (and only light seen in this area) is the beauty dish. Beauty dishes have a bit more contrast and less ‘wrap’ than umbrellas.

The lens I am using here is the 100mm, f2.8 Canon USM. I love this lens for its sharpness and blazing fast focus. In the studio I will more than likely have this lens or my Canon 80-200MM L Zoom (yes, 80-200mmL – it is an older model.)

I am also using a compendium lens shade to keep any flare off of the lens. A compendium hood looks like the bellows of a view camera. I think they are the most consistently reliable flare protection, and it folds flat for easy stowing in my already overloaded bag.

You will also notice in the lighting diagram that I am using a shiny board under her chin. It is adding some kick up, but I have it lower than normal so that it doesn’t wipe out the contrast of the beauty dish. We used to finesse these things with Polaroid (RIP), but today I will shoot tethered whenever I can, or rely on the zoom tool on the camera LCD screen to see the subtle changes. I don’t have that much faith in the screen on the back of the camera for exposure and such, so I use this only when I cannot see it on my laptop. I have found that the contrast on that little screen is far more than what is rendered in the capture.

I shot the image in Raw and processed it normally. This image has been Photoshopped to include some skin retouching, a Curves adjustment for a little added contrast and a softness filter applied at 50%. I also slightly burned in the texture on the lighter part of the dress… 10% or so.

Information for today’s photographer. From novice to pro, LEMagazine has it all.

To do this shot with speedlights would be very easy. I would recommend the use of a smaller beauty dish from the front, or possibly a small softbox. The back, side lights could remain small umbrellas. I would make sure that the fill cards were very tight to compensate for the somewhat smaller throw of the speedlights in umbrellas. Many photographers are adding additional speedlights to their aresenal, and I recommend that as well. Modern flashes are quite expensive with all the ETTL and other technology built in. For a shot like this you don’t need that, so older, manual flashes could be used. Ebay or Craigslist could net you a great find. A friend of mine picked up 2 Nikon SB600′s for $120 off Craigslist… so be diligent. I believe you can still get the Vivitar 285HV for under a hundred bucks at Amazon, at least at the time of this writing.

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial. If there is something special you would like to see, please contact me by email from the contact page.

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Our second shot finds us using a piece of equipment for the first time. This is essentially one way I test out new equipment this same way: bring in a model and try the light by itself, then add fill and modifiers to see how the light reacts with it. In this case it is Megan’s DIY beauty dish. Amazing… an IKEA light reflector and a speedlight with a little ingenuity and super glue. Total price for this cool tool… > $10. We add fill cards and shiny cards, and I climb up on a small box for a somewhat different view.

The last shot uses two speedlights: one is the main and in a circular parabolic with tissue paper over it, the second with the home made beauty dish aimed at the background very close to it. This gives a very nice, gradual fall off for a back light. I really liked the look of this and will be doing another shoot with it soon. And this Friday I have a location shoot where this may come in handy.

Gallery:

Information for today’s photographer. From novice to pro, LEMagazine has it all.

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The flat pan keeps the light more focused, and also lets the light fall off quicker. This allows the photographer to really sculpt the light, to create shadows on edges of the face that can really bring out the features. The small dish in front of the light bounces that main light back and into the larger pan. The light ends up being both focused and diffused. Access Legacy Lighting Essential page here.

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