Using two powerful opposing lights can create a lot of drama in your images and make the subject “pop.” It is more than a main and a fill, it is a second light source that comes from the opposite side of your main light with as much or nearly as much power as your main light. This can cause some very interesting ’sculpting’ to happen where the two light sources meet.

It can also be a challenge to make that area where they meet as attractive as possible. Use the sculpting power of that second light to show lines, curves, texture, shape, and shadow to advantage. Controlling that second light is our focus.

We can use a hard light or a modified light source, but the goal is not to ‘fill’ the shadow side, but to create a whole new light source. Let’s take a look at a couple of examples that show how using two lights can really add some interest to a portrait or beauty shot.

The first shot we have is of Lynne in the studio.

The main lighting is a bit unusual. A beauty dish is wrapped in a foil window shade for a car and gaffer-taped to create a funnel (or snoot) and placed on camera left. It is aiming almost vertically down so only a bit of light is spilling off the edge of the snoot and catching Lynne’s arm and leg. The purpose of this light is to give some dimension to the image. The highlight is very sexy and gives the body shape as well as setting it off of the background. Look at how it gently sculpts the inside of her left thigh and highlights the left hand and arm. It is directly to the side of Lynne and only slightly out of camera range.

Main light is a grid-spot set slightly above Lynne’s face height and aimed at her face. It creates a shadow behind her that I used as a compositional element. The shadow also gives some dimension to the image. Grid spots are great for isolating the light.

When shooting like this it is important to make sure the model knows where the light is and how to judge if she is in it. Lynne worked to keep her eyes on the grid and that helped her be aware if she drifted too far afield of the light shape.

I wanted the shape of Lynne’s body to be accentuated by the second light, so I kept it as powerful as the main light. It also takes time to position that second light. Making sure it was a subtle part of the image in this case, not a “hit you in the face” light, but subtly, and distinctly, falling on what would be the shadow side of Lynne.

Below is the diagram for Lynne’ shot. (Click the image to see a larger view.)

Here is Briana in the doorway of an old building in Northern Arizona. She is being lit from the main light in front of her, soft northern light. I wanted to sculpt her out of the background a bit, so I added a speedlight to camera left and behind Bri. It adds a highlight down the left side of her that makes her seem dimensional. It is different than back lighting as it is only coming from one side. Be very careful with the placement of this light, as you don’t want it to become a problem on the face by throwing too many awkward shadows.

This shot of Lynne in the studio also shows how a powerful second light can sculpt the body lines for more drama and interest.

I used a beauty dish to camera right and coming very much as a side light to Lynne on the chair. This causes a lot of shadow on her shadow side and adds to the sexiness of the image. I needed a second light to add some drama to the dark side of Lynne and make the image pop a bit more. By using a large, snooted light, I was able to focus it on her shoulders and leg to get the shape without taking away from the drama of the opposing main side light.

Controlling the second light (camera left) also meant keeping it totally off the background so the shapes of the shadows (from Lynne and chair) could remain. Snooting or flagging the light is the best way to do that.

Here is a shot of Briana on a lonely road in California. I used a speedlight to add the dramatic light on her and kept the sun as my sculpting light.

I wanted the shot to have a bit more drama than a simply fill-flashed look. I had wanted to shoot on that little highway for years and I was ecstatic to actually be there doing the shot I had wanted to do. I wanted it to be memorable.

Taking the 430EZ and mounting it on the stand, I made sure that the ‘Zoom” was in the longest position on the strobe. This works like more of a spotlight when you are in close. By narrowing the beam I was able to create a more interesting light on Briana’s face and torso. The gently receding light gives way to the backlit look of the sun by the time it reaches her legs.

Taking a reading from the ambient I decided to underexpose the mountains and sky in the distance by at least a stop. Setting the flash to give me one stop brighter exposure on Briana’s face, I set the camera for that exposure and made the images. I used f-16 at 1/200 for the shot. The ambient light was f-16 at 1/100 so setting the camera at 1/200 gave me one stop underexposed for the image. I just made sure that the flash was giving me f-16 on Briana, rendering her perfectly exposed.

Try using that second light as a sculpting tool next time you go out shooting. I will have another post on this next month, using the sculpting light to show texture and shape. Thanks for dropping by LE.