Lessons

Lesson Info

Shoot: Three Light Beauty Shot

Let's add our edge lights so now we have the globe and the overhead some have to down power this right? Because I want this to be a less of a player so let's go quickly just turn these on and we're gonna have these really close because it's a beauty shot so let's get him is close as I can get up and still have the frame so take and swing it this way and then back it up a little bit toward what towards yeah toward that so let me let me tell you you're you're dead center here come in about four inches, john right about there and that should be so if someone asked me where I point the lights so I want this part right on her shoulder dead's dead to the shoulder and they should be the same height and let's turn it on and since I don't know, we haven't tested this here ok? So I would say quarter power right now we're still in action or do you want to go? That doesn't matter matter so quarter power start there and make sure it's not over too much uh what second number wass uh one forty nine o...

r one sixty to one sixty okay and now we're going down power this so let's go to let's goto wrong way let's go to sixteenth power they were at sixteenth power so that should be okay here we go so now we're going to three light but I wanna have the wrap um just show the glow so let me do this let's go back up we don't need right on the lens and then I'm gonna back it up a little bit here and let's see what we got one two three okay well I went down way too low with this way too low that's okay because that's one pop right so I went I don't think I went to stops down okay so we don't want to look like a sports shot right so let's go back to quarter power let's just see what happens quarter power here we go there we go that's getting better so look at the difference boom so here's what I want I want the transition from this cheek the cheeks here to hear tohave a value change but really light so right now it's almost like I want to go up at least a third let's try it so I'm gonna go up a third so that's a third a quarter last minds the third let's go it'll be a quarter plus a third so we're to smooth out the skin just a little bit more one two three so I want that transition to be there but I wanted to be very subtle so here's the highlight there's a transition very subtle I want the highlight here is there to be very subtle there but not like, you know like an athlete you want to be really subtle subtle is that good? Is that how you would like adores I'm getting I'm getting there okay, I'm getting there so I would say that this light seems to be a little dark but all we need to do instead of instead of moving it let's just let's just up but one, two, three, four a little bit just a little bit so we can equal the glows to be perfect and I still think I need to go a little bit more on my center life just a little bit more so let's do that again I have to put my glasses on so I hit the button and I go plus plus point seven so quarter plus point seven so let's see what that does? I think we're getting there do a straight on again so I can really see that light and put your let's put your hands out a little bit so I want to see that shoulders right there. Okay, now we're getting there now we're getting there in terms of having this still the highlights of their highlights are there but there's probably from a girl from the curl one of the girls now it's fine um so now but see the different mood that this creates and that one light it's a different mood it's a damn record it's a mine I said this before of minor seventh something that's some chords different it's a different strum of a music and so I'm gonna just sit here and now let's try this and I think that I've got let me just pull this light out because I don't want to see that in my frame if I want to keep all the gray in there it was a clean set here beautiful there we go and I would say yes you know you don't want to be on jessica's bad side and we could probably bring the fill up just a little bit let's see what happens right about there beautiful maybe going too fast here but let's just hopefully it'll catch up it was a different look different field and so there's gotta be like I said there's something I like I like that white that looks good um we have to back up probably not, but louis lis let's do it let's raise this just a fraction of a fraction and I'm gonna maybe get a little bit of the a little bit yeah yeah I like it hold on a second we gotta pull this out a little bit I don't know why this light keeps showing up right yeah, I know, I know okay now that I'm losing the arms arms out sorry I took a picture right when you're moving but that looks kind of cool though. So do that do that same thing right there right there and maybe give me just pull this well he'll do it because you're holding that just to pull us out just a fraction an answer so just to get that one corner that's are armed do both arms again I like that I want to get that but just so long as you don't cover your eyes I do this turn do that saying that would turn a little bit, you know? Yeah there you now bring bring you you bring your arms this way there you go as if I know what to do right? Imposing but see, look, look at this that's kind of a cool look right here will see that or she's just a little bit case I got I'm gonna shift. Okay, now you just scoot that way a little bit right there that way. That way I can get you in there. I'm a little tight on the top I lost my I think try straight just do all straight again because I think that's for this kind of thing, I think this is what's best right here just really straight down the pike and I can also raise the uh this line a little bit now so raise it up so you get a little bit more shadow so when you're looking up like that into the light so what do you do that again? We're hands up on top try you right there will be a beautiful beautiful right there that's good. So when I raise the light I got a little bit more shadow under her so I'm watching that so that's what that tells you is that even if I get the light perfect here if she does this it needs to light needs to go up a little bit to follow her so that's just that's that's the the good thing in the bad thing about lighting the good thing is that if you understand it you can control it if you do understand it then you're always lost in it susan you'll question from anton and I see do you always so he's saying that you only you said that you only use sidelight grids for sport photography and no grades for beautif ashen did you say that I never said that? Okay, so basically my clone well, the question is the question the question is what makes you decide whether to use sidelights for beauty? Okay, so the sidelight gives me depth it's building death because now I have it looks like something's coming in from the sides right? So it's like an environmental bounce whether his windows or doors or whatever right? So it kind of shapes the face it builds a little drama, so I get it I said it's just a core progression accord like it's. Like when you write a song, how do you know to start in a major or minor? It's the feel of it it's a mood, the blues, you know, they have a different field, you know, straight major, you know, the esso so it's it's more of, like a an emotional, uh, statement that I make an emotional, uh, feedback time coming from my model. So every light lighting technique gives me a different look. So it's, just about how much I put in and out of this light's going to change the mood. So it's really to me I'm letting my intuition takeover and listen, nobody taught me this lighting. I just kind of came across it, right? So what does that tell you? I'm letting my intuition bring me to this point and that's why? I don't like schematics and things that say, put your light here three feet from here and you know the ratios I want to let my intuition tell me if I'm right or not and so let's do this, we're looking at our time um, let's go to the table let's bring the table out so we're going to and while we're bringing the table out is there another question I can answer the question while we're talking here go ahead there photographing female athletes if you I'm trying to think back to what I saw on your web site but I can't quite recall are you shooting them mostly and more type of beauty lighting but with beside lights or do you ever do shadowy type images with so remember when I photographed that picture of hope solo yeah so with hope solo what I want to do is I want to give her a in between feel of either a beauty or a sports so it's just like filling in that zone three or that mid zone a little bit more so we're gonna have you sit down long ways so just bring it right up to her and if we have to we could either flip two on their sides on terms of her haif but I want you to put your elbows like you're leaning like that exactly we don't need these lights well at least for now you just turn him off and back him off we're not gonna have a phil card and then we're going to swing this around and this is this is a serious that I was working on not with this table obviously but if I could pack this table up and take with me I would so where am I gonna put my life on same old thing right now I'm not sure if I'm going to be able to put this on a tripod you're just gonna do a belly flop over the table so oh, you know what? We may have to move that light out because it's all right same everything so let's take a look at this so it's a little bit I could see if I can see the shadow nor knows a little bit long for me so what that tells me though is I may have you have to have your head up into the light that's better so because I don't have a bounce right um I also not seen a lot of the table so part of my whole thing wass is to really get the table to show up and the value looks pretty good in the background but what we've noticed here is you close your eyes like that is that, um my background is a little bit too far back so let's walk it off or do you think we could do it that found with her was pick it up and we'll just kind of slide it toward us a little bit so I get a little bit more and this is a what twelve footer so what does that tell you that you gotta have your about your subject pretty close to the background because it's we're really pushing the limit here now there's one thing I can do I can always fix this I'm clone it fix it in photos so if I have to but way were able to raise their value a little bit so here we go so I want to see the table in the picture I want that table to kind of lead me into the into her a little bit and so I'm at twenty eight millimeter so it's not bad and I think what I could do is I can lower this just a little bit so let's see if I can lower it just a little bit so that's gonna fill in underneath just a tad the table's not really give me a whole lot of bounce um so I'm kind of stuck there so here we go one two and I've lowered my camera angle right there yes starting to get their beautiful now do this take your elbows out a little bit yes way we will use that full table oh, this is beautiful ready focus okay bring your head up a little bit right there so you see and I'm gonna add I'm gonna add texture like I did yesterday member a little technique so that that's just not gonna be great it's gonna be like a like a kind of a textured background that's looking pretty good I think I'm getting there so now I'm gonna let her kind of just move so now I've got my lighting looks pretty good my angle I'm at twenty eight millimeter ready one two, three all right whips can't go too fast what was that about rhythm you know well, this is it going off okay because I can't um try to do your arms out again like that I really love that kind of way right there chin up there you'll write their perfect I'll do that and close your eyes kind of like you're just even tilt your head back a little bit more like you're right there are three three they're all yes using all my weight this next one that's beautiful I love it so it tells me a little bit about her not much I mean, you know it's just uh it's a personal thing but I love you know the shoulders there um so let me just we'll just work now I had um I have one of um um I'm with my model and I'm drawing a blank on amy you here? No she's not here. Well anyways she's in my poor feel a lot but she grabbed her hair in crisscrossed it is in my portfolio a monique I didn't ask you to do that, so sometimes I just watch just watch what's going on and all sudden model do something I'm thinking last brilliant wish I'd thought of that okay ready here we go again I love it just keep going like I said something's gonna pop later so now I try to lay on the table somehow a little bit ok, so what's gonna happen? They're gonna lower the light right? So if we lay her down just a little bit let's see if we can use his table just a little bit more is that battle box too tall so let's see if I can get her on the table I want to take this table with me do you think creative life let me do that now the only thing is that hand now is huge so that's the hard part about a wide angle lens how you doing, how's it look little contracting when you look down that's the only thing is that light is still and I could probably go a little lower because I'm literally almost on the table right with my camera but we're getting close we're getting close to oh yes right here I can't I'm catching it's not bad but I'm just catching this that one I like it though so let's just go back up a little bit kind of important can you go twenty four millimeter? I'm not gonna worry about my background I can fix it this is why folks do something with your heads back again like you really write their focus to get again gorgeous think I got a great shot okay so I have a table is not at least it's not like it's um you know, rocket science um if I take this I really can't say the table I have a shorter so I can get in with a little bit tighter but uh would you say if I wanted more of the table I'd have to probably um gill higher and go shoot down right but I think we got what we wanted on that one so any questions on this how we doing we always have questions stole all right so a question came in from our dark bill was a regular in the chat rooms and he wanted to know why you weren't using manual mode instead of tl for a fixed setting like this I am emanuel oh you want to manual okay I got my emmanuel was always are you were you on detail before don't always on manual and because I want to have control of upin it down you can do that actually tl you can overpower it but that's why that's the same thing is spending emmanuel so no I was on manual and always on manual in fact I don't think I've shot tl and thirty twenty years they first came out I test him a little bit but I guess shooting on that in terms of if that's what works for you but I'm always on manual well looks like you and hard work bill on the same page all right symbol wanted to know when you're mixing speed lights and struggle like this what about the color temperature difference? Does that cause a problem? Um I don't think this guy knows I'm color blind here's the thing this is daylight balanced those air daylight balanced what does that mean in terms of telvent purdy darn close I mean we're talking if you were look from manufactured to manufacture you get a slight difference and even the boxes and here's what happened when I was starting out in the studio days of photography if you took two lights in a flash to blue in one light you put a new one in you have a color difference and so we would number the heads and sometimes if you're doing product photography one flash to blue you take the other one output to flash tubes in and shoot that's how critical wass today and digital I don't think this is critical so used to be that that was a huge issue and I bet you this person's I would guest has come from the old school days. But today with digital I'm telling you what is not like it used to be and I don't worry about it I don't think most photographers worry about it if you shoot a product even then it's um I don't think it's that big of a deal great. Maybe one final question from dean, would you use the same setup for corporate shot, sir? Headshots probably was wide. Okay, now I wouldn't go this way. What? The side. Like the whole speed light in the front, and I got you, um, you could, but here's, what I would say if you're doing corporate stuff, like executive stuff, you wanted to be quick and fast, and I would say one light cross light would be the key. Simple. One light cross light is great. Corporate head shot kind of stuff, maybe a little fill the side. I did that for twenty five years, and I cranked it out and I had a battery pack. I take a battery pack into this into the building, meaning I don't plug into the wall so I can move it around. So a lot of times I do. From desk workstation to work stations, move, click, click, click your portrait's, if that's what they wanted. So one light one life is a great way to do it. What's that look for that scenario with this work, I would say yes, but I would get to a point where maybe you could stack two of them, and I've talked to westcott about this, I actually took a grinder and made this open bigger and I can actually put two, two strokes through here to slide him out a little bit and shift him and put to a budgie the other one right? Two of the top two sticks out this way and I get to in there and here's another reason why I used to if I'm if I need a lot of power if I put this on full power my recycle times about three four seconds if I put two on there and running at half power so I still get full power I'll put three cycles like that so I could go boom boom boom boom boom with two straws going off even though I'm only using what would be willinto one full power see, I have some brilliant moments cross light uh diffusion is really decides right here are used for twenty five years exactly that size but here's what I would say the bigger the source in relation to subject sorry, jessica just scared you bigger the source, the softer light and what I would say is that if you can get away with the next size, you're probably better off bigger next size up because it gives you a little more flexibility so ifit's so if you have this and you're mixing and ian light beautiful but there's no ambient light, you almost need that bigger, bigger box toe help soften a little bit more for the other side. A little piece of film folklore I use all the time, and you can have them. By the way. I do have a westcott, you know, reflector, and they're great, but I get so used a little piece of film, a little foam core, and I don't want to big of reflect because it's hard to hold it, so that little phone call I just hold, you know, but there's stands. It could hold that stuff, too, and westcott has a little flag, the little black flags and the white ones, and they were perfect as a little reflector, so there's pop one up underneath it and put out a stand. Just got a little rod on it. You just put it in one of these little knuckles.