What lighting setup did they use on this fashion shoot?

[robster]

Hi to all the studio lighting gurus

I would have linked to the original site I found these but could not find them again so I'll temporarily upload them from my inspiration folder to my website to get feedback on for now. I say this becuase I'm not trying to pilfer someone's work, I just want advice as to how they did the lighting as I just love the shoot.

It's a versace shoot, and I believe it's a painted backdrop with a set built custom in studio (based on other shots in the series).

Would anyone have any ideas of what kind of lights they've used, and how they've used them? This would include for both model and background.

Rob

Images here:
http://www.surrenderdorothy.com.au/tmp/024d4fbf.jpg
http://www.surrenderdorothy.com.au/tmp/3c433757.jpg
http://www.surrenderdorothy.com.au/tmp/9cc3a5ac.jpg
http://www.surrenderdorothy.com.au/tmp/b06e31ca.jpg

[Antsl]

Hi Rob,

This shoot was done on location. The ambient light was underexposed about a couple of stops and then the photographer used a large softbox above and to the left of the camera position to light the model. A reflector was added to the bottom of a couple of the images just to kick a little light up and under the face.

This sort of setup is very common although depending on the day and the conditions it requires a lot of power from the flash... often at least 500 to 1000 watt seconds. Profoto make a location light that is popular for this sort of work.

Hope this is a help,
Ants

[robster]

Thanks Antsl

If we were to go this style inside, studio style with our own backdrops (no full body, mostly 3/4 body shots and portrait) would we need lights as strong?

I'm looking to do it with a couple of speedlights pushing into diffusers and reflectors etc.

What do you think?

Rob

[Reschsmooth]

heaven forbid the models should have any flesh on them!

P

[Alpha_7]

heaven forbid the models should have any flesh on them!

P

The designers would have to use more material for fleshier models, and then the costs would go through the roof.

[robster]

This one went in one ear and out the other

erm, I didn't post to nudes ... (did I?!!?)

Rob

[Reschsmooth]

heaven forbid the models should have any flesh on them!

P

The designers would have to use more material for fleshier models, and then the costs would go through the roof.

I am now wiser than I was before!

That said, I do like the lighting!

[wendellt]

sometimes lighting canmake the model look thinner

in real life they are tall hence they look thin by proportion but not annorexic


robster

some of the end result of that shoot is a combination of post production and what anstl described

shdow contrast has been bumped up so has highlight contrast

[Antsl]

If we were to go this style inside, studio style with our own backdrops (no full body, mostly 3/4 body shots and portrait) would we need lights as strong?

I'm looking to do it with a couple of speedlights pushing into diffusers and reflectors etc.

Hi Rob,

The reason they need powerful lights on location outdoors is simply to compete with the daylight. It's like the headligts on your car... very effective at night for lighting the road however they can hardly be seen during the day simply because the daylight is a lot brighter.

You could get away with doing the shoot in a studio space and lighting the model in a similar vain using a couple of speedlights and a big diffuser although you would need to be clever about how you did it. Part of the appeal in those other images is tha fact you can see that moody background but the last thing you want to do when you are doing hair fashion work is compete with a windy day!

Have a look at getting a large sheet of polystyrene foam (2metres x 2 metres by about two inches thick) and position it so that it is angled at the model, then bounce both flash units into the foam core (make sur eno direct light from the flash units hits the camera lens otherwise you will get flare. This should provide a soft light that will go some way towards emulating what you see in these images.

Ants

(foam panels are usually sold in 2 x 4 metre sized panels and so buy one (about $30 or $40) and get them to wack it in half for you, one panel is used for bouncing the light out of your flash and the other panel acts as a reflector or fill!!

[robster]

I'll definately go that, am experimenting with speedlights now (came in to puter room for a catch up on the forums ).

What about the background? What I'm finding is that there is a definate "light is coming from the left" gradient on the background. Is there some way to fix this? Should I perhaps have a hot light pointing at the background painting and use the flashes on the model?

Any advice appreciated

Rob

[robster]

This shoot was done on location.

Antsl, just looked at the rest of the shoot to study it some more and it's definately a studio shoot. (can upload them if anyone would like) There's sections where they have the fake snow gonig, others where they have a live bird (outdoors would get a bit iffy) and in particular, they use the snow backdrop with the 'lady in the lake' shot.

It's quite impressive, I'd suggest the old versace budget is pretty amazing