HOLLYWOOD STYLE USING LIGHT ON LIGHT TECHNIQUE

It is said that using current available studio flash strobes you cannot achieve the style of lighting redolent of the classic Hollywood pictures produced in the 1940s and 1950s, except perhaps using the Fresnel type which gives the more contrasting variation between light and shadow typical of the continuous lights available to photographers in these eras.

So, not having the Fresnel available I worked on using a technique called a light on a light in a portrait setting. Basically this is using a hard edged reflector on one strobe as the key light positioned to light only the head and shoulders of the subject and in the same position straight behind it so close that the two could be touching, a strobe fitted with a much larger softbox set at one to two stops less than the key light. The aim is that we have a clear hard edge to the light around the head and shoulders with a tapering spread caused by the larger softbox. The image below is what I got using this method.

The key light was an 18inch, beauty dish with a grid fitted to focus the light and covered only the head and shoulders. The light behind it was fitted with a 4feet x 4 feet softbox. Initially the key was metered at an aperture of f9 (at 1/125 sec shutter speed, below the sync speed of the camera) and the softbox metered separately at f5.6. When set the resultant combination was metered at f10. The image was converted to black and white in Photoshop and some very slight softening applied

The model was Jasmine Sirs and the photo taken at our Bakehouse Hill Studio in Darlington, UK.

USING FREEZE AND BLUR TECHNIQUE IN FASHION PHOTOGRAPHY

Not a new technique but an interesting application applied to a fashion themed shoot that I have worked on recently. The technique is based on the principle of shooting with flash but with a long shutter speed of say 5 seconds where the flash freezes the first frame and then slowly captures subsequent movement by the model blurred by the long exposure time.

If done in a studio it will require a daylight studio, as we have at our Bakehouse Hill Studio in Darlington, UK, or some alternative continuous lighting source as well as the flash strobes.

There are two methods I have used: set up the model’s position, choose a slow shutter speed, probably between one and five seconds, and take an ambient light reading that gives you the appropriate aperture setting for the ambient light. Set up the flash strobes to light your shot at a setting to match the aperture measured for the ambient light. When you shoot, the initial flash will freeze the model and the slow shutter speed will then continue to record any subsequent movement. You will need to work out beforehand where you want the model to move to, and probably rehearse a bit to get it right. Getting the time right can be quite crucial as the subsequent movement can come out too blurred if it is too slow or too concise if too fast. Trial and error will be needed.

The second method is to take two shots, one a static shot of the model in the initial position using a flash strobe, then a second shot using only ambient light at a slow shutter speed as described in the first method to record the blurred movement, and then combine and blend in Photoshop. This method gives a different picture to start with but affords better creative opportunities through blending multiple images.

below is one created using the multiple shots method together with the initial "freezed"

shot and some of the blurred movement shots.

This and other examples can be seen at here

Initial Shot

Blurred Movement 1

Blurred Movement 2

Blurred Movement 3