The power and wonder of the human form.

Lighting Diagram
A softbox very hard left provides clear shadowing – and hence modelling of the figure, this lets us see the muscle structure clearly.

Not about elegance but about strength, balance, poise – delighting in our animal.

I’m sure Rebecca, our model, would not choose this as one of her favourite images, it’s not flattering to her as a portrait,
but on the other hand I love the shape and structure revealed around her neck, her collar bone and her shoulders.
Model: Rebecca Mitchell

read more »    

Although shot as single images, my pre-visualisation for this shoot was the diptych at the end of this post.
First the model is shot pulling in one direction, then in the other.
I really wanted a very intense look – and so the model really had to pull as hard as possible on the rope to get the correct feel.

Lighting Diagram
The scene is lit by a single narrow softbox to one side giving hard shadows and shadow transitions.

It is no good just flipping an image to form the right hand side, the …

read more »    

A bright, white and cheerful look is typical of high key glamour – and indeed high key photography in general.

Lighting Diagram
The two softboxes left and right at front push in plenty of soft and diffused light with low shadows. The background is lit seperately with two additional lights, the lighting on the back is about the same level as the front.

You will often see that the back should be lit to 2 stops or more brighter than the subject – and yes, that works – mostly. However, …

read more »    

Glued to the wall through her waistcoat and left hanging there.

Lighting Diagram
Even lighting with an emphasis to the top of the image.

Of course it’s just a stage flat, laying on the floor, the addition of props like the chair and picture help to re-inforce the “batman” style setup.

And of course, once the background is dropped in behind and the image cleaned up.
Model: Rebecca Mitchell

read more »    

This shoot is about (a) working in a confined space and (b) using gels on lighting sources behind the model.

Lighting Diagram
The strobe behind the model is covered with a red gel. The strobe in front is bare bulb. By adjusting the relative ratios of the coloured and plain light sources you can change the depth of the colour in the background.

These were also shot with a fairly long shutter exposure, to ensure that some light from the windows at the end of the corridor also registered, otherwise the …

read more »