Lighting info from one of my shoots

A month or so ago Azz asked me to do a little write-up on my lighting set-up and how I shoot, so here it is!

The photos is for the cover of the latest issue of "Amfi Magasinet". Amfi Magasinet is a magazine that my local mall "Amfi Arena" puts out bi-monthly. I did my first shoot for them last fall, and now they use me for all the issues. These environmental pictures really helped me get in to the school I wanted as well, because the teachers that interviewed me really enjoyed them.

Here is the lighting set-up



And here is the end result




Notes

1. I find it really important to visualize the final image before you do anything. By the final image I mean location, lighting, model(s), poses and post processing. On these Amfi shoots I have two great people (from the client) finding both locations and models for each picture. They also provide some pointers on what they want the picture to look like, so I always ask them what they would like and then work from there.

2. The location is a major part of a picture, so that's what I usually figure out first, often together with the model(s). For this particular picture they had planned a different location, but I didn't think it would be the best for the cover, and I didn't like the ambient lighting for that location at that time of the day, so I asked if I could try and find a better suiting location for the shot. They agreed, and we found this one about a minute later, which I think works great for the summer issue.

3. Lighting is one of the things I am the most critical about, and that's also the part I spend the most time fine adjusting. On these Amfi shoots I usually test the light on the people helping me out, so the models won't have to wait for too long before we start shooting. On my personal work I rarely have any assistants, but then the models usually come because they want to themselves, and don't mind me taking a little more of their time.

4. Setting up poses is definitely my weak spot. I have no idea how to pose a person. Luckily the two people helping me out on these shoots do. So usually we co-operate very well, and together we're able to figure out something that we're both happy with.

5. Post processing is a part of the process that I continue to spend more and more time doing. When I started out I saw Photoshop as cheating, and only used it for very minor adjustments like curves and sharpening. But recently I've realized that it's just a great tool for you to use to improve your work and make it as good as it can be.

For those interested, you can see the shot before PP here.

Camera setup:
Nikon D700
Nikon 50 f/1.4 with a ND8

Camera settings:
1/250
f/3.2
ISO 100

Lighting setup:
Alien Bees B1600 in large octabox slightly left
Alien Bees B1600 in 7" reflector back left
Alien Bees B1600 in 7" reflector back right


Copyright www.larsen-photo.com please do not reproduce without permission.

Hey Tommy - thanks for the write-up, I am sure it will be an interesting read for many

That is really really interesting Tommy. Thanks for taking the time to share.
First question. If there was lights on both sides, how did you get it so there was only one set of shadows?

Thanks guys!

The shadow is from the sun to the right

Do excuse all the questions.
So how do you avoid shadows from the side lights? Is it angle? distance?

It's the angle As you can see in the setup shot the rim lights are pointed straight to their heads, and not much of that light will hit the ground. The sun on the other hand is pretty high on the sky.

Thanks.
Can I ask another question?
Why did you choose to softbox the front bee but not the side ones?

Ooh and one more, did you set the softbox slightly to left becuase the sun was to the right? Or was there another reason?

Because I wanted a soft main light and harder rim light

I placed it slightly left for no other reason than that I like the way the shadow falls under the chin when I place it there Of course that varies from time to time what I want. If you don't own any lights I recommend you buy a speedlight or two with umbrellas and start experimenting! I think I would go for two Vivitar 285HV's. Really cheap and works great! I've had two of them myself and I learned a alot from using them

I have 2 speedlights and I am currently trying to decide between umbrella or a soft box.
Which would you recommend?

I think I would go for one or two shoot through umbrellas. Gives a nice soft light and they're very light weight and easy to carry around. They are also way easier to put up and down than a softbox. Generally easier to use And cheaper as well. I think I would get two by the way. Lots of people don't use modifiers for their rim lights (like I did on that tutorial), but usually I use softboxes on my rim lights too. Gives a way smoother light, and it kind of feathers around to body instead of that harsh edgy light. At least nice to have the possibility even if you don't want to use it all the time