Tips on achieving similiar lighting?

TenThirteen

Hi All! I am not sure if this is acceptable to embed, so I will just post a link. I am going to be doing a baby session as a favor for a friend, and I was wondering if anyone knows how/has any advice on the best way to achieve something similar to this look:

http://www.capturedbycarrie.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/1217-newborn-photography.jpg

I have a very large black backdrop, and I room I can make completely dark. I also have continuous studio lighting and a couple external flashes, but I really have no idea how to go about setting anything up to get a shot like this. I would REALLY appreciate it if anyone could share some tips so I have a starting point before I begin torturing my fiance and/or pets to practice this

TIA!

reyvee61

Sounds like you have everything you need to do this.
Black backdrop with one key light and a kicker continuous lighting or strobes.
Looks like simple Rembrandt lighting.
If you are using continuous lighting meter off of the baby's face (spot or center metering) so that the exposure will be proper on the baby.
Spot metering will cause light to fall off dramatically and fade to black much in the way it is in the example.
Make sure the light source is a close as you can get it to the subject to eliminate excess spillage onto the backdrop....

Share the results when you're ready

Rick0r

The closest you'd get would be to have a black blanket covering the person holding the baby, so only the skin exposed is the skin that is illuminated by the lights.

Yes the black blanket would get some light on it, but from there, photoshop the shadows in the blanket to be a more solid black.

dsloan

dare i say that it looks like they did most of that darkening in post-processing?

jarboedoggart

dsloan wrote: »

dare i say that it looks like they did most of that darkening in post-processing?

I agree.

divamum

I'd also guess that the light source was a small softbox - or maybe a barn-doored/gridded light inside a softbox. Looks to me like the lightsource was large enough to offer some wraparound on the baby, but not so large as to spill onto the background too much. The light is soft, but extremely well-controlled. I'd guess only one lightsource.

Is it possible the parent is behind a black cloth backdrop with holes for arms? Then tweaking the rest in post would be pretty easy. I can imagine if one was shooting babies a lot and this kind of shot was my "trademark", it would be worth the effort of a dedicated setup.

TenThirteen

Thanks everyone for the responses. I think I will test it out tonight. The idea of cutting out arm holes in a black sheet is interesting, I will find one at the thrift store this afternoon to hack up :-)

I do agree after staring at the photo for a while that it does look like it's mostly post, but I really want to learn the lighting aspect of it to get it as close as possible before having to resort to PP. But again, thanks guys!!

zoomer

If I had to guess I would say that is window light. Looks like there is a ray of light coming through a window into an otherwise dakened room. Parent is holding the child into the ray of light, parent is wearing black.
Of course I am probably completely wrong and this is done with lights....it just looks like window light to my inexperienced eye.

anonymouscuban

Could be window light but I think everything else was done in post. I'm sure the parent was wearing black but you can tell around the elbows that they masked black areas in PS.

Llywellyn

Great suggestions here! Based on my past toying around, I think you can accomplish this with no backdrop and one light in a dark room; just have the parent wear a black, non-scoop-neck, long-sleeved shirt with sleeves loose enough to push up past the elbows. That's what I did for this "hands from the darkness" experiment:



In the sample you posted, the light looks like a small flash in a small softbox shot from camera right and just slightly behind the subject (so the flash is actually pointing back toward your camera a smidge). Angling the flash head that way will help control the spill on the parent. Placing the flash head high and angled down will also help, as you can frame the shot so you crop out the parent from the neck up. From there, it's a matter of setting your shutter speed fast enough to kill all ambient (which is where your dark room comes in very handy).

Can't wait to see what you come up with!

catspaw

jarboedoggart wrote: »

I agree.

ditto. and looks like the person has a black shirt on with sleeves to the elbows. face definitely blackened out.

Agnieszka

jarboedoggart wrote: »

I agree.

+1 and I'd say it's all natural light ..

amoncur

Looks like an umbrella or softbox to me, not natural light. Looks like they may have used a card on the opposite side to bounce just a little light and lift the shadows slightly.

briandelion

If there is window light in your studio maybe you can be prepared for both possibilities. Excited to see the results!

zoomer

I took another look, I am certain this is natural light. There is a look to natural light you just can't duplicate with studio lights. No doubt this is cloudy day or North window light.