Dramatic B&W tutorial

primedigital

I have been asked to move these images from here to this thread with some commentary on how it was lit.

The lighting was a large softbox, camera left. No reflector. Instead of aiming the face of the SB directly at the subject I turned it at a 90 degree angle to the plane the child was on and feathered the (near to the subject) edge so that it just illuminated the subject. The rest of the SB face acts as fill. You may want to add a reflector opposite the softbox to add more fill. When set up properly the face of the SB will run parallel to the barrel of the lens. You will need a nice deep hood on the lense to prevent flare.

I have included a crude diagram for illustration. Hope this was informative. Leave any questions you have in the thread. Enjoy!

pathfinder

Tracy,

I was going to reply to your thread in People about how much I liked your technique. I love the dark background with the facial tonalities looming out of the darkness.

I had posted some shots of my grandkids about a month ago using a similar technique, and your images reminded me a great deal of the lighting I used.

I just added an Impact silver reflector opposite from the softlight with the subject in between, since my main light was a 42 in white umbrella rather than a softbox.

[imgl]http://pathfinder.smugmug.com/photos/124926861-M.jpg[/imgl]

The result was this
[imgr]http://pathfinder.smugmug.com/photos/110009880-L.jpg[/imgr]

Scott_Quier

Many thanks to both Tracy and PF - really appreciate you sharing information so the rest of us have a chance to continue to fill out our toolbox to techniques.

urbanaries

These are both fantastic. Well done, and thanks for sharing your expertise. I love the look, and can't wait to try it!

urbanaries

pathfinder wrote:

The result was this
[imgl]http://pathfinder.smugmug.com/photos/110009880-S.jpg[/imgl]

did you light the background? It looks a tad brighter near the subjects head. The effect is nice, just wondered what it was from.

pathfinder

Lynn, that's my grand daughter that I posted.

The background was black vinyl, but the room was not totally blacked out and it was captured as a very dark grey in the original image, so I burned the background to black in post.

I tried to avoid burning all the detail in her hair, and that is why it is slightly less black near her than farther away.

If I had more room, I could have moved her further from the background to help minimize any light falling on the background. A softbox or barn doors might have been helpful to prevent some light lightnening the black vinyl background since my main light was a 42 in white umbrella very close to her - about 3-4 feet.

primedigital

pathfinder wrote:

Lynn, that's my grand daughter that I posted.

The background was black vinyl, but the room was not totally blacked out and it was captured as a very dark grey in the original image, so I burned the background to black in post.

I tried to avoid burning all the detail in her hair, and that is why it is slightly less black near her than farther away.

If I had more room, I could have moved her further from the background to help minimize any light falling on the background. A softbox or barn doors might have been helpful to prevent some light lightnening the black vinyl background since my main light was a 42 in white umbrella very close to her - about 3-4 feet.

There are a number of things you can do to help the background go black:

1-Move the light even closer to your subject and you will have to stop your lens down even more to get a correct exposure, thus making the background go even darker. (The closer the light is to the subject, the more exact the metering and exposure have to be) This will result in a sharper image even if your focus is off slightly and you don't have to worry about blurring the background because it will be black anyway.

2- Shoot at the fastest shutter your camera will allow with strobes to minimize ambient light.

3-Increase the distance from the background to the subject.

4- Feather the umbrella light so that just the back edge of the light strikes the subject, (IE turn the umbrella more towards the camera with the modeling light on so you can see where the light will strike the subject)

5- Move the light more toward a 90 degree position relative to the subject.

6-Place a flag or Gobo between the light and the background to block it from striking the background. (You can make a cheap one out of black foamcore commonly available at office supply stores).

7-Make sure your reflector isn't spilling any light onto the background.

8-A combination of any and all of the above.

When shooting low-key, shoot in raw and over expose slightly, (2/3 - 1 1/3 stops), then bring the exposure back down with your raw converter when you process the image on your computer. You will get a much cleaner file with alot less noise in the shadow areas and if you are careful you won't lose any highlight detail.

pathfinder

primedigital wrote:

There are a number of things you can do to help the background go black:

1-Move the light even closer to your subject and you will have to stop your lens down even more to get a correct exposure, thus making the background go even darker. (The closer the light is to the subject, the more exact the metering and exposure have to be) This will result in a sharper image even if your focus is off slightly and you don't have to worry about blurring the background because it will be black anyway.

I had the umbrella no more than 3 or 4 feet from her face and she was NOT going to sit still while I readjusted it:D

2- Shoot at the fastest shutter your camera will allow with strobes to minimize ambient light.

Yup, I understand - 1/200th or 1/250 for my camera with studio strobes and PWs

3-Increase the distance from the background to the subject.

She was about 4 feet in front of the background, and I would have liked to have more seperation but did not have room or time

4- Feather the umbrella light so that just the back edge of the light strikes the subject, (IE turn the umbrella more towards the camera with the modeling light on so you can see where the light will strike the subject)

Excellent suggestion. My umbrella was pointed almost directly at her from the side as per your next suggestion:D

5- Move the light more toward a 90 degree position relative to the subject.

6-Place a flag or Gobo between the light and the background to block it from striking the background. (You can make a cheap one out of black foamcore commonly available at office supply stores).

I have some sheets of black posterboard and a black Impact disc reflector I can try for this use

7-Make sure your reflector isn't spilling any light onto the background.

I had it directly to her left and not facing backwards at all. I suspect the light was falloff from the umbrella, and I should have noticed it more.

When shooting low-key, shoot in raw and over expose slightly, (2/3 - 1 1/3 stops), then bring the exposure back down with your raw converter when you process the image on your computer. You will get a much cleaner file with alot less noise in the shadow areas and if you are careful you won't lose any highlight detail.

Thank you for your kind suggestions - I will definitely keep them in mind for my next run at low-key shots like these. I find them very compelling.

primedigital

pathfinder wrote:

I suspect the light was falloff from the umbrella

I think you meant to say spill which is unwanted light spreading or bouncing beyond the subject. Fall-off is the circle around the area of illumination where the light gradually falls off into darkness.

Were you using a translucent or shoot-thru umbrella? If so you can get a tighter circle of light by shooting through the umbrella. The closer you place the strobe to the umbrella the more like a soft spot with more fall-off it becomes.

pathfinder

primedigital wrote:

I think you meant to say spill which is unwanted light spreading or bouncing beyond the subject. Fall-off is the circle around the area of illumination where the light gradually falls off into darkness.

Were you using a translucent or shoot-thru umbrella? If so you can get a tighter circle of light by shooting through the umbrella. The closer you place the strobe to the umbrella the more like a soft spot with more fall-off it becomes.

I am sure that is was due to spill as you say.

I used a 42 inch white umbrella with a black cover, and shot the strobe into the umbrella wich was the reflector that illuminated the subject. I'll have to experiment with the strobe to umbrella difference and see the way the light falls off from the aaxis of the umbrella. Thank you for explaining this to me.

primedigital

pathfinder wrote:

I am sure that is was due to spill as you say.

I used a 42 inch white umbrella with a black cover, and shot the strobe into the umbrella wich was the reflector that illuminated the subject. I'll have to experiment with the strobe to umbrella difference and see the way the light falls off from the aaxis of the umbrella. Thank you for explaining this to me.

No problem. You should know that when bouncing out of an umbrella, the further away from the umbrella you place the strobe, the more narrow the beam of reflected light, and the closer you place the strobe to the umbrella the more the light spreads. It's just the opposite of using a shoot-through umbrella.