About technique and more.
During our stay in Las Vegas for PhotoshopWorld we filmed a new class for KelbyOne in the series : The inspiration series.
It’s an 1 hour class in which I tell you everything that drives me in my work (and personal life).
You can find the class here :
http://kelbyone.com/course/fdoorhof_inspirational_vegas/
Often people ask me what to look for when shooting models with shadows.
The answer is very simple “make sure that the shadow is part of the story”
In other words I don’t want a big blob of a shadow behind my model but a nicely featured shadow that actually also plays a role in the shot, or in again other words, the shadow is a vital part of the shot.
So how can you “train” this.
Very simple.
Start to experiment with some silhouettes and learn what a model can do, by moving her arms away from her body she creates a certain look, when everything is connected to the body she creates just a big black “blob”.
In this shot I used a white background with a small strobe with grid and nothing in the front.
I asked Nadine to create several dramatic poses and especially play with the position of her arms and keep her head/face in profile so you can see that she is a real person.
One of the best tips I can give people is “move around your light”
Every time I show this very simple technique during workshops there is always a group of students that is literally totally surprised by the effects you can create by just moving around your model. What you are actually doing is the same as moving around your light source, but when you combine it with a wall against which the model is posing you can get some stunning effects very fast.
In this setup I’m using one strobe aimed at my model.
In the first shot you see it shot from the front.
Today a quick tip on lighting
Often people ask me what they should use to show patterns on the wall from blinds, racks, chairs etc.
You have to understand that to show patterns you will need a light that is pretty hard, meaning if you place a softbox very close to blinds you will not get the effect you want (see the first example)
This is of course pretty logical because the light is literally spreading around the structure of the item you place in between the model and the light source, meaning you will hardly see any patterns.
when you change the softbox for a reflector or even a bare-bulb strobe you will start to see the effect (see second shot).
Now the fun part comes into the angle of the strobe and… the distance, with all these elements you can control the outcome of the shot.
Good luck.
For much more tips on lighting get my book “Mastering the modelshoot” or download one of my instructional videos via : https://frankdoorhof.com/web/shop-videos-etc/direct-video-downloads/
