It’s weird but it does work

When we watch movies there is one thing that always draws my attention.
The flashlights.
Let me explain.

When I walk in a dark room and use my flashlight I can see the whole room light up, and… well that’s about it.
Well unless there is a LOT of dust in a room, but in those case I’ll be gone very fast.

So why is it that in almost every movie when someone enters a room there is distinct beam of light from the flashlight?
Well…. because it looks cool and draws you more into the movie.

So how do they do it?

You probably will know, but just in case.
You can get these effects by using a very nice focused flashlight and make sure the room is filled with haze, a very light smoke that is hardly visible.
In the previous posts we already talked about backlighting smoke, and that’s exactly what happens, and because the beam of light is very focused you can see the beams of light.

So how can we create something like this in our studio?

There are several solutions to create patterns in the smoke.
Of course you can chose to use a flashlight and no strobes. With modern cameras and great high iso performance this will be no problem.
When using strobes you can use for example a snoot, or a reflector with a very narrow grid and place the strobe far away from something that will project your pattern in the smoke. You can use branches, a ladder etc. As long as the strobe is far away it will create nice effects.

However if you want to do it easily and much better…

Use a gobo projector

Probably one of my favorite toys in the studio is the Westcott Lindsay Adler optical spot.
This is a device you place in front of your strobe and you can use the blades to create a light pattern but you can also place metal discs with patterns that can be projected in the smoke.
The unique feature of a gobo projector is that on the front you will find a lens that will literally focus the pattern from the gobo. This means you can place the projector close to your subject and have 100% control over the sharpness of the patterns.

So let’s take a look at how this looks.

Ok that might be nice, but how about adding two extra strobes?
By adding some colors you can spice up a shot, especially with smoke.
I’m using two Geekoto GT200s with the Rogue Magnetic system gels.
When you add too much smoke the pattern will disappear, during the workshop I often have less time to let the smoke disappear, so as you can see in the following results the smoke was a bit too thick for an optimal effect.

As you can see, adding the colors totally transforms the scene into something completely different.
Personally I like them both, but my preference are the ones with color.
However having the patterns from the back did lose some impact, so at one point we decided to raise the stand and let the projector aim down at our model.
This way the pattern will cut through the smoke a bit different and make it more visible, even when using a bit more smoke.

More fun

Working with smoke is already loads of fun, but by adding patterns or/and a Gobo projector makes it a lot more fun.
I can highly recommend getting one for your studio. Especially when you like working with smoke and emulate the old masters or film noir techniques, now that I think about it, it’s also great for fashion 😀

Next time it’s about adding motion in the smoke and the model.

Workshops

Want to learn everything about light control?
Want to visit a workshop where it’s not just shooting a model with a fixed lighting setup, but see how the setup is built and adjusted to the taste of the group?
And of course learn how to work with poses, backgrounds, small sets, styling, retouching, and a lot more…..

If this all sounds awesome, visit fotografie-workshops.nl and book your workshop.
If you don’t speak Dutch, no problem, let us know a few weeks in advance, and we can switch the workshop to English.
Not possible to travel to the Netherlands?
We got you covered with our 1:1 online workshop.
We have a full streaming setup in our studio. 4 detail cameras and of course the retouching software, so you can see every detail and of course ask questions during the day. Plus, you get all the RAW files after the workshop.