I learned to light after years of deconstructing the work of other photographers. And I know from your previous feedback that you guys are fond of these posts, so let’s dig into another one.
How did I make this picture?
Is it a lucky snapshot?
Is it lit?
If so, how?
The camera Settings?
The direction?
Post production?
Whatever details you think are needed to make this image.
Looking forward to you trying to pick this apart… I’ll reveal everything in a followup post. The person who gets the closest gets… …a chest bump and a pizza, or signed book or something. Don’t be shy. Let er rip.
Gridded softboxes to left and right and slightly behind dancer.
Heads have high speed flash duration (pro photo presumably)
Aperture approx f1, shutter speed irrelevant.
Simply conversion to B&W with curve to increase black levels
Lens 50 – 70mm of full frame?
OK, first go at something like this….
Shooting from above with the model doing ‘splits’ on the floor or even glass plate with dark background beneath.
Lit from below right and slightly behind so not to over light the forward facing details such as the face (close and full power)
Also lit from side left (much softer than below lighting)
Spot metered or reading taken from models right eye/side of face to preserve detail and fade other aspects accordingly.
Post production = high contrast, increased brightness, increased levels of black, tweaking highlights to prevent bright areas from completely burning out.
and that’s all I can think of! Cheers.
From above … she´s sitting on the floor.
Kinda looks like its made in studio. Black backdrop. Lit from camera left kinda high, and camera right a little lower. I feel like if this were in a studio, it would not come out like this on your first try, so after a few takes of her jumping at you, you timed it just right and bam you got it. Not a lucky snapshot in the sense that you powerdrove it and this was one of the shots in the sequence. Dont think you did that. I’d say it was a lucky snapshot in that you timed it just right and took one photo. You look like you were sitting on the ground, and shooting up at her. You most likely directed her to do this jump once or twice. And if i had to guess, the settings are f/5.6ish, 1/1000. and ISO 200. In Post Production, you might have sharpened her just a tiny bit, or increased the black point in aperture to get a little more dramatic lighting. I dont know. Im guessing. I just want a signed book. Is that too much to ask!?
Camera settings:
iso: 200
Shutter: 1/160
Aperture: 9
First flash low and to the right flagged to prevent light spilling onto her face. This light is for her leg and abdominal area. High power setting 1/2 power?
Second flash high and to the left to light back leg and right side of the face. perhaps gridded.
Third flash behind and to the right aimed back towards camera skimming her face and right arm. Flagged to prevent flare. low power setting 1/16 ish.
Reflector on the left (low) to bounce some light back onto arms and legs
All flashes are side on to create texture and depth. Subject is some distance from any wall 20 to 30ft minimum.
Post production is minimal. Monochrome with some dodging and burning.
Dancer and photographer both worked together and this isn’t a lucky shot…it’s meticulously planned and executed.
other than that I’m beat!