What kind of lighting set up do you think this is?

[Captain Kidd]

Hello,

Im actually asking this on behalf of a friend, personally I don't know anything about lighting and studio work.

I said I'd ask here in the hope that some of you might have some pointers on how best to achieve the kind of lighting setup in the picture attached. Any advice on camera/lens and the settings to best recreate would be great?

Much appreciated,

David

 

[Roger Hicks]

Dear David,

Window or big soft box camera right, big (perhaps too weak) bounce camera left. An 8x4 foot sheet of insulating polystyrene makes a great bounce.

Cheers,

R.

 

[Captain Kidd]

Thanks Roger, I would never have guessed there was something on the left but that makes sense. So a reflector on the left, like the polystyrene you mention, and a soft box on the right. Any particular camera settings or that doesnt really come in to it?

 

[Roger Hicks]

Thanks Roger, I would never have guessed there was something on the left but that makes sense. So a reflector on the left, like the polystyrene you mention, and a soft box on the right. Any particular camera settings or that doesnt really come in to it?

Not really. Depends on film speed, format and how much DoF you want.

Cheers,

R.

 

[Dwig]

I agree with the guesses so far. Basically a light source off to the right and a fill, likely a passive reflector, on the left and slightly in front.

The light on the right seems large, not not overly soft. It does leave some distinct shadows in the texture and wrinkles in the jacket. It may be a light with large dish reflector. There is also some dodging (poorly done) evident on the left side of the jacket near the shoulder and lapel. There is also some distinct brightening of the detail in the very top of the hair. Both of these look as if they were done in post (Ps, Lr, ...) rather than with additional lights in the studio.

 

[Captain Kidd]

Thanks for the help with this, ill pass this on,

Much appreciated

 

[Bill Clark]

It looks like a loop pattern, indicated by the shadow right side of nose. Perhaps a reflector used to give a little fill.

Not what I would do as the posing, lighting, costume, dark background doesn't do much for me. Each to their own though.

Take a look at this video:


https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=qoLlA1wMYuI

 

[rscheffler]

Could be weak, near dusk direct sunlight through a large gap between walls, etc. The fill on the left side seems somewhat directional from above and is cooler in white balance than the right side, hinting it might be indirect light from the sky. The mix of slightly warmer key light and cooler fill could also have been done intentionally in the studio, but my initial feeling is it might have been shot outside.

I've seen portable studio set ups that basically consist of a large cube frame with black fabric wall, 'roof' and floor panels. Removing some of the fabric panels allows for the control of natural or manmade light beyond what would be possible just standing out in the open.

One also can't rule out a fair amount of Photoshop fine tuning... but basically yes, to emulate in the studio, it's a large fairly directional key light from camera right, slightly behind the plane of the subject, and weak fill, possibly a reflector, from camera left. Essentially a very basic single light set-up.

 

[Rico]

This picture was taken outdoors: light from the setting sun from the right, sky light on the left. Repro in a studio would require a hard source at medium distance, and with flagging if the shooting space is small. A touch of diffusion is needed to wrap this key light around the face, simulating the atmospheric glare of a setting sun. The sky light effect can be created with a large bounce of gelled light. This is not the easiest exercise, and certainly not the most interesting lighting effect. 🙂 I shoot mostly in a studio.

 

[johnnyrod]

To be honest it looks like it's been photoshopped by a child. The two things hanging out of the pockets look added on, and there's some weird blotching on the right side. I can't work out how the left has been lit, it seems to vary depending where you look. I'm probably about to find out it's really clever or something but to me it's the emperor's new clothes. Key light from right and fill from left as said above, but without the heavy-handed PP (as it looks to me anyway) it would look a lot better.

As for settings, I guess with film I'd meter for the darker side (left) and make sure the fill light isn't too weak, with digital I think you'd want to ETTR and sort it out later. I guess the model is standing still but they're still human so whatever aperture gives you just enough DoF to make it all sharp enough to try to keep a bit of shutter speed to prevent any movement blur.

 

[Roger Hicks]

With a picture that small, on a computer screen,I'm surprised how much some people (think they) can see in it.

Cheers,

R.

 

[Bill Clark]

Roger,

The iPad I use I can enlarge something on the screen with my fingers! Retina display. These tablet computers are wonderful, touch screen and all, especially suited for an old fart like me!

 

[johnnyrod]

PS the fill light could be an off-camera flash turned down low

 

[narsuitus]

Im actually asking this on behalf of a friend...

Does the friend want to duplicate the look or avoid it?

 

[Captain Kidd]

Does the friend want to duplicate the look or avoid it?

Im pretty sure she wants to duplicate, thanks everyone for the tips.