Leah

[Manfred M]

I spent the morning assisting and shooting at a low key portraiture workshop with model Leah.

[FootLoose]

Her left shoulder seems to be a bit brighter than her face. Is that deliberate, Manfred? The white item stands out more than both should and face, though. I think the shadow from her nose and lip needs to be lifted a bit, they look darker than the left side of her face to me.

Apart from that, I like the simple lines of this image and the model's expression works well. I wonder if she is more experienced than some of the others you have used.

[Bob44]

A very good photo, I like it!

[Shadowman]

Nicely captured.

[Rufus]

Low key works really well with this model. I like it as formal portrait.

Personally I would have liked a little more light on the hair - just enough for it to be a liitle more visisble - and that might have lifted the strong shadows on the camera right of the face a tiny bit too.

On the other hand, perhaps the low key approach demands it to be as presented.

[Manfred M]

Her left shoulder seems to be a bit brighter than her face. Is that deliberate, Manfred? The white item stands out more than both should and face, though. I think the shadow from her nose and lip needs to be lifted a bit, they look darker than the left side of her face to me.

Apart from that, I like the simple lines of this image and the model's expression works well. I wonder if she is more experienced than some of the others you have used.

This was a low key lighting workshop, not a model shoot, so we were more concerned with showing lighting techniques and lighting ratios. Had this been a portraiture workshop, things would have been handled a bit differently.


The shadow at the nose is deliberate; this is a classical portraiture lighting technique called "loop lighting". The "loop" shadow below and to the camera right side of her nose is the distinguishing feature of that lighting technique. Add the high lighting ratio and the shadow stands out; this lighting pattern was deliberate as well; the camera right side of the face is meant to be darker than the camera left side.

The brighter shoulder is simply because it is closer to the light source than the face is. The inverse square law at work.

From an experience standpoint, she definitely has some experience, but not as much as most of the models I shoot.

[Manfred M]

Low key works really well with this model. I like it as formal portrait.

Personally I would have liked a little more light on the hair - just enough for it to be a liitle more visisble - and that might have lifted the strong shadows on the camera right of the face a tiny bit too.

On the other hand, perhaps the low key approach demands it to be as presented.

As long as I have separation of the hair from the background and the two do not blend together, I am happy with it. This is definitely one of the darker background shots of the day; we did use a background light on many of the other shots and that gave even more separation. I have not processed those shots yet.

The strong shadows were deliberate. In low key photography, it's all about the shadows and sculpting with them. Using a high ratio lighting approach (looks like this one was around 4:1) is what this image is all about. Flat lighting has its uses - passport photos and mug shots, etc. In formal portraiture the photographer tries to sculpt the face with light and shadows.

[Rufus]

As long as I have separation of the hair from the background and the two do not blend together, I am happy with it. This is definitely one of the darker background shots of the day; we did use a background light on many of the other shots and that gave even more separation. I have not processed those shots yet.

The strong shadows were deliberate. In low key photography, it's all about the shadows and sculpting with them. Using a high ratio lighting approach (looks like this one was around 4:1) is what this image is all about. Flat lighting has its uses - passport photos and mug shots, etc. In formal portraiture the photographer tries to sculpt the face with light and shadows.

The background is absolutely fine to me, I was not suggesting it should be lightened at all.

As for the shadows, I was just suggesting a tiny amount of secondary lighting, not flat lighting because the scultping is important.

BTW what to items does the ratio refer to? I have not come across this before.

[Javier]

Nice capture

[Manfred M]

The background is absolutely fine to me, I was not suggesting it should be lightened at all.

As for the shadows, I was just suggesting a tiny amount of secondary lighting, not flat lighting because the scultping is important.

BTW what to items does the ratio refer to? I have not come across this before.

Again, as this shot was taken at a low key lighting workshop, we were demonstrating how to light rather than trying to come up with the perfect portrait.

Lighting ratio is a studio lighting term and shows the relationship between the key (main) light and the fill light. We positioned the fill light directly in front of the model and set it so that it would give the correct exposure when shot at f/4. The position of the key light and the power setting of the key light was changed to provide different lighting patterns and exposures.

If the key light and fill light are set to give proper exposure with both being set to f/4 we have a 1:1 lighting ratio.

If the key light is set to f/5.6 and the fill light is set to f/4 we have a 2:1 lighting ratio.

If the key light is set to f/8 and the fill light is set to f/4 we have a 4:1 lighting ratio (that is what was used in the shot in #1).

If the key light is set to f/11 and the fill light is set to f/4 we have an 8:1 lighting ratio.

This article covers the subject quite well: http://www.jeffreysward.com/editorials/ligratio.htm

The most extreme example is something called split lighting, where the key light is set so that it is perpendicular to the subject and no fill light is used at all. This can be seen in this shot with the light changing from light to dark down the middle of the model's nose.



The lighting is quite dramatic. I set the ke light just in front of the model so that the light was feathered a bit and a tiny bit of light wrapped around her face. If I had set the light back a bit so that is was completely perpendicular to her, the camera right side of the face would have been totally dark.

[Tom Barry]

The initial shot and the subsequent others demonstrating lighting techniques are all well done and instructive, as are Manfred's commentaries. I wonder if one of the other techniques used was "Rembrandt" lighting?

[Manfred M]

I wonder if one of the other techniques used was "Rembrandt" lighting?

It was definitely covered although I don't think I took a shot when we lit Leah that way. I've never been a great fan of that lighting style.

[Rufus]

We positioned the fill light directly in front of the model and set it so that it would give the correct exposure when shot at f/4. The position of the key light and the power setting of the key light was changed to provide different lighting patterns and exposures.

This article covers the subject quite well: http://www.jeffreysward.com/editorials/ligratio.htm.

Thank you for your examples and the link which are both very instructive. I can see that the ratios (using either method described in the article) provide a framework for describing a lighting setup and tracking changes to it, but are the ratios used in practice or only in workshops?

[Manfred M]

Thank you for your examples and the link which are both very instructive. I can see that the ratios (using either method described in the article) provide a framework for describing a lighting setup and tracking changes to it, but are the ratios used in practice or only in workshops?

Definitely in practice. Take a look at some of Joel Grime's work

https://joelgrimes.com/Artist.asp?Ar...Group1_Pf24128

Much of his work is shot in the studio and composited onto a background or on location with studio lights.

Here are some from some recent Squarespace ads.












So the answer is a resounding "YES!". Where we don't tend to see it is in retail portraiture; family portraits, wedding portraits, etc. Start looking at commercial work especially in fine art portraiture and on advertising work, it is used all the time.


As an aside, I would expect CiC members to be very critical of some of these portraits.

[Rufus]

Definitely in practice. Take a look at some of Joel Grime's work

https://joelgrimes.com/Artist.asp?Ar...Group1_Pf24128

Much of his work is shot in the studio and composited onto a background or on location with studio lights.

If I ignore the backgrounds, many of Joel Grime's images appear to have fairly equal intensity of lighting from either side of the subject. This gives a very dramatic effect that perhaps works best with dark skin tones. I can appreciate that to get that style of lighting right it would be essential to measure and balance the light from both sources.

I shall enquire more about this when we have a studio evening at our local club.

When I tune into the backgrounds it noticable that they compliment the lighting of the subject, their shadows, etc. It makes me think the skill is to have the background first then take the portrait. I bet most (amateur) photographers do it the other way round!

[Manfred M]

If I ignore the backgrounds, many of Joel Grime's images appear to have fairly equal intensity of lighting from either side of the subject. This gives a very dramatic effect that perhaps works best with dark skin tones. I can appreciate that to get that style of lighting right it would be essential to measure and balance the light from both sources.

I shall enquire more about this when we have a studio evening at our local club.

When I tune into the backgrounds it noticable that they compliment the lighting of the subject, their shadows, etc. It makes me think the skill is to have the background first then take the portrait. I bet most (amateur) photographers do it the other way round!

The easiest way to do these is to capture the background and then light the subject in the studio to match the light in the captured scene. Compositing an image where the lighting does not match sticks out.

These lighting techniques we use in photography originated with the Renaissance masters; look that the Dutch, Flemish and Italian masters and you will recognize the lighting techniques. Guess who popularized Rembrandt lighting?

The only lighting technique that appears to be reasonably modern is something called Paramount or butterfly lighting, where the light is high and centred and casts a "butterfly" shaped shadow just below the nose. I don't see any images with Leah showing that, but I know I set up that lighting style during the workshop to show people the look.

You might find this useful:

https://www.sekonic.com/united-state...ng-setups.aspx


Just as an aside, I do all my complex lighting setups with an incident light meter. I generally set up the fill light first and then the key light. Once I get those right I will work on other lights (rim, hair, background, etc). All the lights are set up alone and the only time that everything is turned on is when the lighting design is done and I want to measure for the final exposure.

If your club has studio evenings, I'm pretty confident that someone there will know their lighting.

[selig1656]

Manfred I so enjoy your vast experience and knowledge , I my self have had little success with the split lighting, possibly I have not really used it appropriately.This workshop seems as though it was worthwhile.This whole post was terrific and full of much information and resources.Thank you.

[Manfred M]

I my self have had little success with the split lighting, possibly I have not really used it appropriately.

I'm not sure if this will help. In split lighting the light source has to be fairly narrow so as to not cause too much wrap around the model. Narrow strip boxes, especially with an eggcrate grid can be very effective.




For the shot of Leah in #10 I used a slight variant that push a bit of light onto the camera right side of her face by feathering the light and having it a bit forward of the subject.