F.J. Westcott Co.

ProTips: Sneak Peak!

ProTips: Sneak Peak!

Light Control on location by Ed Pierce

With post-capture digital imaging techniques, everyone’s images are looking the same, especially to the untrained eye. The way photographers will differentiate themselves from the competition in the future will be through pre-capture techniques more than post-capture manipulation. Mastering posing, lighting and composition will distinguish the best.

I don’t suggest always adhering to rigid rules; I embrace technology and new techniques to help maintain a competitive advantage and to avoid creative burnout. But learning traditional skills makes us better photographers, as does knowing when and how to employ them. One of those skills is the effective use of flats for controlling light in an environment.

Collapsible wire frame flats are convenient and inexpensive, but become unruly in the slightest breeze, especially if they’re large. I prefer the Westcott Scrim Jim System for its rigid extruded aluminum frame and modular design, which you can expand from 42x42 inches to 8x8 feet by adding frame components and swapping fabrics. The beauty of flats is that what you see with the naked eye is what you get, no guesswork needed.

In the examples, the images have had only minor Photoshop enhancement and no exposure or white balance adjustments. I achieve this precise capture by using the histogram function of the Canon EOS 5D in combination with a Photovision Digital Calibration Target (Figure 1) to determine the exposure first, then use the target exposure as a reference for setting a custom white balance in-camera. It takes only seconds, yet all but eliminate backend correction.

My first choice for lighting on location is an existing soft, natural light source to provide the key light. In Figure 2, the subject, Michael, stands on a bridge that’s flanked to her right by branches that extend over her head. To her left is a small lake lined with trees on the opposite bank. The open sky across the lake provides a 45-degree key, producing a perfect short light loop shadow. Michael’s deep-set, dark brown eyes looked a little dull on this overcast day, so I placed the 34-inch target, white side up, below and in front of her, just out of the frame. It serves not so much as fill, but as a secondary specular catch light to liven up her eyes.

Backgrounds are often my last consideration. Here, there was a busy roadway. I solved the problem by shooting at 150mm with my 70-200mm f/2.8 lens wide open.The image of Michael at the railing is based on similar concepts. It was a breezy, sunny day, and we headed downtown to seek cover and to capture a more urban look. A building in full sun 75 yards to Michael’s right provided the key light. Shooting from a low angle and bringing her face into place with the lens, I achieved an almost perfect butterfly lighting pattern. However, the whole scene looked a little cool with too much contrast. I positioned a 42-inch square Scrim Jim flat with sunlight/silver fabric above and close to the camera lens to provide fill, add warmth to the skin tones and create a catch light in the eyes. To make it function efficiently, I feathered the flat at a 45-degree angle to both the sunlit building and the subject.

I shot this image with a 70-200mm zoom on a Canon EOS 5D, this time at 80mm focal length and wide open at f/2.8. I shot the white balance reference target without the reflector fill to achieve the warm effect. Breezy conditions created a wind tunnel effect on the staircase, conveniently blowing Michael’s hair away from her face.

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The greenhouse shot is an example of subtractive lighting, using a black flat to block or remove unwanted light direction. The only non-glass wall was to Michael’s left. Above, to my right, and in front of the model, the surfaces were all green-tinted glass; if not for the doorway to her left, which provided some fill, the image would have had too much contrast, and would have required a reflector to open up the shadows. I placed a 42x72-inch Scrim Jim flat overhead and far enough forward to allow some overhead light to spill in from behind, providing subtle separation. I used the new Canon 85mm f/1.2 lens, shooting wide open for 1/160 second. Don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t shoot digital with good glass wide open. The custom white balance totally nailed the flesh tones, eliminating any difficult post correction.

In Melissa’s river shot, I created the illusion of sun back lighting with a large, soft key light to open the shadows. Even the shadow by her boot and the light on the pickets suggest this was the case. The one flaw that gives it away is the frontal lighting on the piling behind her. Done with the same tools as the previous captures, the set up was actually simple. Melissa is oriented so that the sun comes in at a 45-degree light position, the diffusion flat is between Melissa and the sun, and a silver reflector from the rear creates the accent light on her check, sweater, pant leg and pickets. My 70-200mm is at 70mm, shot at f/4.0 for 1/640 second.

The shot with the model Melissa and the pink doors was a total fluke. We were walking through a rather dull and dirty alleyway headed for the river when I spotted the doors. I loved the combination of texture and soft tones created by the flaking paint. But what little light there was came from directly overhead. There was direct sunlight 20 yards away at the end of the alley, but I absolutely detest the look of using reflected sun as a key. Besides, at the distance we couldn’t get high enough to create a decent angle. Instead, I used two 42-inch flats, one with silver fabric, the other with diffusion material.

I placed the diffusion material in a key light position, 8 feet from the subject. The silver reflector was at the end of the alley, directed at the diffusion flat, not Melissa. Zooming to 100mm for 1/250th second at f/2.8 did the trick of focusing the attention on the subject, yet letting the foreground and background go soft.

The beach image of Michael is a variation on the river shot. The silver reflector comes in from the same angle to create the accent, but I replaced the 42-inch diffusion flat with an 8x8-foot flat to the model’s right, just outside the frame. The key to the shot was placing Michael just over the ridge of the dune, so that the shadow from the diffusion scrim was not visible from the camera position. I don’t expect everyone to run out and purchase an 8x8 Scrim Jim to replicate my shot, but you might be interested to know I also use the 8x8 in a windowless studio to simulate window light. That’s a technique for another article.