Balance of Gel and Soft Light

[tdaugharty]

Thoughts of how well the yellow Gel light from behind the head balances with the main and fill light?

I know I'm not using a wig but I do want to hold off until I get the balance right.

[TMR Design]

I think you should get the wig right away. It really helps.

I'm not exactly sure what you did with the yellow gel and what I should be looking for. How is a gel in the background going to help balance the lighting?

Take a look at the last sample I posted in the "Barn Doors" thread. I'm using gels on my 580EX for background lighting.

[marian]

The different color light, will visually show "exactly" where the lighting pattern will be! That's a "trick" that some people should use to learn lighting.

For example, (could be different colors) blue gel on main light and yellow on the fill. Watch where they "meet" on your subject (a manequin like tdaugharty showed) and notice where the green now shows on the subject.

It looks good on the mannequin! Now add hair!

: )

[TMR Design]

The different color light, will visually show "exactly" where the lighting pattern will be! That's a "trick" that some people should use to learn lighting.

For example, (could be different colors) blue gel on main light and yellow on the fill. Watch where they "meet" on your subject (a manequin like tdaugharty showed) and notice where the green now shows on the subject.

It looks good on the mannequin! Now add hair!

: )

Hi Marian. That makes sense but itsn't the poster using a yellow light behind the subject as a means of balancing main and fill? That's different from what you're saying.

[tdaugharty]

The different color light, will visually show "exactly" where the lighting pattern will be! That's a "trick" that some people should use to learn lighting.

For example, (could be different colors) blue gel on main light and yellow on the fill. Watch where they "meet" on your subject (a manequin like tdaugharty showed) and notice where the green now shows on the subject.

It looks good on the mannequin! Now add hair!

: )

It's like your in my head ;)

This is exactly why I wanted to go with no hair at first. The idea here was to show how well light transitions i.e. ratio

I will be doing some with hair too.

[tdaugharty]

Hi Marian. That makes sense but itsn't the poster using a yellow light behind the subject as a means of balancing main and fill? That's different from what you're saying.


The yellow gel would be used as a highlight for hair but in order for the light to blend the ratios have to balance out. At least thats what I'm working towards.

[TMR Design]

I have to say, I must be missing something here. I've never heard of this technique for balancing main and fill light. Why not just use your eyes to see how the light is balanced? Also, balance between main and fill has everything to do with the size and quantity of light and you should be able to see how hard or soft the shadows and 'blend' are just by looking at the light falling on the subject. Change the quantity and size of the fill light and you change the ratio.
Can you give me an explanation of what you're doing and why exactly you are using this method?

[tdaugharty]

Had to wait until I returned home to gather this information for you. The technique come from an Author by the name of Michael Freeman. His booked is called "The complete guide to Light & Lighting in Digital Photography". Published by Lark Books.

In this guide he covers light principals and effects along with digital dark room methods for producing light in most every occasion. In particular to this thread, start on page 178 where Michael goes into light ratio and the effects of positioning light in an vertical + horizontal plane while also rotating the axis or using reflectors to alter direction.

In particular he uses a wigless subject so he can demonstrate how light falls off when dealing with human portraits. I like this technique b/c you can easily see how different light sources blend against the subject. This means if I use gels, I can see where light hits the subject and where it falls off. Once the methods are perfected then it's minor adjustment to make up for hair styles and different effects I might be going after.

[marian]

TMR Design,

Maybe this would help to understand better. If tdaugharty used a red light, then you could visually "see" where the red "lights" the head! If the red light was positioned incorrectly (too far forward) you would see red light on the nose and parts of the cheek. If it was positioned too far to the side, then you would see the red on the side of the head and maybe the ear. (Adding hair to the mannequin at this time is not important)

Let me try to explain just a bit further. Grab 3 flashlights, but insert a colored gel in each. Red, Blue, Yellow (This could be any 3 colors!)

Shine the red light at a wall and you now have a red colored circular spot on the wall. Correct? Now take the next color and shine it at the wall. Now, now you have another circle color of light, say blue for this one. Got this so far?

So what happens when you move the red lighted circle on the wall and overlap the blue circle. Where they intersect is now a purple area. So take the third flashlight and shine the yellow light on the wall and intersect the other colors. What do you have now! Maybe a portion of green where you intersected the blue? Got the concept?

Think of how "hard " it is far some people to "see" the light when they have 2 or 3 light sources. Some people "can't see!" But now, just "gel" those lights (for practice) and start intersecting them. You can now "see" what happens when you move your lights around on a subject. Colors change!

With this concept, you can practice the movement, of your lights! Simple concept, but "wow!" You will learn correct placement, very quickly and accurately!

Hope this helps!

Have fun "gelling!"

: )

[TMR Design]

Well, although I do appreciate the explanation and the process, it seems that you are overcomplicating something that need not be that complicated. It was stated that perhaps some people can't SEE the light. Ok, I can accept that but don't you think that THAT is what they need to learn to do rather than introducing a process that would add confusion for most people. Other than this thread, I can't find anyone to defend this as a worthwhile process for learning about light or the balance between main and fill.
Going back to the original post and image.... I don't see why you could not achieve the same thing by simply placing the lights, using your eyes to see the highlight and shadow, and then making adjustments as you look at the light falling on the subject.

[LightingMan]

Amen

[wilflee]

I don't get it. Can't you use modeling light to preview the ratios and light spillage?

[TMR Design]

I don't get it. Can't you use modeling light to preview the ratios and light spillage?

Exactly. Not only can you do that but that is the way to see how the light is falling, and you make your adjustments based on what you see. That's what the modeling lights are for, so why not use them?

[tdaugharty]

Thanks to all for the input and to sum it up (for me). Whatever works ;)