how do you do this ??

[italypa99]

i see models like this one how do you get the lighting like this ? and also is the backround made in a photo program or is that a backround ?

[Mark_Cohran]

Lots of practice and soft boxes or large umbrellas and well as flags to block off the background....the background could be black muslin, or velvet or just seamless paper. It's far enough behind the model that it renders as black.

Mark

[italypa99]

thanks mark if i was going to get some lighting do you think i should get an umbrella or 2 or should i start with a soft box and mess around with it ?? if you where me . and also where would you go to get a soft box or umbrella ?
thanks again

[Mark_Cohran]

Well, I would start out with an umbrella and a reflector (for fill) and after mastering the use of that, I would add other lights and modifiers as the need grows. Shooting with studio flash, is however, a bit different than shooting with your Speedlight. It's well worth reading up on how studio flash works, and on lighting techniques. Here are a couple of links that may help:

http://www.vividlight.com/articles/1615.htm

http://photo.net/studio/primer

http://www.cameraco.com/content/tutorials.cfm?id=200

[italypa99]

thanks again for the info

[gjman]

Lots of practice and soft boxes or large umbrellas and well as flags to block off the background....the background could be black muslin, or velvet or just seamless paper. It's far enough behind the model that it renders as black.

Hmm so there is no way you can homebrew (ie. shoot at home with say just a EX series flash and darkened room?) this sort of image (where only the subject is illuminated and everything else is pitch black). Nothing at all?

[Wilt]

Sure a off-camera speedlight could work, if you place light blocking panels between the light and the background to prevent spill onto the background. But judging by the catchlights in her eyes, you can see a medium softbox was used in the photo to soften the shadows somewhat. So you would need some means of putting the speedlight to fire thru a softbox (some can, some cannot)

[PhotosGuy]

Well, I would start out with an umbrella and a reflector (for fill) and after mastering the use of that, I would add other lights and modifiers as the need grows. Me, too. Look here for some ideas: ** IMPORTANT LINKS: Studio Lighting **" (http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=138912)

[dlphotography]

Zoom into the subject's eyes and see where the lights are positioned and try duplicating it -=)

[grego]

To darken the bg, you can do it fairly easy.
Using a speedlite:
Shoot at low ISO, put shutter at 1/250, and then stop down on the aperture. The flash will expose for the subject, while your exposure for the background will be darken. Of course it depends how you angle everything and what you wish to include in the figure. And a dark room, doesn't hurt either.

Make sure the subject is far enough from a wall so light doesn't spill onto it and expose it.