Controling and Placement of Hair Light

[extrememc]

I needing help on placement of hairlight. Below is a example of setup and subject. I need to create separation between BG and hair. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks

[ChrisLUM]

I don't work with all black BGs but I would think you can try a BG light. For hair light I would put it near the background and shoot down at the lower head of the subject. Honey comb grids help with spill on subject.

Chris

[TMR Design]

Hi extrememc,

Barn doors, spot grids and snoots are most common when it comes to shaping and directing light to specific places. Some people like hair lights to come from the side, some from above. Some use softboxes to evenly light the top of the head.

It depends on what you're trying to achieve. A spot grid or a light with barn doors feathered in from the side or just above and to the side does a really nice job for the type of image you've posted.

Keep in mind that when using a black background that you want to render as black you have to have excellent isolation between your subject lighting and the background. When you don't have isolation you end up with all kinds of shades of dark gray, but not black.