school me i need some help please

[Jm Photography]

http://www.flickr.com/photos/cjschmit/3967767542/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/36944918@N07/3663482847/

how do i do this syle with one spedlite for now?
i have this idea brewing and i really want to do it but have no idea how really.

ll be sitting in front of a white closet door so i could bounce the light onto me but at what level?

[Nate P.]

Are you not able to experiment yourself?

[Jm Photography]

i want a general idea, i spent 20 minutes fiddling with it and had zero luck much less samples

[Big G]

The flash is off camera and I am guessing that a snoot was also used.

[PacAce]

http://www.flickr.com/photos/cjschmit/3967767542/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/36944918@N07/3663482847/

how do i do this syle with one spedlite for now?
i have this idea brewing and i really want to do it but have no idea how really.

ll be sitting in front of a white closet door so i could bounce the light onto me but at what level?

The light used in the first photo is coming directly from the right side of the subject. The lighting is very contrasty so he probably just used a reflector (no modifier like a softbox or an umbrella).

The caption for the 2nd photo says that the light used is coming from his laptop in front of him.

[gonzogolf]

The key is to have a dark background, to control the spill as much as possible. Make yourself a snoot out of some craft paper or anything you can roll into a tube and put over your flash so that its not allowing light to spill on things you dont want. Generally keep the flash power low, there is an extreme difference in the softness of the lights in your too samples so I dont know which one you want more. The pump the contrast accordingly in post processing.

[holrd]

set the lights and the camera and start at full power and take a shot at every power level. Thats a decent way to start.

[Ryan468]

The key is to have a dark background, to control the spill as much as possible. Make yourself a snoot out of some craft paper or anything you can roll into a tube and put over your flash so that its not allowing light to spill on things you dont want. Generally keep the flash power low, there is an extreme difference in the softness of the lights in your too samples so I dont know which one you want more. The pump the contrast accordingly in post processing.

gonzogolf-thanks for helping the OP (and myself). I am still trying to figure how someone can post a vague "help me" post and get tons of replies where others ( in this case) get very few and off topic comments. Again I commend you for your help!

[Digital_zen]

Looks like the first was shot with a bare flash, about eye level almost directly beside the subject, camera left. You could soften that a bit by bouncing it off the closet door. Use a fast enough shutter speed and it won't matter how dark your background is. Another good option is to turn around backward so the the flash is on one side of your subject, and the closet door is on the other, then you get a little bounce-fill from the door.

[yogestee]

gonzogolf-thanks for helping the OP (and myself). I am still trying to figure how someone can post a vague "help me" post and get tons of replies where others ( in this case) get very few and off topic comments. Again I commend you for your help!

Because they don't know themselves and want to pull the OP down to their level of incompetence..

OK,,back on topic now.. These images are technically called low key where most of the tones range from black to mid grey with a few highlights to give the image some contrast..

These kind of shots are best done against a black back ground and very harsh side lighting using only one light source.. It can only be done with off camera flash, harsh continuous lighting or the subject at 75-90 degrees to the sun with a dark back ground..

If you have access to off camera flash place an unmodified flash at 75-90 degrees to the subject against a black back ground.. The idea is to light the face to the side the light source is and allow the opposite side of the face to go dark,, lacking in any detail.. During post processing it's also possible to select the dark side of the face and make it darker..

[PacAce]

http://www.flickr.com/photos/cjschmit/3967767542/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/36944918@N07/3663482847/

how do i do this syle with one spedlite for now?
i have this idea brewing and i really want to do it but have no idea how really.

ll be sitting in front of a white closet door so i could bounce the light onto me but at what level?

I attempted to recreate the lighting to demonstrate the simplicity of the setup. The first picture was replicated by positioning a bare flash, a Metz 58 AF-1, (no modifier of any sort) to the right side of the subject. The flash head was angled slightly towards the rear of the subject so that the background can also be lit by the flash. Below are the resulting shot and the lighting setup diagram. I didn't attempt to replicate the wrinkles on the background muslin.

The camera was set to manual mode at 1/250, f/8 & ISO 200. I shot the flash in E-TTL mode but it could easily have been shot in manual mode with the power level adjusted to provide the required exposure.


408640]

408636

[PacAce]

Duplicating the 2nd picture was a easier because the laptop provided the only light source.

This was shot with the camera, on a tripod, in Av mode @ f/4, ISO 400, EC -2. Ambient lighting was turned off.

The image was post processed in PS CS3 to remove color and apply a sepia tone to the image.

408647

408648

[Jm Photography]

you guys are awesome thank you!

[pennypue]

Very inspiring thread, simple with great advice. Inspiring me to try some on myself!

[yogestee]

Leo,,great demo.. You said more with a few pics than I did with my ramblings..




:D:D:D

[PacAce]

Leo,,great demo.. You said more with a few pics than I did with my ramblings..




:D:D:D

LOL :lol: :mrgreen: ;)

[cjschmit]

http://www.flickr.com/photos/cjschmit/3967767542/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/36944918@N07/3663482847/

how do i do this syle with one spedlite for now?
i have this idea brewing and i really want to do it but have no idea how really.

ll be sitting in front of a white closet door so i could bounce the light onto me but at what level?


Well glad to see my photo is getting some views and discussion :) The first photo you have linked here is mine and I simply did it with a monolight off to the right with a snoot on it as someone stated earlier in this discussion. As how to do it with one speedlight, you would probably need to get yourself one of the cords to extend your hotshoe off the camera.

[yogestee]

Well glad to see my photo is getting some views and discussion :) The first photo you have linked here is mine and I simply did it with a monolight off to the right with a snoot on it as someone stated earlier in this discussion. As how to do it with one speedlight, you would probably need to get yourself one of the cords to extend your hotshoe off the camera.

Or a flash trigger and receiver.