What if you actually wanted to show facial scars?

I'm normally trying to find the most flattering light for portraits, but I've been asked to photograph the scars on a woman's face for a court case. So I want to find the right hard lighting that clearly shows the facial scars. I guess bare bulb on a strobe would work, but I was also thinking about using the 27" deep octa box with silver lining with a silver deflector and no diffusers to bring out specular highlights. It's probably not necessary to overthink this and do anything elaborate. I'm wondering if anyone has experience with something like this and can tell me what sort of lighting is typically used. Thanks.

You want the light source to be as small as possible...more specularity.

You want the light to go across the scar, to throw more of the scarred area into shadow, to emphasize the change in texture of the skin.

I think that relatively flat lighting would be desired and would be more concerned with just getting the details than trying to create mood with my lighting. Some sort of ambient light and an on-camera flash seems more appropriate here.

Read this, to emphasize the scarring! http://photo.net …a-fetch-msg?msg_id=0019yA


"By shining a light at a strong angle, you will create shadows that highlight anything extending above the surface of the skin. Also, use a small (hard) light source to get well-defined shadows. If you want the rest of the person to look good, you need to be a bit careful with hard light - pay a lot of attention to the shadows cast on the face and body."

Flat lighting is NOT the key!

http://www.shutterbug.​com …g-flattering-your-subject gives this advice...

"Look for scars, pimples, or similar facial imperfections that are accentuated or minimized by your lighting treatment. A scar or pimple on the opposite side of the face from the main light may cast a shadow, thus exaggerating the imperfection. If the scar or pimple is on the same side as the main light, the light will most likely not cast a shadow, making it less noticeable. "

Wilt wrote in post #15127479
Read this, to emphasize the scarring! http://photo.net …a-fetch-msg?msg_id=0019yA

"By shining a light at a strong angle, you will create shadows that highlight anything extending above the surface of the skin. Also, use a small (hard) light source to get well-defined shadows. If you want the rest of the person to look good, you need to be a bit careful with hard light - pay a lot of attention to the shadows cast on the face and body.
Flat lighting is NOT the key!"

I think the last poster in that link has it right.

That comment "Flat lighting is not the key" is mine...I accidentally put the quote after my comment.

Wilt wrote in post #15127622
That comment "Flat lighting is not the key" is mine...I accidentally put the quote after my comment.

Yeah, I saw that in your initial post before you changed it. When you were going to reference paragraph 10.3 of something or another.

doidinho wrote in post #15127632
Yeah, I saw that in your initial post before you changed it. When you were going to reference paragraph 10.3 of something or another.

Yeah, unfortunately I forgot to add the link to the article, then I could find that artical a second time!

If you want to show texture the best way to do that is to rake harsh light across the surface thus creating deep shadows (texture) and the elusion of depth on the surface. See Wilts post.

Wilt wrote in post #15127672
Yeah, unfortunately I forgot to add the link to the article, then I could find that artical a second time!

Unless of course it was another link to a shutterbug forum thread or Shutterbug how to article. In that case it could be fortunate.

airfrogusmc wrote in post #15127694
If you want to show texture the best way to do that is to rake harsh light across the surface thus creating deep shadows (texture) and the elusion of depth on the surface. See Wilts post.

You mean illusion?

I'm thinking that suggesting to try to "create illusion" when photographing for a court case may be poor advice.

All photographs are illusions.

Flat lighting you take away all depth thus creating the illusion of no depth.

doidinho wrote in post #15127707
You mean illusion?

I'm thinking that suggesting to try to "create illusion" when photographing for a court case may be poor advice.

But neither do you want to hide the scarring with flat light, either!

Thanks for all the pointers. It sounds like I might want to try short side and broad side lighting since it's easy enough to do that, and just provide all the images to the attorney who hired me. But a small, hard light seems to be the ticket. So do you think a 7" reflector would serve my purpose better than the 27" deep octa with silver deflector and interior?