Question on how to add kicker/rim light

I have a questions on how to add a kicker or rim light for black background photos.

First is positioning. Do I place kicker behind ~45 degrees behind subject? Should I put on same side as main light or opposite? How about a boom from above?

Second is should I use a monolight or speedlight? I don't want to get too much light on the black. I want to minimize PS I have to do.

Last, is how do I set exposure for the rim light? Thanks for the help.

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The easiest way to setup a rim light is to have it opposite of the main light behind your subject, which for you would be camera left. I would probably boom it up a little bit with studio strobe and a grid so that you just get light right around the head region or so. A light meter would be the easiest and most consistent way to get good exposures for the rim light, otherwise it will probably be a little guess and check.

Dave

I have a light meter. How would I exposes the rim light as compared to my main light?

I wouldn't expose it like the main light, maybe a stop or two under exposed. All you want is just a kiss of light to break your subject away from the background a little bit. I do this with speedlights sometimes when I am in the studio since I do not have my strobes yet, but hopefully christmas brings an einstein and vagabond. All the rim light is for is to separate you subject from the background, so don't use a lot of light for the rim light.

Dave

Apollo.11 wrote in post #9018431
I have a light meter. How would I exposes the rim light as compared to my main light?

i could be way off here....but I think you would set the rim light 2 stops less than your main for separation as a starting point and then adjust until YOU like it. I am sure the light gurus will step in soon!

No-one can tell you where to put your accent lights. You can put them anywhere, at any power, it's entirely a matter of personal preference.

The main advice you need is
a) Grid & flag the light as best you can to stop spill & flare.
b) Use reflective readings to meter the light accurately. Incident readings won't take into account the acute angle the light will strike your subject at and an cause you to set too high a power level unless you take the angle into account and compensate.

Hermes wrote in post #9018550
No-one can tell you where to put your accent lights. You can put them anywhere, at any power, it's entirely a matter of personal preference.

Hermes, I've only had the lights for a short time and gotten a few chances to use them. I'm looking for some guidelines on where to start. I'm on the sharp end of the learning curve now. Any other advice is greatly appreciated.

I use parabolics with barn doors. I pinch the barn doors down to where they are just a slit then aim them at the subject from the opposite side as the main light is on and at a more extreme angle to the subject. You want a just sliver of light. I meter it around 1/3rd to 2/3rds stop less than the fill light metered.

Benji

All of the above is more than enough info so all I'll add is that the light will make such a difference, but you know that. Post results with it, looks like these will pop nicely.

As stated before opposite the main light is a good starting point. That said be creative and try different things move your lights around that is one of the greatest things about digital you don't have to wait to see the results. As for exposure just make sure that your rim/kick is not getting blown out to white. How many lights do you have to work with just asking as the above images could benefit from a small bit of fill as well, this could be done with white foam core. Also if working in studio if you have access to a laptop or a larger screen to tether into it can be a great help in seeing what you are getting.

Damian75 wrote in post #9020217
How many lights do you have to work with just asking as the above images could benefit from a small bit of fill as well, this could be done with white foam core. Also if working in studio if you have access to a laptop or a larger screen to tether into it can be a great help in seeing what you are getting.

Damien, I have 2 genesis 200's, 2 580EX's and a 430EX. Lot's of lights and only a little knowledge. I'll try some fill next time, but I was struggling just to get where I was on on the first shots. I had a lot of problems lighting up the lower body and side away from the main light. I was too afraid of lighting up the black backdrop.

I've setup my laptop to autoimport into Lightroom. That should help give me some instant feedback next time. So much to learn, but it's a blast!

Apollo.11 wrote in post #9020596
Damien, I have 2 genesis 200's, 2 580EX's and a 430EX. Lot's of lights and only a little knowledge. I'll try some fill next time, but I was struggling just to get where I was on on the first shots. I had a lot of problems lighting up the lower body and side away from the main light. I was too afraid of lighting up the black backdrop.

I've setup my laptop to autoimport into Lightroom. That should help give me some instant feedback next time. So much to learn, but it's a blast!

Do you have enough space to move the subject further off the background that will help with light spill from your front lights.

Damian75 wrote in post #9021197
Do you have enough space to move the subject further off the background that will help with light spill from your front lights.

No, I was backing up to the wall to get the full body shots. I wanted to keep the focal length at 30mm or more so I wouldn't get some weird perspective. I had a 9' background, with the longer weapons, it's was hard to keep everything framed inside the background. That's why I was struggling with the lights spilling over on the background.

In your case, I'd get a kicker in the first image. I would start out with 1 to 2/3 stop below your key light (meter the right way, with the meter facing 90 degrees angular to your subject's neck / cheek, and not aimed directly to the kicker flash. Remember that this won't really affect your final exposure, because the two lights don't overlap on the subject.
I would zoom flash, shoot through a snoot, aim it from -30 -45 degrees (minus degrees in relation to straight ahead, calculating the degrees clockwise) camera left behind the subject, between hip and shoulder high.

For the second image I would add a wide rimlight, centered behind the subject. Again, around 1 stop down.

This is what I would do (or at least start off with in my setup and see what happens from there), that doesn't mean it's necessarily the right thing to do ^_^