Caught in the Light
Sometimes, keeping the light off your subject can be as important as laying it on. We’re familiar with the use of gobos and other items for blocking and controlling some of the light, but in this example, the idea was to block out the light using something more substantial, and create a look of natural sunlight casting a beam onto the model, Megan.
To our right of the model is the exterior wall of the building, which hosts a number of small slits. To create the narrow, vertical beam of light, an SB-900 was placed outside the building, oriented vertically to match the spread of the light to the shape of the slit, and the power punched up to around 1/2.
Back inside the building, in order to create a steep contrast between the external beam of light and the internal ambient, the ambient was dropped down so as to be almost non-existent; not too difficult, as the room was fairly dim to begin with.
The final touch was another light to our left at a minimal power level, to add a tiny bit of fill to the shadowed side of Megan, and coincidentally to throw a touch of light on the brick wall behind the model for some additional texture.
The key to making this shot work was the exact placement and angle of Megan’s face. Tiny turns of the head would drastically change the way the narrow beam played across her features, and the feel of the shot could be significantly changed, as can be seen in the second shot.
Thanks to Megan for posing, and I found using the architecture to help with the light shaping to be a very interesting exercise. Give it a try, and if you’re really brave, see if you can achieve a similar effect in bright day light – potential for some interesting experimentation there!
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