[Tomm]

Hi!

Several days I'm spending some time reading about strobist techniques. I really like shot were parts of the face became as shady that it's just black. While I don't know if there is any kind of term for this kind of shots I'm not able to search on the internet. Who can help me out here?

Many thanks!

[demp10]

Tomm, you are probably referring to directional lighting from an angle (or multiples angles) using modifiers to restrict the light output.

To get started use your flash off camera and place it on the side. You can use a spotlight for modeling to see the shadow effect. If your flash has a zoom head, try setting it to telephoto to restrict the angle so more of your background will stay dark. You can also use attachments to control the width of the light output. Basically you want to avoid ambient light that tends to provide even illumination. If the shadows are too dark, you can use another light source or a reflector to fill-in and soften them.

Above all experiment to get the effect you want.

[hoanpham]

If you can post an url to the photo you want to produce.
There are many light modifiers that can be used

[alohadave]

Hi!

Several days I'm spending some time reading about strobist techniques. I really like shot were parts of the face became as shady that it's just black. While I don't know if there is any kind of term for this kind of shots I'm not able to search on the internet. Who can help me out here?

Many thanks!

Move the light to the side of the face and put it close. Set your exposure for the bright side of the face. The falloff of the light and the aperture will make the shadowed areas go black.

You can use hard light or soft light for this. It will be helpful to not be near any surfaces that will reflect light back onto the face/body. Clothing also reflects light, so the color/texture of the clothing will have an impact.

[fuent104]

Hi!

Several days I'm spending some time reading about strobist techniques. I really like shot were parts of the face became as shady that it's just black. While I don't know if there is any kind of term for this kind of shots I'm not able to search on the internet. Who can help me out here?

Many thanks!

Have you been reading the Strobist blog? He has many many examples of lighting techniques, as well as "homework" for you to do to develop your own technique.

Learning about "three point lighting" is usually considered the first step in learning about lighting. It is not crucial that all of your setups consist of three sources, but it is a good idea to understand how the different sources (key light, fill light, and back light) function.

I think there is one principal of lighting that is most important by far: try to shoot from the shadow side of the face. What I mean is, if your source of light is on the left side of your subject's face, try placing your camera on the right side. This way, the light will wrap around the face, which creates a very rich and flattering view. Here is an example:

[fuent104]

[fuent104]

The strongest source of light in the image on top is the backlight. However, as far as light coming from the front of the subject, left side is more brightly lit, and the camera is to his right.

For the second image, you can see that the subject's right side is more brightly lit, and the camera is to his left.

[Tomm]

Awesome! Thanks for the tips fuent104, alohadave, demp10, nice to get starting with! Unfortunately I don't have my camera and flashes yet so I can't practice yet. But I'm already getting into it because I can't wait to start haha. So that's why I hoped there was some kind of jargon name for it, as I can search more efficient. I'm familiar with the strobist blog, great website though! But there is so much content on it, I don't know where to start reading. Probably at the beginning though haha. Ok, I want to go to fast I think!

when I was browsing through some websites I noticed lots of photo's in the category 'dramatic lightning' have that effect by the way!

[fuent104]

It is a pretty standard way of lighting. One of the benefits is that you can do it with natural light, if the light is coming from the side rather than overhead. for example, if you position your subject near a window, then shoot from the shadow side, you will have the same effect. The idea is that light wraps around the face, and you have a gradation of light and shadow. Also, the light emphasizes the shape of the face. Light coming from the same direction as the camera has the effect of flattening your subject and eliminating texture, which is generally considered unappealing for most purposes.

I hope you will keep us posted on your results.

[liukaitc]

b&h just post a video about their live tutorial of off-camera flash at b&h event space..
jump to 11:20..
maybe u refer this kind photo...

[Nuff]

What you are after is Rembrandt lighting.

Rembrandt lighting - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Flickr: Discussing Post your Rembrandt lighting images here.... in Strobist.com

and something different Strobist: Rembrandt Lighting? Um, No.

There is a lot of information about it out there if you know what to search for.

pretty good video explanation:

You Tube

You Tube

[Tomm]

Thanks Nuff! Comes really close to what I meant

liukaitc: The title of your vid cleary suggest: Do not post haha. I think they deleted it. Its saying it private..

[Nuff]

That's kind of weird that it was deleted, since it was photos of a guys face. I thought it was pretty good vid, even tough he had issues with his triggers.


http://jarek.smugmug.com

[liukaitc]

Thanks Nuff! Comes really close to what I meant

liukaitc: The title of your vid cleary suggest: Do not post haha. I think they deleted it. Its saying it private..

ye..they uploaded a new one with full length...the previous is only a part..so they deleted...

new one here...2 hours full length!!

You Tube

You Tube

[GeneV]

Both B&H and Adorama have extensive video collections online which go into portrait lighting. This site has a nice introduction as well. Portrait Lighting There are lots of examples on that last site.