Week 11 – Custom Made

Info

I don’t know why, but I have that strange image in my head of a gritty look. A bit soft light from the front, hard lights from sides – that’s nothing unusual.

Although at the same time I think of washed out colors, wet, almost dirty hair and deep dark eyes. In addition a bright, contrasting t-shirt and jeans. That’s something completely unusual for me.

I didn’t put any dirt in my hair this time, but I think it turned out pretty well anyway.

The Making of

Tech

I’ve been digging the 3-light set-ups lately. They have many flavors and nuances, however, the overall concept (with this one) is to create some sort of glow from the sides (rim lighting).

It gives you a possibility to get contrasting look on clothes and sides while preserving the tones in the middle.

Remember to move your rim lights around, take them further behind or almost in front. That way you can control how much of this contrast comes to the front of your subject.

Trivia

• Have you seen that lamp (ceiling one)? I hate it! I bumped into it with my head like 20 times during testing and another couple times during session…
• I was shooting in my second living room. It was furnished with my grandparent in mind. I don’t live there, although I use this room when I teach Norwegian.
• The camera capturing video was on a tripod that stood on a TV.
• At first i wanted much softer look. The key-light was bouncing of the ceiling and then furtherer diffused with a white panel. After a few test shots I knew it wasn’t the right look for this photo.
• I begin to feel uncomfortable with the winter. I want to go out in a short sleeve finally! This winter was way too long…

Other shots

PS: I would like to thank Maciek Leśniak for inspiring me to make a back-scenes video from my photo-shoot. You should check out Maciek’s video here.