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Setting Up Fashion Lighting

Lesson 25 from: Beauty + Fashion

Matthew Jordan Smith

Setting Up Fashion Lighting

Lesson 25 from: Beauty + Fashion

Matthew Jordan Smith

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Lesson Info

25. Setting Up Fashion Lighting

Lesson Info

Setting Up Fashion Lighting

Our fashion day yes they was about beauty before that it was the foundation for fashion and beauty and today today is all about fashion was that what that means is the hero of the day is not just about beauty and models today the hero is about the clothing the fashion so many people think that shooting fashion and beauty yes means you're shooting a pretty girl no it's about the fashion first and foremost we're telling a story in our story today all started here no sketches the concept the idea once this happened then we have this tallis the hair, the makeup and they pull clothing based on the sketches that's the beginning and now we're in production mode when shoot we'll have a fantastic time we have an incredible team of stylist models incredible makeup we have incredible team we have come over here, man a very talented team thanks helping us produce this you can't do it by yourself thank you, john welcome thank you thank you you can't do it by yourself it takes a village it takes eig...

hteen all working together as one unit and that's what we're doing today I know you have a lot of questions so please ask away we have a white sit white background was shooting full body if you have questions about how to do a white background you will find out today from top to bottom if you shot a white background and you're getting a dark floor wouldn't answer that today and a whole lot more so please ask away and enjoy because today is the fund a that's about it I guess I'm ready get rocking and rolling well, you know what let's do this first let's first make a v flat what's the v flat johnny let's make one caitlin's going to come out here and so on set we have a white backdrop and I can't just shoot it by putting a white seamless up so we have a v flat on the far right here and we'll make another v flats you can see it on on the left so we have to for my take them so just run that tape down here. This is unrehearsed precious oil, but you're doing a great that's an amazing b flat wait, we're taking the mystery out of making a b flat every job I do, I'll have v flats sometimes I have to sometimes I have forces have eight twelve they are extremely useful. So how do I use the flat here's? One way we're just gonna run tape on this side too and wait he's reading first, forcing it right now by doing both sides of the v flat so black gaffer tape goes on the black side white gaffer tape goes on the inside so if I'm shooting around and I need to see it it doesn't interrupt by having a black scene on set do you bring them when I have them with me once I haven't made it last forever that b flat will probably last me well years years or more so what I make it it's good for a long time I get a hundred shoots of that b flat easily once they're made they're there forever and they are extremely useful isin for everything I use them to block off my computers my clients have privacy in viewing the images I use them for hair and makeup I used as dividers I use them too cut light to block light they are extremely useful I have tons one set all the time and right now when you used to put in front of our background light and make a vey vey flat while the planet is in position let's take a question in regard to our white set or the v flats brent asked where do you get foam cores that big I haven't found those okay in new york city being h carries it um a lot of our source carry them in los angeles you confined them at sammy's I can order them online we're hearing in seattle and they found them in seattle I'm not sure where you found them locally here but they're fairly easy to find in a lot of cities was that your supply stores that glaser shawn okay yeah it's our local camera store perfect working eh so how is the light working inside of r d flat so johnny yeah give me a hand here explaining this how we have r b flat set to make a clean white backdrop but we're bouncing two lights and I think this camera can come up over the flat and see that there's too late said it about knee level and just above head level and they're bouncing into there so it will spread the light diffuse it a bit and hits the background the sides of the v flats prevent the white from coming back and hitting the models who will be on the set here so if I come up on here none of those lights none of the lightest hitting me it's all hitting the background there we have some video lights here that are hitting me so you may see some highlights on the side but they're not gonna be in the shots so basically what these be flats are doing are protecting the models for me hit from these lights therefore lights here two are low and to our high four lights in the background I have ah a platform here yes we have white paper down here by wake a platform to do two things toe elevate my models make them look longer they already tall I wanted look very tall we're doing fashion almost like five dying five ten like the like seven feet tall by time I'm finished with you from lower angle shooting high had a most platform and I have a clean floor now there's a little bit of a shine to it so if my light in the back light it'll be a nice clean line white toe white with no dark floor that's why the platform matthew can you just tell us see shasta as the question in the chat room what size are those what side yes maybe there four feet by eight feet thank you four by eight now it's time to test our lights and see how that works so we have five lights on set I have four lights just for the white background and then I have one main light now we're doing beauty we had a nice soft life clean beautiful soft light today one the opposite way hard light I want detail as in great fashions I want you to detail the color I want to pop me chris so my main light is a magnum reflector today we are making our own son so I brought the sun the magnet reflector that pro photo head if I want to shoot f forty five I can with that head we had a dalek down to get down to f twenty two twenty two I think we're at hell's confirmed that big smile twenty to one way love that twenty two two twenty two two what's my fall off twenty to three twenty two three I love that twenty two two perfect perfect perfect I like that that's the life I want on this set full body were doing fashion the girls are moving I can freeze them here I have a lot in the field as well so as they move I have the depth of field to cover as they move around my light. Our main life is very high it's high because I want them coming down at a higher angle to give me texture in our clothing and we have some amazing clothing. So as a fashion photographer it's my duty it's my job to also be in contact with the stylists go through and looked at the clothes I'm shooting a story for a client I wanna look at the fashion look att pitches of the fashion looked at the detail and figure out how will I shoot this garment? Remember the hero of today is the fashion how will you show the hero how you like the hero if you doing every job and lighting every job the same something's wrong how you like the hero the way we shot beauty yesterday we can't shoot fashion the same way how do you light the hero? How do you direct the hero so I don't know what I'm shooting beforehand before I decide on the light, I need to see the fashion. Check out the detail. Is it flat? Doesn't have texture. Is it saw? Is it hard? Does it move? I wantto all those things before I shoot you. And then think about the light and how best shooting. So I had my sketches. Just the concept, the idea. I sent all these sketches to the stylist, and then he pulled and put together and made some amazing choices. My sketches of from the imagination. And then he is the authority on fashion. And I went to him. We spoke and he put together some great pieces. And now we have a great team. We have the models in hair and makeup, and I am so excited to shoot it's. Gonna be a fantastic day. So this six more questions for the moment about what you've now seen. Thank you. Question from robert is, uh for alvin stillwell. How helpful are the sketches for pulling wardrobe? Are they all all that the stylist needs or was more direction provided? That's a good question. Now, the sketches when you just came a little closer, the sketches or the storyboard is just for inspiration, it's just to show the energy and the idea of what I want to do it's not so much about the fashion yet. Because this may be out of style but shows the attitude and the energy that I want the attitude for the clothing the movement for the clothing and it helps the ste alice and the models get the idea it also helps the entire crew and staying focus so we get our story if I'm telling this idea it's only my mind they see other things if I tell them and show them then they get the direction it all starts here for everything there's a beginning and an end fashion starts here this is our beginning this is the beginning I'm really gonna work take another question matthew absolutely okay rachlin and maria christy both have questions about the floor they're asking if it's made out of plexi glass if you could just talk about the size and the material so there are other ways to do the floor it is full by eight in size the same size as rv flat's full by eight you khun by clear white plexi and put white under it organ by white plexi you can put a full buy a piece of plywood down and then put white plexi on top of that and that's how you make your food by material it's this isn't plexiglass today so it's it's a shiny wood panel but home depot lowe's places like that would carry this stuff lowe's home people and they're everywhere four by eight great a question from esa presley in shooting fashion, what color of background is customary and other people black, white or fashion gray? Other folks had asked, do you always shoot with a white background? Uh, no, there is no always I shoot, I shoot a lot on white and gray and black because I like that is being my palate. If you go back and look through fifty years of fashion magazines, the vast majority are shot on gray or white, sometimes it's lit sometimes it's not. It gives you a clean palette to create when I'm doing my background, I'm thinking about my fashion and the story. I don't want any conflict between these bright colors and a background I want a clean palette to create, and I felt the white background giving the best choice for doing today story and telling my my opposites question from gabriel, can you talk a little bit about the meeting system you're using if its center waiter waited or evaluative, that kind of thing? How media ring I'm not meeting in camera, so we're not doing center awaited, we're not meeting in camera, we're going, yeah, we're in manual mode on the camera, so we're reading with handheld meter here and we're just taking the settings from here, so this is tell me s o two hundred one twenty fifth of a second it f twenty two and we just manually set the camera to that so the camera meter doesn't come into play. When you're using your strobes, we'll say that again. We're shooting the camera on manual on manual we have a psychotic meter were mita ring at s o two hundred, we set our camera toe so two hundred and that meter tells us everything so, like before meters don't think means only react so when I'm here and he does a meter reading on me, weii said the camera to those settings f twenty two on the camera at one twentieth of a second, I have a mark right here, black gaffer for the models and a mark right here, so the model knows when they're here they're in the right spot, so as they're moving around, doing whatever they know right here, and I know that's the sweet spot where I want to shoot as they're moving around, having fun, it keeps us in line on talking about meeting now on the white background. Where do you want that to read? So when making a white background, if this reading is f twenty two, what should that be to be white? Not if twenty two I'm gonna make that background three course to stop mohr than this light so this is reading f twenty two this will read f twenty two seven twenty to eight in that family so I'm over exposing the white background to give me a clean white background clean white background way have five lights one sit as his popping lights you also hear a beep going off give me a few pops back there so you hear each packed they're five packs you hear each pack going off now when I first set up I wanna hear all of them so I know they're all going off all five packs and my assistance as I'm shooting or watching the power to make sure that all five less they're going off all the time throughout the day because as you shoot you might lose one pack if I get very happy it's like shooting too fast so my team watches the light make sure everything's going off all the time I also once I had this light set and all five are going off we listen to for the slowest pack I could put two lights on one pack but the recycle slower so each light has its own pack five packs, five hits we've a lot of light going on today opposite of yesterday we were used one life weighed five heads, but still our main light is on ly one light it's the magnum reflector my son let's take some more questions we have one here in the audience have a quick one about do you always use power baxter do you ever use the outlets that are available in the facility that you're shooting in do I use only use power packs so the power packs are going into actually household units but these these are plugs airplay all twenty amps each because he's packs a pre power uh I always use the power packs now I have small small power packs that I use in a small home studio where I'm doing my testing now use the acute packs they're huge twelve hundred packs they pulled less power and at home I don't need to be a f forty five fifty four I'm sure he had no eight eleven and those are just fine here I want the power I want the power and I want the fast recycle time and these packs we cycle fat so I can shoot back so when you hear the pop and you hear the beaks go off that's recycled time on the beach was telling me I can now shoot so if I'm shooting a fashion now we're not posing fashion this is real life in the moment some pitching special moments as it happens so I want fast recycle not holding a poles and looking asif like nineteen twenty this is two thousand eleven things have changed and life moves fast I want capture life as it happens, that's what I want power packs provide power for the lights yeah those air not batteries their capacities they hold the charge that goes to the flash head so they're not they're not batteries that way all the lights off here you're setting still wouldn't change wouldn't change not at all the light you see right now is just ambient light for our human eye to see the power paks much more powerful and that flash that's coming out is an instant questions once you're using twenty two because that way you can have the model moving absolute faster right and you're going to get that field if I'm shooting at let sam get f ate I'll have that amount of of leverage to move around so the girl can move but she might go in and out of focus at f twenty two I can get this entire range of focus not to worry as much about her going in there as she moves and I want to be free to move so f twenty two give me that range in my f stop to have her move around I'm using an eighty five lynne's I'm using a calls ice eighty five lynne's on the cannon sonny eight nine that lindsay is incredible that camera's incredible I have the reins too sharp linds I'm going to get it but I have the thie the range at f twenty two to do anything and I don't want to stifle my models into holding a pose and being there and looking like in a robot I was moved and be free to move that's fashion today question here from twitter um brian lover would like to know can you show the key light and why he chose that particular light? Absolutely let's bring it down for seven let's bring it down and take off the modifiers liken your show magnum thank you thank you man. So here we have a standard modifier a standard reflector that comes on the pro photo here and do me a favor johnny throw that one up there on that light on the same light don't change the power don't do anything different just put that on. So with the standard head standing modifier turn that on and put it back up mr reading here with that same light same power nothing's changed always done is changed the modified that's all we've done is the same power that pointing to you that's perfect take a reading with that what's the reading f ate f a the same power nothing's changed except for the modifier if eight eleven the magna flecked er thank you for asking that question matthew, can I just ask a follow up question this's from dwayne campbell on twitter as well? Can you describe the position the height of the main light and can I still he's asking can I still capture the same look if I'm lim limited to nine to ten feet you can you can we're going very high we have by thirty forty feet ceilings here today we're going very high because I want the light to come down at an angle because seems while I grab this one garment again wow, you look way have texture here so I want the light coming down at an angle to increase the texture so if you can see that if the light's flat it's harder to see the texture and this is very easy see texture wise but even more so enhanced at a higher angle at nine feet that's definitely still good but I can go like twelve feet here when I want to very easily and I have a platform as well that's probably raised fifteen feet off the ground so I'm going even higher to come in that as well follow up on this question so if it was not so much texture in the clothing would you go lower on the life to get more of I would not for the situation and they'll be clothing that has a lot action some that does not I still want that high look because it's like the sun and I want that feeling of the sun at a certain time of day so it's not over head over head well, I'm getting only shadows under the nose and dark eyes you still high but to me that a beautiful angle and your decision is kind of what time of the day you want so instead of being at sunset like around six or seven were around like three or four think about it that way yeah let's have some more questions about this for sure absolutely, um a question from a b cummings is can you please speak about two? You're focusing strategy when shooting someone moving quickly at f twenty two? Are you focusing directly on the models I or can you be a bit more lose due to the small aperture that I like that I like? So we're focused on fashion and beauty with beauty yesterday I'm focusing on the I not being very critical about the focus because I'm shooting fashion full body I have a lot more leeway I can focus on the center of the guards and be fine f twenty two something fine doing that I can focus on the face on the garment and I'm finally twenty two as they move around to what if they want to do which they will do today quick peek here for a second I was one of watch and see what's happening as they're being prepared to see if I want to make any change but right now this looks so amazing on the inside here can we increase had that same whoever is on the left you look fantastic she's ready to go grocery shopping absolutely so as I am thinking about the fashion I'm thinking about how I'll tell my story so I'll shoot this full body and then I'll get pieces so I have coverage if I'm doing a movie I'm gonna shoot the movie full get a full body I'ma go in and shoot the recorders then we went clothes for her close up this is still beautiful I'm also aware of all the props all the jewelry all the accessories don't make sure I have all this in that looks so nice so let's also I want to see how powerful the fan is and get that in position so let's see if we can bring that in and test it on me it's gonna blow your hair it's gonna blow my hair off let's take this one the background again why? Or I guess the reason of not through in this spot directly at the background would you get like a circle or it's? Not even is not even if I put the lights directly hitting the background it's not even people do shoot that way let's bring our fan over here and have it fairly low if I have life's really kicking the background with about this it's not as even I prefer having the v flats you can do it directly that way as well and some people some guy shoot that way I prefer this better I like this better yeah that's my personal way they're a lot of ways to shoot a white background. This is my favorite and through those years of assisting I worked prize for fifty didn't photographers washing each of them shoot their version of a white background? I like this way it works very well. Oh yeah slow sands perf that's perfect matthew, would you uh question from kim hell would you use the same light set up even if the backdrop was a different color and she's from uh from syracuse, new york from syracuse was not snowing up there yet, so if I'm meeting a different background color where I use the same lighting background I pride would not use four lights in the background it's not white. I'm always eating four lights because it's a white background if I'm using a great background and we had that great appear earlier possibly shoot on grey I'm gonna even like the background at all or have just soft umbrellas to give me a little bit elimination I wouldn't go three course will stop over the main reading either that would be a different situation altogether I'm only doing that because we're shooting on white that's the only reason withdrew so standing here and feeling the fan you can dry your eyes out so can drive the model's eyes out and make them uncomfortable I don't want that so I'm gonna have one of our students come to the fan for a second anyone anyone ofyou guys so on this particular fan you have the option ah going up so I want to go and it clicks it's at full power and then you can turn it down from there so there you have full when it turns on it comes on full just before the click and then goes down there's lowest power there's full power on then so I never want to blow the model away way don't want blow her away so as you working the fan you should be moving just following the model just fall in the model and giving her movement but I don't want to keep it on her face the entire time it'll dry her eyes out so you're on the fan taking up and down side to side so do me a favor and stand up there in the spot we can know what it feels like they had that fan on you because it's what the models going to feel is well so turn it morning is having on ly going very high facing her face feels in your eyes is very hard keeping high and then moving around much easier that's what you want way want that so take it very high to get down to a very high mood around but keep it moving so it's very good famous you know have a model feels when she's up here it could be the most experienced model ever if I had that fan on high give her a hard time and I might lose her she'll be met me having a fan there in her eyes drying out her high her eyes definitely not a good combination any questions about the fan or the use of the fan or wind machine? Well let's say it we're in a little delay so let's wait a second for those to come good sells good so question from rizzi and sweden is for three quarter shots what are the rules for elbows wrists so what are the rules for proper way for a shot as are storyboard indicates I normally want to shoot a little wider and give myself room to crop in post what I'm doing fashion what I'm doing beauty I prize should it almost exactly the way I want it but doing fashion and beauty I give myself room for for cropping and post so even in my three quarter shots I'm cropping just belong the belt line below the waist I'm making sure I have my elbows and I don't want cut off hands and elbows and make it look weird so my three quarter shot is here my tight shots are here so tight three quarter full body thank you, sweden space for you giving for like the gutter of the magazine are now that's a great question! How much space in my giving for the gutter of the magazine, the gutter if you open a magazine and you have two pages open, that seam in the middle is called the gutter, so I was being aware of that I'm giving myself space to have it. Either way, you have space on the left or the right, so I'm not sure when I shoot it, it will be the left page or the right page, so I gave myself space on both sides. Oh, great question, great thinking question about the fan from jeremy christian I can use a squirrel cage fan from a central heating or air conditioning unit with the dimmer switch and he's from large ever used that fan. I've never seen that that brand of fan, but generally the normal household fans are not strong enough, babe. I tried to find those fans you'll find in a in a general home supply store they're using not strong enough, and I've tried to find those fans as well, jeremy, I haven't been successful in finding a fan, a normal household fan that's strong enough, today we have a jet stream fan is very powerful. And I do have a bone to pick with the fan machines because they are expensive and I don't think they should be they see the fashion photographers they and they try to get us, but we also brought another one free doing headshots and like this is actually a drummer's fans it's set comes with the hardware to mount onto a light stance actually with mount on a drummer stool and has three speeds it's not quite as powerful as that for doing a full length, but if you're doing fashion our headshots in the liking, you need some families run about a hundred bucks or so and you know what else on all my sets this is kind of fanned I want by me yeah, yeah that's another use for it so let's have that right by the light stand and I want either an apple box for myself if there's extra one or a low stand or a low seat. So louis, when you confined to fly lower than that one, what about the lad? That's? Fine small letters find people were asking yesterday about apple boxes and why we soon apple boxes and I know they find out the most comfortable thing, but it is the standard and every studio people still in apple boxes I don't know if it's a photo thing but from new york to l a people still in apple boxes and it's ah, I guess maybe I have it for me, but I've been doing for twenty five years and is comfortable somewhere I don't know it's a photo we have a question from photo deluxe will the fan be primarily directed at the model's chest for hair or all around? We could touch on that again uh so our storyboard shows hair moving so we're going for the hair, the garments of pride too heavy to make it move with the fan so the hand the fan is aimed at the hair tto help the movement and enhance the movement that was good thinking as well you're shooting this three I mean the two different lens three and three with the same lands and you're moving forward or our children and my changing lenses as I change my viewpoint. Yes, I am I'm probably used three different lenses maybe the fifty definitely eighty five and definitely one hundred macro it may be just the eighty, five hundred macro I'm not sure yet, but I have all my options over there so the eighty five would be if I were given full coverage of this letter yes and the one hundred macro econ go closer I could get my three quarter and tighter with that lens and also that's another give me another thing so I have my light high and the reason for this is it gives me the flexibility of moving so if I'm here, I'm not closing a shadow on my model and we'll test it to make sure if I come here I would go give us shadow on the model, which I don't want so I get a cognizant of that and my assistance will keep me in line is what I'm shooting a story like this I get excited and in the moment and I'm everywhere and my team my team helps keep me in line my team helps keep me in line so I'll bring you back to the set for a second I want to borrow you again actually I'm going to you a break I'm a go with you sir, can you bring you out cause you problems tolls the models with those high heels on this bring you right on the set I feel like new hampshire, right? So if I'm shooting here when do I start getting in a field with the light thing? Just give me a fast reading so I see where I interfere with the light when is my shadow coming to play let's go down lower now that's where I start to get to see my shadow and I start hitting around his belly so I won't be at this point don't come this close, but being here twenty four I'm good so now I know and my team knows if I get carried away and start going here, matthew, step back, step back, you're blocking the light, or I take my main light even high, but I must be aware of where that light's falling and all the things that can happen as I move around and as I'm shooting and I'm tethered normally, my team is also looking for things on the monitor. My first assistant is taking a peek at the monitor there's any problems that you're in the shot were shells and shot move back, or they'll quietly take the light a little higher to commit for that, which is good. Other questions question from our reynolds, do you typically know ahead of time where the text copy is going to be placed, and does that affect the direction you pose the subject? That's a good question? Do you know where the texas going to run in the magazine? Absolutely not. They will design around your images, and even the art directors don't know what's going to go where they'll do that after you deliver the images so you can't worry about where tex will go, but I mean, sure, having pains, they'll use in the magazine, you have to shoot it first, so that comes afterwards, they will ask for space. My firm from shooting in the clients like okay, give me the more space on the top or right or left they will say things like that and they're guessing where they may put ticks a question from a snaps in the uk I was taught to shoot models facing right and left so that they can look into the gutter of the magazine page whichever page the editor chooses do you do this? I don't and I remember those things I'm not sure that really applies anymore I know did it one time no because you're not sure wish image will go on wish paige if you're shooting twenty image twenty page spread for magazine how do you know what would be the left page of the ripe age? They always flip it which happens a lot which I don't like it they can flip the image but I don't like trying to give the on ly option of looking one way would be more free we're shooting and then let the team design it afterwards and a great team would do that askyou coverage as I'm shooting see them all the options available shooting for coverage more questions I want star shooting we can but I won't see how close they are wei have one in the audience when you're we have the story word when each garment would you shoot different lengths or would you go okay? This government will be just fooling or would you make the auction his wife or as I like that question, so will I shoot each garment on ly one way? No, I should each garment always because I don't know the doesn't even know how they're gonna lay out the magazine so if I'm shooting this garment now can I steal her away for a second actually officially your thing I steal you away for a second so if I have one set and she has amazing garment on she also has accessories she has great shoes sound do a version where shoot everything head to toe national her three quarters didn't might shoot just her hands or garment or just a bag or just the shoes or an element of the shoot I have always office to play with once I see her until he dressed, then I decide what our shoot I'ma give my client is me options for pulling together a great story with the opposites if you don't shoot it, they can't show it I want to shoot all the options that are available to me and then hopefully my attitudes in particular a great story that says that having the light like this will allow you to do a head to toe that one light my son will allow me to shoot from head to toe one little light is our main light full coverage thank you did is a matter of fact let's give each of my students who are here in class up here where the model b one by one and you want to get shot of each one of them perfect so carlos radioed first I should go with the camera my photo assistants are always here and we're testing before the job so they know how things work and have a marble field so carlos this spot is the center and this is a center so when you're here you're totally fine I'm not sure if I'm totally fine you're great like that great like that so now we wait and take a picture and see what it looks like what the floor looks like before the models get up here to your eyes that looks great perfect perfect birthday one by one with us all come up here and take a look at this and see yourself and feel what is going to feel like for the model toby up here that's were tethered so that's your spot on the side and that's your center so give me energy give me smiles give me a movement that's it that's what I want that that stuff I want you that's real that's not a pole your feet so you're yeah now twist back to me that's it that looks great thank you beautiful thank you next come on up we have las vegas in the house come on up, adam great smile there's texture in here and with this light even into the smaller of texture but flat life I would lose that thinks may come on up take a look if you want to take a look and notice the floor here how clean is white toe white we don't lose it have it go grey yeah this is the future right here eighteen and very talented come on up you know what it feels like a room for the fan hold on wait a minute just for the record I loathe man what's a get I wanted the fan on you though they want teo so now you know what it feels like for the mall to be appear it's not easy being a model you're in the spotlight one stage and this pressure but we have very talented models here today a very talented team today so always remember what it feels like to be where your subject will be stand where they will be if you're doing a portrait stand where they'll be put yourself in their place it helps you become a better photographer toe understand what they feel when you're taking their picture and if you're not comfortable think about how you gonna make them comfortable think about being here I have a question and use up our umbrella sometimes what what's can you describe may be the difference in the way the photo looks I know that there was technical look what it looks like but the way the photo actually looks and why you would pick one over the other when my favorite lights is also the poor umbrella and your pasta there's a picture we showed earlier of me standing behind in silhouette or this gigantic umbrella and it made me look small like I was two feet tall that's the power the power's one gigantic source like a big gigantic pain of window light coming through and it gives you it's silver there's the parlour there's the pa ra it's a gigantic source is a big saw source so the bigger the light the softer the light this is a big soft light with a little bit of punch because a silver on the inside so it gives me the right amount of softness with that punch as well but it's not hard is this this this directional life like the sun that's like the sun on a cloudy day ok sun on a cloudy day bright sun blue sky today was shooting with bright sun blue sky no diffusion hard light, beautiful life so while going be the sorry just what would be your decision going into a shoot uh like which one you want to use if I would want to show detail if I'm shooting a fashion we're from shooting beauty from sugar portrait from she imports the jacket group are used the power if I have ten people in a group for three or four, I need that coverage and just one beautiful shot I didn't shoot for off a pantene where to shoot three celebrities all in white. I used that light that was my main light. Give me coverage to be soft and beautiful little punch as well. And today I want the sun that crisp, beautiful light so using the power so I get all the detail in every thing a soft light would refuse that I want to see all of it. I want to see the film in parts. I want to see the texture here. The softness here I want all of that in this light gives me all that advantage. So think about your life before you choose what you used for the job. Think about what you're shooting fashion or beauty or portrait. It's whether you want texture when you want to be solved, then you decide the life. Think about what you're shooting if you're using a soft box for everything you do, how do you stand out? If you use a soft box for every shoot it's, time to change and it starts today.

Class Materials

bonus material

MJS Storyboard Concepts.pdf

Ratings and Reviews

a Creativelive Student
 

Thanks Matthew for the super informative courses. I'm from Thailand and I'm very impress with the way you speak. It is super clear and very easy to understand. Your answers to each questions are extremely inspirational. I think you are the best teacher on photographing so far on Creative Live. Each of your answers and information are very motivational and very thoughtful. Thanks again for this great Live broadcast. You are a great teacher and a very nice warm person as well.

a Creativelive Student
 

Thanks Matthew this two days have been amazing, and I am looking forward for the last day,,in which you will be talking aobut the photography i would like to do, since is my dream to be a fashion photographer i have learn a lot from you, and this expirience has been amazing, if i only lived in L.A. and not mexico city, i would definitely write you a letter and try to be your assistant to learn as much as possible from such and amazing photogrpher and person; once angain thanks for everything. Thamks creativelive for bringing this amazing photographers, and letting us learn more and more about the amazing world of photogrphy.

a Creativelive Student
 

This course has been an awesome experience. I have learned so much about the process of beauty and fashion photography. Matthew takes the viewer through the preliminary thought process. He not only covers the technical aspects but also the importance of the photographic team itself--the stylist, makeup artist, model and photo assistants. The photographer plus the team equals magic. I do not use the term amazing lightly. This man is AMAZING and INSPIRING! Thanks to Matthew, I feel confident that I will find my own vision.

Student Work

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