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Shoot: Headshot with Hot Lights (Alyssa)

Lesson 24 from: Lighting Essentials Workshop

Don Giannatti

Shoot: Headshot with Hot Lights (Alyssa)

Lesson 24 from: Lighting Essentials Workshop

Don Giannatti

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Lesson Info

24. Shoot: Headshot with Hot Lights (Alyssa)

Next Lesson: Shoot Q&A

Lesson Info

Shoot: Headshot with Hot Lights (Alyssa)

I'm gonna bring eliza over here we're gonna try something just a little bit different with elissa right you tall drink of water aren't you girl now you sit right there right there on the on that thing good now I'm gonna twist you away from this light and into this card quite a bit we're gonna place exposure now before we placed exposure on breeze lit side right now we're going to place exposure on the lis is shadow side so we're gonna go ahead and let the back light pop up a little bit we do have an interesting challenge though and that is because of where elissa sitting kind of looked right this way just limit she's getting a lot of light on her cheek isn't shape well remember I said is we gotta put somebody at the back end of the light so that they utilize the light she's utilizing the light we don't want her to so we're gonna bring her forward guys bring her forward right up to about here okay what we're doing is we're gonna cancel out this backlight that we're using see you know a ...

little bit more on just just a tad more a tad more that's upper midwestern it's a tad more all right now you're gonna look into this light over there we go now you see what we did we killed the light on her face right when she looks this way we've killed the light on her face going to bring this card right in like this sweet right there and now I'm going to place the exposure on the shadow side of her face this particular instance uh way go and by the way the guys who make this tether tools thing they're from phoenix a big shout out the other tools that's an awesome piece of gear and thanks so much for getting it over here for promise to use a love it we just crashed their server and as well we should be taking this in our making sure that the ball of the meter is not hit by this side light you see the meter see it it's getting this I don't want that I only want to shadow so I'm gonna bring it back here to the shadow towards may and it's going to give me a reading off you can't do that all right so we have to move it up okay it says two point eight at a sixty if I'm gonna go ahead and go down to a sixty a phone here change my eyes so backto actually gonna go one hundred twentieth because I'm on my asshole eight hundred I just sent this to four hundred so let's do a test and you come right on in this way I've placed the exposure on the shadow side of her good that's what I want to see that look have you seen that look in vogue and bazaar show you have this very popular moved the girl away from the window light shoot the shadow side were now using this is our main light but look at the beautiful and john e should button this up here like that um see this right here that nice bright light back there we're going to capture that by john I'm gonna have you let that one go and bring a second one to the back this way we're going to swing some of that bright light back towards her awesome bring us right up here yes exactly exactly exactly right so now we have a more interesting light coming back we're backlighting does the back of her this way and the side of her this way look what it does to the face it really gives the face something really really cool that's it right there I like that let's try that again john that's in about that's in about three inches too much there you go thank you sir right there good chin down a little bit more pull pull it out from the neck put out there you go eyes back to me real quick right there all right thank you so what I like about this is we end up with a photograph that looks kind of real doesn't look manipulated we're in a situation maybe in a building or somewhere where we've got light coming from here but we've got light coming from here is well you see that we're only using one life what kind of happen tto make it up as we go along we're creating a beautiful modeling across her face opened up to us here clear in here and then this little bright edge that comes along here that's just basically bounced light back it's ah it's easy you know yesterday we were shooting with uh probably what fifteen thousand dollarsworth strobes and today we're shooting with some very inexpensive tools but can you tell the difference in the photograph itself no you can't that's the point can you tell the difference you can't even see the difference because way back in there but she's warmer huh warmer today it is nice and warm in there there wasn't a by the way when you're not shooting models you can actually roast chicken so it's very serves a double purpose there let's get one more card right up in front of her here on dh brett will probably need you to sir I'm gonna take one card from the front here in like thiss actually brett let's have john do this okay and you're a little bit taller brett so I'm gonna have you take one right up here do we have another little card and white uh take that one off the stand oh yeah when its weight on the other side sorry you see how this seeks out my foot did you see have you seen that it seeks my foot goes oh it's over there snake over there and get me alright don't you have time for absolutely while we're setting while we're doing this tomorrow happy to excellent uh in regards to the home depot lighting is there a modification of the color of the light regarding white balance as time as they get hotter and hotter not that I've noticed not that I've noticed I mean it may but it's probably such a small kelvin change that I probably wouldn't be visible to me on a shot like this again if I was doing something where every shot had to match down the road I would probably do a color temperature reading with color temp meter and let it sit for an hour in the studio do another one and find out if there were changes because those those little changes mean nothing on a standalone shot like this they can mean everything on shots that have to be reproduced or technical shots uh where certain colors have to be those colors and a question um so just to clarify again for p o p l o is what is the white bound sending right now is it tungsten tungsten right yes yes there's uh this this one is tungsten is thirty two hundred thirty two thirty two hundred he's between twenty eight thirty yeah that they're they're not the bright tungsten they're not the thirty four hundred thirty six hundred those are more like riel video lights or or really good hot lights will have a little bit higher tungsten oration these air cheap these bulbs were only like five bucks if they blow out five ten bucks so um I have had a friend give me a couple of ten k lights movie lights with friend els had two of them they were gorgeous in my studio and I was using them and everything in one of the bulbs burned out no must be nine hundred nine hundred bucks to replace the ball I was like mmm mmm well I liked him but my goodness I'm not sure I like them that much so I actually had a retrofitted for norman heads you're stuck in norman love that for now light let's bring it up this way we'll turn you get right again right into the light right there keep going keep going ok no come back just a little bit right there we're going t see when I get out of camera way here I had to come back just a little bit so a little bit of light is streaking across her cheek here I'll do the shot so you can see it let's bring that over the top there bret right over the top good a little bit of lights streaking across her cheek there good not turn away from me just a little bit more right there just a little bit more I love that I love that look right there thank you but they're all right is that light streaks across her face here from the left side you're going to see a bright shiny cheek here in just seconds see it see how pretty it makes the face look when we let that happen you could do so much with so little here that it's amazing that's where I had to turn a little bit more so now the light's not grazing her cheek and shouldn't turn a little bit more and when we catch more of that highlight on the uh the face and the hair now we khun dark in that back johnny wanna grab that other card over there we'll just hide this light from the wall back there you want going dark background way can also swing this laid back yep swing us like back and back to just go ahead and slide the slight that's like that behind her we'll go for dark black background yeah yeah and tilted away from me so I don't get any there we go to level that meow do it here we go it's gonna come right in here way go whenever you're shooting you should have three or four friends around just to hold stuff you don't and believe me they'll always say hey can I hold the lights all right right there good good good hands right there beautiful all right so now we'll see what it looks like behind a black background and bree we're going teo beach light next let's go ahead and leave you in that because it's kind of a beach lighting looking thing can you do something with your hair yeah that that's code for something else look at the light folks the cow now when I'm gonna use the word complex but not on her face but look how complex the light is right and we're using a home depot light shower curtains and white cards and how do we get that look from this by deliberately putting our lights and our cards where we want them to be there's nothing in this set that's left chance it's all deliberately set we have removed up well good I wish I'd seen that little strip of white in the shot that I did turn this way a little bit more good good right there what I want that shot yeah that's a hands up in there what that shot but good shit you just weren't there with her with her okay sorry I want that shot so um nothing's left to chance we put it where we wanted to put it so we get our light coming across the the hair light coming into the cheek here we've got these wonderful lines like how we've lit up the edge of her nose here back here the back of her her sweater right along her hands and look at the hair the hair is not just sort of disappearing into the background it is there it's like a total looks like we did it with even sometimes we get on the forms I'll get on that some guy say how it looks and whatever I do these it's always some some guy from alabama okay so I apologize like I took a picture of my girlfriend in the basement and look I used nine sb nine hundred now look and I go why why just use one because you could do all that with one

Class Materials

bonus material with purchase

Lighting Essentials Ebook v1.pdf

bonus material with enrollment

Don Slides - Why Light Matters.pdf
Don Slides - What Is Good Light.pdf
Don Slides - Light Does the Same Thing.pdf
Don Slides - Subject Centric Light.pdf

Ratings and Reviews

Cheryl
 

I just finished watching this course, and with teary eyes can say, without reserve, this class has been fantastic! Don's last session would be great to watch in the beginning and the end because it helps to understand his thoughts on being a photographer. The rest of the class is full of great information on lighting and Don is able to explain his thoughts and his processes with ease. I hope I will always think ahead and plan how I want my final results and how I want my subject to reflect light. Learning this was one of my "aha" moments during this class. I own over 30 Creative Live photography courses and this class is one of the top classes I own. I already plan on rewatching the whole class. Well worth the investment! I feel it is not a beginner course, but a intermediate to advanced one. Don has set a high standard in lighting...a goal to reach for...a goal that is possible for each person willing to take the time to learn and practice. Thanks Don and thanks CreativeLive!

Ryan Redmond
 

I am so glad I took this course. I'll be honest, it took a few lessons for me to warm up to this series but I'm glad I stuck with it. I have had a couple cheap speedlights, softboxes/umbrellas, and reflectors for many months now and was too intimidated to start using them. After going through this I am not only downright excited to use them, and confident that I can have spectacular outcomes, I'm also confident about shooting in natural light indoors and outdoors. It's also given me the tools and confidence to start shooting in manual vs aperture priority and to nail the general calculations in my head. I appreciate that Don used mostly budget or unorthodox equipment like speedlights, foam core, work lights, curtains, etc. because that's what I can afford and have been using to try to replicate expensive gear. Other classes use thousands of dollars in lighting and Don proves you don't need that for excellent shots. I also appreciate his advice for directing your "models" and insights into his overall process. This class was invaluable to me as a novice. Thank you!

Joanna
 

I thank very much CL that I could see the wonderful material on the light in photography, in fact everything became clearer, Don you are the great teacher, great stuff, very interesting and fantastic lecture, very helpful ! Thank you one more time !!!

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