More beauty lighting with a pair of strobes

Eden Harris

It's been a bit since my last post, needless to say, I've been crazy busy. This will be a relatively short post and will take the topic of the last post on two source beauty lighting in a different direction.

Last time, I talked about "clam shell" lighting. Basically, it consists of a diffused light source at 45 degrees above and below the subject in the portrait environment. Here, I've moved the sources into a cross-lighting setup. The interesting thing about this particular setup is that it incorporates no diffusion. The main light is positioned to camera left at about 45 degrees. The light is an Alien Bees 800 series strobe with a standard reflector and a 30 degree honeycomb grid attached. This concentrates the light, allowing for both limited spill and less power. One could use a beauty dish in this setting as well, though, without a grid, it will produce a larger light cast.

Erin Pierce

The second light is also and Alien Bee's 800 fixed with a standard reflector and a set of barn doors. The vertical doors are closed down allowing only about a two inch beam of light. The top and bottom flaps (the horizontal doors) are wide open. I find this allows more directional light over a longer plane than, say, a snoot or honeycomb grid. I wanted the light to travel from the head down the back and arm to provide a more complete rim light.

The lighting setup was the same for both models, but arranged in opposite directions for each subject. Eden (top picture in the post and last) was shot using the setup shown below. Erin (above) was photographed with the main light to the right and the rim light to the left. Note how much coverage the barn doors allow down the back of the subject. It is especially evident in the pictures of Eden as I have her positioned at a harder angle to the camera. Both models have easy-going and bright personalities which makes working with them easy and fun. The poses were done from a run of the mill  school chair. The glare that the legs and back of the seat produced in some of the images was removed in post.

Cross-lighting setup

I failed to record the power output settings on the strobes, but it was significantly less power than required with diffusion. The images were shot with a Nikon D700 in RAW mode with a 70-200mm lens at f/8 at 1/250th. They were rotated and a few minor tweaks were performed in Aperture before dumping them off to Photoshop CS4.

The great thing about this setup is that it introduces virtually no light spill onto the backdrop. That is further controlled by the fast shutter speed. I have to admit, this was an improvised scenario. We began the shoot with the clam shell configuration - but this time in the vertical orientation (i.e. the lights were 45 to the left and right than from above and below). That setup produced some wonderful images, but I really wanted to go a different route, so for the last 30 minutes I decided to try this setup and loved it.

Eden Harris

When you have photogenic subjects, more than half the work is done for you, and when you throw in a talented makeup artist like Wendy Riley (whom I also had the pleasure of working with on the previous shoot on beauty lighting) things get even easier.  But even the world's top models have their images retouched (heavily) for print and advertising work. These images needed some attention, but nothing super serious. Mostly I just removed a few distracting flyaway hairs and then evened out the skin tones. This was done using Photoshop CS4 with the healing brush, the clone stamp tool and layer blending with the blur filter, etc. I'm not a Photoshop expert, I just try to learn the techniques that best serve my style of photography and work with them. Photoshop geniuses like Scott Kelby and others are the defacto source for learning better Photoshop skills. Give them a Google to learn more tips and tricks.

This is a super simple lighting setup that is capable of producing some magnificent results. You have to be more careful with you r light placement and subject position when dealing with non-diffused lighting as it drastically increases shadows as well light hardness. The end results are worth the extra attention to detail as it produces a classic Hollywood sort of elegance, perfect for less traditional beauty lighting.

Until next time, be safe and happy shooting.

- R

Two Light Beauty Lighting

Shirley DeArmas

Over the weekend I had the pleasure of working with two models on an independent photo shoot. With nearly every click of the shutter going toward university work or wedding events lately, I have had little time to work on shooting for my portfolio - and perhaps more importantly, just for fun.

Shirley DeArmas and Nikki Jagt were kind enough to trade half of their Saturday in exchange for some free images. I in turn gained two models and a collection of beautiful images. We opened the studio doors around 9 a.m. and we wrapped about 2 p.m. I hauled lighting gear and worked on the setup and calibration while the girls were in makeup, courtesy of the very talented Wendy Riley. The actual shoot went about 2-2.5 hours and the shot selection produced was incredible.

Nikki Jagt

For more than half of the shoot, I used a classic beauty lighting setup that provided smooth, elegant lighting. All of these shots were focused on the waist up. For the final third of the shoot I adjusted the lighting to a four light setup to cover more full body shots. The four light scenario may be discussed in a future post, but for now I'd like to focus on beauty lighting.

Beauty lighting is a general title assigned to shooting scenarios where the main purpose is to provide even illumination from top to bottom, and at times, from left to right. It can be used for a variety of subjects, but is typically used on females in 2/3 portrait or tighter. You'll see it in advertisements for makeup and skin cleansers as well in model portfolios.  This can be achieved in numerous ways and different photographers favor different approaches. Some setups include a beauty dish over head with a fill card below the face, a ring light with diffuser and what is referred to as clam shell lighting - which is the setup discussed here.

Shirley DeArmas

Clam shell lighting consists of a pair of diffused light sources positioned above and below the model and tilted about 45 degrees toward the subject. The setup looks like an open clam shell, hence the name. The lights will obviously be in front of the model, and the tilt of the lights will cast overlapping light on the subject, providing a nice, smooth, even illumination. To further enhance the setup I added a pair of white reflectors, one on either side of the model, to kick some light back into the sides of the face and body.

Nikki Jagt

The diagram below shows the setup from the side. As you can see, the softboxes are positioned about 45 degrees above and below the model with the two reflectors on either side. Note that the closest reflector has a reduced opacity to allow for a more three dimensional look at the scenario. The setup works best if the upper light is placed on a boom because the images are actually shot throw the opening between the softboxes and the obstruction of a light stand will prove extremely frustrating. It is worth noting that this same setup can be achieved with off-camera strobe like your Nikon, Canon or other portable flashes. Keep in mind, it will be harder to parallel the power of the studio strobes, but you can certainly compensate for this by adjusting your exposure settings. These images were shot using a pair Alien Bees 800 lights in the foldable medium and large softboxes. The reflectors can be anything from poster board to foam core to collapsible reflectors. I used a pair of Photoflex light panels with the diffusion surfaces to bounce the light. The images were shot at ISO 50 at 1/250th at f/8. The lights were set to approximately one quarter output, but were adjusted using the Alien Bees LG4X wired remote control for the variation in skin tones and wardrobe color and materials.

A little retouching was done in Photoshop. The basics apply here. I removed the blemishes not concealed by the makeup, improved contrast a bit around the eyes and softened the skin. Ta-da! It's really the same thing you would do for any portrait retouching, with the exception (maybe) of the skin softening. It's really just a  duplicated layer with 2-2.5 pixel Gaussian blur added. Then the layer opacity is reduced to 30-40 percent and then the important features - i.e. everything but the skin - are erased, revealing the original layer, and then the layers are flattened. Presto. You may use other methods for this, but I'm not a Photoshp expert. I just use what seems to work for me.

As you can see, the lighting is breathtaking, but having beautiful models certainly doesn't hurt. This is a relatively simple lighting setup and it can produce spectacular results. Combine this method with elegant subjects and a laid back, fun atmosphere and the results will certainly not disappoint.

Until next time, happy shooting.

- R