How to achieve this lighting?

I am curious if anyone has any advice as to how to light this type of shot. I

have tried a couple things and can't seem to get this look. The model is either

overexposed or way underexposed or the transition to shadow is horrible.

http://www.photo.net/photo/5707055 I would ask the

photographer but my success rate with that route is generally very poor. Any

insights would be appreciated.

I strongly suspect that having such a reflective (oiled, in this case) skin surface is one of the things that makes it possible. And plenty o' after-the-fact tweaking.

Looks like the main light is behind her and to the left side of the picture, with a fill in front, or maybe just a reflector in front.

(this is a suggestion, not an answer :-)<br /><br />

 

whenever I want long highlights that run the length of the subject I use V-flats on either side

or Chimera strips. I definitely get that feel from this. little if any fill in front (thigh, chest &

shoulders seem dark) I'm guessing most of the fill is coming from white seamless on the

floor.

<br /><br />

I'm attaching a shot I've lit that way - it's against black and the model is not oiled but I

believe it's in the family of techniques you're looking for<div></div>

Hi James. I think you are correct but in that image you posted you don't have the level of

deep shadow that this guy is getting. I wonder if that is just a matter of adjusting the size/

location of the strips?

This looks like it is simply a blown out background with lots of wrap(it's hard to say what is lighting it for certainty) but I suspect it is flagged given the overall contrast. It's also hard to be certain if a large reflector (like an L shaped one made from 2 pieces of foamcore) is the front 'light' or a light from the front. I think it is lit from the front given the reflection in the skin (can't see eyes) and from the contrast. The trick here is how far back to move the model into the blown out background and the amount of wrap etc.

My <i>guess</i> is that the camera is in a blackened studio that has walls (parallel to the film plane) between the camera position and a white sweep. the opening in that blocking wall acts as an aperture through which the lens views the subject (and controls flare). <p>The walls are white on their interior surface. This means the set is essentially a white room with a door outside of which stands the camera. <p>The degree of "fill" depends on how far inside the "door" the subject stands. If she is <i>at</i> the door, her face (et al) are darker, and as she moves back into the room more light reflecting from the blocking doors has it's "fill" effect on her. <p>There is most likely a large silk behind her and behind that, the lights directed on the white sweep... t (just a guess)

The shadow under the foot is a fake. I suspect that what ever the background was originally it was been stripped out and replaced with white in Photoshop . I see nothing inherently wrong with this approach for this kind of illustration photography as we used to use all sorts of wet darkroom tricks and masking to achieve the same ends.

 

Lighting: My inclination is to think that it was created with multiple "hard" flash sources, not softboxes or umbrellas. So maybe just flash heads with 7" or 10" reflectors A fair amount of flagging was used too to control where the light did and did not go.

I like Tom's answer it should give similar result with the addition of the two lights indicated by the highlights at 10 o'clock and 4 o'clock. D.D.

Thanks everyone. I indeed share many of these theories and I guess I will just have to keep experimenting unitl I get it right.

I realize I am a little late in providing any feedback since the orginal question was asked nearly 2 months ago but here goes...

 

Tom's guess is pretty close to my own. I have pulled off similar effects with a white studio about 15' square, 2 undiffused strobes aimed at acute angles towards each other at the back wall. The strobes wash out the background simultaneously providing reflected light at the sides. There will likely be some post proc dodging to get the background completely white. Anyway... my tow cents for what it's worth.

 

Good luck and post your results! :)<div></div>

Nice shot, Erik. I haven't been in the studio as of late because of a new addition to the family

on Monday and the fact that we are moving in a week. Once my new and more spacious

studio is set up I am going to do a lot more experimenting.