How to setup the background light

<p>Hello can someone help me with that. Do you know what kind of light is in the background ? I think this is now possible with strobes or speedlight. What you think ?<br>

http://hdfons.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Jennifer-Connelly-hot-Wallpaper.jpg</p>

<p>My first guess is that the light on the background is coming from the right, behind the subject, up high, either a spot or something with a snoot on it so it shoots out a narrow shaft of light that is skimming along the background. But it could also be from somewhere off to the right with bardoors to create the cutoff and pointed more directly at the background. And there are a couple of other ways to do it.</p>

<p>i think this is a continious light ( background ) </p>

<p>i think this is a continious light ( background ) </p>

<p>There's nothing about this photo that indicates that the background light is continuous. It might be, especially if the foreground light was a fresnel spot used for "hollywood-style" lighting. The shadow of her chin is pretty sharp, indicating a hard source fairly close to the subject.<br>

I doubt that the lighting would be mixed, continuous for b/g and strobes for f/g. It just complicates matters. Any studio shooting Jennifer Connelley is going to have enough strobes to use on on the b/g if they are using them on her.<br>

<Chas></p>

 

<p>I agree, Charles. It isn't necessarily continuous light. The slash is a typical 30-40's element. Looks to me like the beam is spreading moving right to left. Light high right near the bg barndoored would produce that. Here she has a main light a bit lower than butterfly light on nose. I also would like a loop or rembrandt moving the light to camera right. It is broad lighting but if she can handle beauty light, she can handle broad. That puts her right side in shadow with her left side illuminated by he main. In that case, I like to use the edge of the bg beam snooted or gridded barely touching the bg with the direct puddle mostly behind her head then spreading past her. The darker edge lighting is against her brighter left side and the brighter area is adjacent to her darker right side for separation/chiaroscuro. I love beams. They are leading lines and can add dynamism or stability to an image if angled vs horizontal/vertical. My disappointment with the Bible series was the Calling of St. Mathew was truer to the text and didn't use Caravaggio's dark room and beam or the hand of Christ in the same pose as Michelangelo's God reaching for Adam on the Sistine Chapel ceiling. For those not familiar, it's the "pull my finger" t shirt. Caravaggio(referred to by the name of his home town rather than his name, Michelangelo too, so the two contemporaries were not confused) tosses in a homage to Michelangelo's ceiling in his "Calling..". Here's an example but mixed lighting outdoors. Hot lights main and fill, strobe for the power on the hillside 30' behind subject. Oh, but try not to burn your subject's skin with the hot lights. Great MUA. </p><div></div>

<p>http://www.photo.net/photography-lighting-equipment-techniques-forum/00bnu2?start=40</p>

<p>Always chose a spot that was in the shade. Back-light focusing is a very tricky job. Instead of automatic focus feature i always focus down by the subjects waist.</p>

<p>Here's a photo l took that ended up being pretty beautiful; l didn't set up the light, as l prefer to take pictures of subjects in a real/documentary type setting, though when l saw this, l was glad as though someone had set it up for me to take a great picture: <a href="/photos/arizsaleem">http://www.photo.net/photos/arizsaleem</a><br>

<img src="/photo/17730695" alt="" /></p>

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<p>Does anyone now a thread or an article or a book for lightning techniques ?</p>