b/w dramatic lighting

hello all,

i have a client coming into the studio that i rent for jobs. husband wife and 3 month old baby. they want one

specific picture. the husband has tattoo arm sleeves and wants a black and white photo of him shirtless holding

their baby. i can picture this photo cause i know i have seen it before. of course now i can't find any since i

am looking for one. my question is on the lighting. like i said i am renting the studio and have full access to

a main with a soft box and fill with umbrella 2 background lights and a hair light. can anyone point me in a

direction i may wanna start with for a lighting set up. luckily for me the app. is at 6:30 pm and i have an

assistant coming @ 4pm with me to help set up and try the lights out before they get there. i'm just hoping for

a diagram or something to help me get started. i'm sure most of you have seen this type of photo before or can

atleast picture in your mind what i am talking about. thank you in advance for your time and effort also, if

you have any photos of what i am talking about and don't mind sharing i would love to see them and how you came

up with them. i know that is a lot to ask for though.

How big is the softbox? As long as it's about 3 feet or more tall, I would set it facing the father, pointing down a bit, and use a large reflector opposite the softbox to fill in the shadows. I would stick with the single light-very simple and classic.

ok i can handle that. should i still use the background lights or no?

thank you for the response.

I would skip the background lights, get the dad away from the wall and let it go to black. Another alternative is to use a gray paper, and use a gridded background light to get a sort of spotlight effect. If you have a second softbox, you may also be able to do a rim light with that to provide some background separation-set it up behind the father and at about a 45 degree angle, and aim it towards the side of the model away from you. Even better would be a reflector with a barndoor and flags to control the spill.

Joey:

 

You're really not giving us much to go on. You saw a picture once, and you want us to imagine it?

 

There are a number of ways to light this subject. Are you looking for a high key or low key image? Hard light or soft light? Shallow or steep depth of light? Directional or flat light?

 

You really need to tell us what effect you want. Then maybe we can help you position the lights and set ratios.