how to achieve such lighting?

Hello!

 

I'm a fashion photographer and I would like to completely change my style. I'd like to start shooting in aesthetic similar to this hart leshkina - Google Search

 

But I'm not sure how to achieve such lighting. It basically looks like natural light, but it's shoot mostly indoors so strobes must be included.

 

How to achieve such soft lighting?

 

To be more specific, lighting on those two images is what I want to replicate: (MOD: Images removed. Do not upload photos you did not take)

 

The first one have some harsness in it, and the second one is more dull.

 

Do you have any advice for me? :D

Edited January 2, 2018 by Spearhead

White walls and ceiling, with strobes bounced. Most of the bounce seems to be coming from above, with a lot of fill from the close walls.

Flat shadowless large single powerful source eg softbox with almost no modeling at a;;. Likely a big box on a stand with a long boom arm over the model. For some of the posing a strong mood altering potion might even help ( just teasing). I think a style should be adaptable to the clothes and not too inflexible, my gut feeling. No offense intended. Meaning experiment is always good. And a playful attitude helps. aloha.

These images may be deleted because PN terms of agreement state that only photos you've taken should be posted and not photos taken by someone else.

 

In any case you got some good answers. And I agree with Gerry. My question would be why you’d want to completely change your own aesthetic based on what someone else is doing instead of adding this aesthetic as part of your aesthetic. While this approach works in certain contexts, I’d get really bored of it quickly if there were nothing to offset it. It’s problematic, IMO, for a style to become a goal in itself, absent consideration of the subject matter it’s supporting. I prefer when style is attached for particular expressive reasons, meaning not all fashion and not all models and not all situations would work well in this style.

It's not that i want to make an exact copy. But those are the kind of images i enjoy and value the most. And i want to create stuff that's more similar to what i personally enjoy.

 

This is my current portfolio - Fotograf ślubny, portretowy i modowy. Sesja Zdjęciowa | Paweł Barański. And while i thinks it's decent stuff, I'm not personally touched by the images i create.

Pawel, thanks for the response. I understand. You've put together a nice portfolio. As to moving forward from here, I think "style" is only going to take you so far since your goal, a laudable one, is to be more personally touched by your results. In the samples of Hart/Leshkina you provided, I note a couple of things. The poses are very intentional and dramatic as opposed to casual, and the people seem very interactive with their environments. Now, I'm not suggesting you copy such obvious poses (though they work with the style for sure), but it's really fun and rewarding to work on pose, expression, and especially angle and perspective as much and probably even more than lighting and color style. If you want to feel touched when you look at your photos, I recommend mixing up how you hold your camera and where you place your models/subjects. And the expressions and gestures you get out of your models will be much more important than whatever style you choose, though the style is, of course, important as well. An outstretched arm, a curved back, a shot down at someone or very obviously up at someone can really touch a viewer. Just some things to consider. Best of luck to you.

Having just looked through that link I very much enjoy what you showed there. The portraits are just the kind I like to shoot but often don't. They seem very honest. I've wondered about developing a style and early on kept looking at the work of other photographers and thinking how nice it would be if I could do that. Finally one day I realized I don't want to do what others are doing, I needed to figure out what I am trying to do and go with that. I spent a lot of time in the newspaper business and have been told that I cover a wedding like it was a murder scene and that is probably true, I'm not sure that is a style, I hope not.

 

Rick H.

Rick, covering weddings as if they were murder scenes would definitely seem to me to be a matter of style. I’d love to see some examples. First of all, out of curiosity, since it’s such an unusual description of wedding photos. But also because it could mean they are either awful or great. The idea of “covering” a wedding as if it were some sort of tragic crime could be filled with creative possibilities. Alternatively, it could just mean they completely miss the mark. :)

Thanks for making me chuckle, you two :)

Referencing you other post.

You need to learn to STUDY a photo and deconstruct the lighting.

That is what some of those books are for.

You need to educate your eye.

Look at the images really carefully - IMHO - it's all available light.