ntiberius Posted December 5, 2005 Share Posted December 5, 2005 I'd like to replicate the dramatic, constrasty lighting of the latest Harry Potter movie poster. I've got one strobe (plus umbrella and softbox) and a reflector. Am I being vain to think that I could mimic this image using just one light? The poster appears to have used at least two--the key light to illuminate the facial features, and another, brighter light behind to highlight hair and jawlines. I'm thinking the difference in brightness between the two lights is strong enough that I could replace one with a reflector. My instinct is to crank up my one strobe light and put to behind-and-to-the-left of the models (creating the bright hair/jaw lighting), then use the reflector to illuminate the face from the front. I know the easiest way to determine if this will work would be to just test it out. However, I'm traveling sans-setup at the moment... and hopefully this will be a worthwhile discussion :) TIA! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ellis_vener_photography Posted December 5, 2005 Share Posted December 5, 2005 a 1x1 pixel GIF file isn't very useful. Try it using mirrors as reflectors Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ntiberius Posted December 5, 2005 Author Share Posted December 5, 2005 Sorry about the gif; apparently IMDB protects its photos from "Save As..." I'll try again:<div></div> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmf Posted December 5, 2005 Share Posted December 5, 2005 The poster is a composite photo. which individual are you refering to? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marshall Posted December 5, 2005 Share Posted December 5, 2005 I think the lighting on the skull would be challenging to recreate with one light. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ntiberius Posted December 5, 2005 Author Share Posted December 5, 2005 I'm referring to Harry Potter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
h._p. Posted December 5, 2005 Share Posted December 5, 2005 It looks like a classic three light setup. One spot behind his left ear, as you look at the image, another spot top right to light the other side of his face and a soft box at front left to lighten the shadows. You might be able to get away with a wider head light to the left and a reflector at front left but I can't think how you'd brighten the right side of his face without another lamp. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vernon98034 Posted December 5, 2005 Share Posted December 5, 2005 With only one single light source, you can achieve something similar, but not the same result. Placing the strobe on the left of the camera and about 30-45 degree behine the subject; placing a silver reflector on the right of the camera and in front of the subject. The issue here is that you can't achieve both light directions from above the subject. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marshall Posted December 5, 2005 Share Posted December 5, 2005 Neil - sorry, I was just being a little frivolous with the skull post... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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