how was this group shot lit?

[photo_girl1]

i've just been browsing the net for group shots etc.. and came across the attached image... im trying to

study the way the light is falling on their faces, and the bit of shadow rounding each of their face... does it

look like natural light coming through large windows as well? or is such a shot also lit up with a large

softbox? how would the light be placed in such a way to cover such a large zone, creating the same

shadow on the face etc?

[simus]

Seems to be diffused by reflecting on the ceileing.

Antonio

[Charles_Webster]

If you look closely, the shadows are different on different faces. The guy on the far left has much more fill than key, the black woman in the back row has no fill, half her face is in shadow

 

I don't think this is a really well lit shot.

 

<Chas>

[randmcnatt]

There's a large, diffuse rectangular light source off to the camera's right, aimed about 45 degrees into the shot (which is the main reason the group is unevenly lit); it reaches to or almost reaches the floor and appears to be at least 6 to 7 feet (2 meters) tall. It could be a window, or door, since there is paneling on that wall (in the right window you can see the light reflecting off the of the right-side wall, and in the center window there appears to be a bit of back wall, possibly with a photographer standing in front of it) but it's more likely a soft-box or such. There's also a reflector or fill light of some type low on camera-left.

[ellis_vener_photography]

very large diffused source ( maybe 2 x 12'x12' scrims or a Jumbrella ) to stage left.

 

front fill from floor level

 

the guy on stage right has been dropped in.

[richsimmons]

The guy on the left, Dylan McDermott, is more lit because he's the star of the show. It really looks like they upped the exposure on his face to make him stand out. The show is called Big Shots.

[rnt]

Looks to me like both the guy (and chair) on the left and the woman (and ottoman) in the forground have been dropped in. Their shadows are a little strange IMO.

[damian_p1]

Looks like a giant octabox from the right of the camera and fill from the left for the left most person.

[ellis_vener_photography]

The more I look at it, the more I think that the entire thing is a composite: a background

shot was made, possibly with almost all of the actors in place (except for the guy on the

left edge in the gray suit) or possibly with just with a few clusters of the actors shot at

different times. This makes it easier for the photographer/director to concentrate on what

a few of the actors are doing and on how they are individually lit without interfering with

how others are lit to best advantage . Proof: look at the differences in the shadows of

different people. There is also some zipper-necking retouching.

 

"Zipper-necking" is where a retoucher working with an art director swaps heads and

sometimes composites in other body parts to get exactly the right expression and body

language of the subject . Annie Leibovitz's group portraits are sometimes done this way. It

is pretty common with this kind of advertising for television shows and movies, sometimes

even high end editorial spreads, and pre-dates Photoshop.

 

One aspect of doing this is you can get slightly odd light and shadow plays.

 

At any rate - it isn't one shot but a collage of the elements of several original frames

combined to make one finished photograph.

[frolickingbits]

Definitely a composite. The women and men are lit differently, each with the most flattering light for that gender. The guys were lit with a softbox or scrim, camera right, reflector camera right, and the women are lit with a butterfly lighting-umbrella or softbox above the camera.

[pujo]

Maybe, one huge light source from the right of the camera ( the light evenly fall), maybe using large softbox. placed quite high to get the loop effect.

Another source to the left of camera (possibly another softbox, medium isze or stripbox) to light the guy with gray suit, plus a big reflector on the left and last one is the light behind the window to the male on the back (or maybe its an ambient, using with slow speed). Careful placement of the model and how the model sit and how the model face turns can make different effect for the same light setting.

 

Is it my monitor or my eyes, the wall on the back over the windows seems has a different coloring from around the middle?

 

or composite is another possibility. I would use a lot of light source for this shot if possible and light the model individually. if only I have the resource

simple lighting is always good. simple lighting effect using a lot of light source still amaze me