How was this done?

[josh_thornton]

Could someone explain the types of lighting used for shots similar

to the one i'll post with this. Oftentimes the light source is

somewhat overhead. Black or grey background. Mist (sweat) on

face. But what type of light source? Thanks.

 

Josh

[brooks short]

Josh,

 

Information about the type of light modifier and placement of lights is found in the reflections in the eyes of the portrait.

 

Your example shows a single rectangular highlight in the eyes at about the 5 o'clock position. This would indicate a softbox below and slightly to the right of the subject. There are more clues concerning the placement of that light, such as the highlight on the underside of the lips and nose and in the bottom edge of the droplets of "sweat" on the models face.

 

Look for reflections of the light source(s) in the eyes and the location of specular highlights on the face.

[mark_lloyd1]

I agree for the main light but there is a little more going on here.

 

There is also the light stripe on the background, this could be done in a

number of ways and a little trial and error should get that no problem.

 

In addition to that there is also a subtle back light to seperate the model

from the background and to add a slight rim lighting effect.

 

All in all not too difficult but certainly a striking result.

 

Remember that metering for black or white models is the same you don't

need to compensate really for dark skin as you should be taking incident

readings.

 

I would certainly bracket a shot like this anyway if I was using

transparancy stock but for both b/w and c neg then there should be no

need.

[steve_levine]

Brooks Short as usual is correct!However,we routinely have our lab remove secondary catchlights.This can also be done in Photoshop.This was routinely done years ago,but now days many portrait shooters let these go.