 Pat Wimpee |
Dark Hair against black backdrop Hi- Does anyone have any suggestions for shooting darkhaired people against a black backdrop? The client really wants that look, but two of the subjects have very dark brown hair and it just blends into the black. I used studio strobe lights and tried to spotlight the hair with a 20 wt halogen bulb but that didn't work. Thanks for your time.
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BetterPhoto Member |
Maybe try some side-lighting, or even some light coming from both sides and a little behind so as not to reflect off of the black backdrop but to highlight the hair? I'm just guessing, no idea if it would actually work. Kyle
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Andrew Laverghetta |
You should use a hair light. That would be another strobe light, set much lower than the other lights with either a snoot or a honeycomb grid. I wouldn't use a hot light to light the hair because it is a much different color temperature. You will have to place this light behind the subject, up quite high so it lights the hair from the rear. I'm not sure if you can get a speedlight that can fire by as a slave from one of the studio strobes but maybe that could work too? You'd have to put a tube or something over the flash head though, so the light is more focused. Also, check out some of Monte Zucker's things. Search his name on Yahoo.com and you will find his website which includes some short tutorials. Hope this helps!
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Doug Elliott |
Hi Pat, Andrew is correct. Use a strobe behind and to the side of your subjects. If you can use a stand-in before you session it will help you set the light. You will need a snoot or Honeycomb grid to focus your light. The strobe needs to be high up and angled so it does not enter your lens. This is where your stand-in is helpful. I will suggest you look at the work of Frank Cricchio. He is a masters, master at lighting. You can check out some of his work at the following website. I have had a class where he was the teacher. On a couple of portraits we had as many as six lights. But you only need one. http://www.smallworldgraphics.com/ http://www.frankcricchio.com/gallery_1.htm Good luck and keep shooting. Doug
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Pat Wimpee |
thanks all of you for your help. I'll be checking out those websites and doing alot of practice tonight. Thanks
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