Set Preparation

To start off, we hung a 12-foot roll of white seamless paper from our ProDuty BackDrop Support Kit and lifted it up to about 10 feet. We pulled out enough paper to cover the set and give our model the space to move. With the sweep set up, we placed sections of cardboard on the background where our lights will be set up and where our model will be to protect the paper while we test and set our lighting scenario. Once we have our lights set, we will remove these “walk-ons” for the final shots (while not required, these cheap "walk-ons" can save big bucks in seamless backgrounds!)(figure 1).

Setting Up the Main Light

Capturing the full length portrait and the increased size of the set required a larger light source than we would use for the typical portrait. We chose the 5-foot OctoDome3 for its superior diffusion capabilities while giving us maximum light output. All this in a pleasing round shape!

After we set up the OctoDome3, we attached it to a Photoflex 2218 LiteStand, raised the light to match the head height of our model (about 5 feet) and set the light to the right side of the set at about 45 degrees. We wanted the light to rake across the fabric of the dress to show its shape and texture (figure 2).

Figure 3 shows the results of the OctoDome3 as the only light. The texture, details and shape of the dress are shown well. The angle of the main light to the side of the model creates dimension on our subject, as well as details of the dress in the bead work, etc.

To control the contrast across the fabric, we added some fill to the lighting set up. For this task, we set up Photoflex 39” x 77” LitePanel with the white reflective fabric.

We placed it on the set to bounce the light from the main light back into the shadows and onto the subject to control the lighting ratio and the contrast of our photo (figure 4). We checked for proper placement by examining the lighting effects of the reflector on our model.

In figure 5, we see the results with the bounce fill. Our lighting ratio is under control and we still see the shape and texture in the dress. The bounce fill has brightened up the shadows and helped to show the fit of the dress by filling in shadows and controlling the contrast of our subject.

Here is a comparison of our lighting with the OctoDome3 only (figure 6) and the OctoDome3 with a bounce fill (figure 7).

For more control over the lighting, we replaced the LitePanel with a Large LiteDome and a second light (figures 8 and 9). Since our main light was already 1000 watts we decided to go with a 500 watt lamp in the second soft box in order to give us a 2:1 ratio.

Figure 11 shows the results with the large LiteDome as our fill. Notice the brightening of the background when we add another light as opposed to the reflector. We will discuss how to control this later in the lesson

The ratio on our subject is just where we want it and we see all the detail without losing anything. We have great texture in the fabric and the overall look to the lighting is much better. We could call this shot a wrap right here and have a great image.

In the next two figures, we see the comparison of the bounce fill (figure 11) vs. light source fill (figure 12).

In figure 15, we see the results of the main light only with the grids attached, and in figure 16, we see the results with both lights with the grids. Notice how the lighting of our subject changed very little if at all, but we gained more control of the light and where it fell.

In figures 17 and 18, we see the comparison of our 2-light set up before and after applying the grids to our lights. Here you can see how the grids have controlled the light on the background and set us up for our next steps

Spot Lighting the Background

We wanted to darken the background so we could add color and splash to our fashion shot. To achieve this we used our Dedolight spotlights. The Dedolight, a tungsten based light source commonly used in television and film production, is the right tool for our next application.

The Dedolight DLH4 light unit coupled with the DL4 focusing attachment gives the ability to put the light right where we want it. Colored gels can change the color to just about anything we could possibly want.

Once we had our spotlight set up, we placed the light on the right of our set and focused it on the background.

In this results image we see the effect of the spotlight on our background (figure 21). We have added color and interest and have given this image more of the sense of depth that was lacking in previous results.

This looked good, so we played around with the colors and the size of the spot on the background. The following images are a collection of the shots we liked (figure 22).

We have shown some of the very basic things to think about when you get a fashion assignment. Remember that the subject is the fashion, not the model. That’s not to say that you should sacrifice the look of the model, but be sure to use the light and the pose that shows off the dress, and then the girl.