with ChristianHough
t's amazing howa similar shot,with the samemodel and same pose can look so dramatically differentwhen shot on different backgrounds; even with the same key light. In this edition of Hough-To, Christian Hough looks at how a quick background change and a few and lighting adjustments can help you make the most of creativity and get the most out of your shoots.
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I've always found that afro-caribbean skin can look amazing in black and white photographs, and with the right conversion really have a huge amount of impact. Add a touch of oil, a great model and a powerful symmetrical pose and you're on your way to a winning image. As we know, black and white image conversions are a matter of personal taste, so I'll concentrate on how I lit these photographs instead.
HighKey Virtue:Okay, somost of us are no newcomer to the high-key white background. It's used a lot on contemporary family portraits and feature high-street fashion editorials; however, it needn't stop there. There are occasions when the high-key background is good for adding contrast to your images and works particularly well with the dark muscular physique of the model in the example. The difficulty can be in striking a balance between creating a specular and defined shape, without blowing any of the highlights on the subject. So how's it done?
As you've probably gathered, there are many factors to take into consideration, such as the skin tone of your model,modifiers and shapers you have available, the type and colour of background / floor covering and even the type of camera you're using. Don't worry if you're not using the same set-up, there are always a few work- arounds to help you achieve similar results. Of course, you can copy the set-ups (on pages 34 & 35), but as you know, half the fun and the challenge is using your own reflectors and adding your own ideas for a little experimentation.
32 www.bowens.co.uk
Let's get Started: Grab yourself two Bowens High Performance reflectors and aim them at your white seamless background paper. For this shot, I fired them onto a glossy painted wall, which provided me with the white high-key background. Immediately above themodel position a standard 60x60 softbox on a boom arm, which will facilitate the central overhead positing of the light; making it central to both the model and the frame. This will be your key light and the highlight for the hair and skin tone on the arms and the back.
Lighting Issues: As you can see in the photograph, there is a good amount of fill light on the face of themodel, that would otherwise been in the shadows. This was really helped by using a glossy painted floor, which bounced the light from the soft box back onto the face and arms. However, fear not! If you're working withmatte paper, grab yourself a small reflector and place it on the ground in front of your model and just out of frame. This will throw more light back onto the face of your subject. If you want a little more light, then you could even place yourmodel on some plexiglass / clear plastic glass, which will help reflect the light, plus add a nice a mirror reflection on the ground.
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