Creating Drama Through Cinematic Light

WDP 2012: Photographer of the Year Lauri Laukkanen guides us step by step through two images from his World War II inspired photo shoot explaining in detail what he used and why. The entire video is done using a stand-in model so we don't get to see much of the actual production but Lauri's explanation of his thought process is really what matters here. In fact the one thing I expect many of you will want to pay attention to is when he addresses feathering your light. It's a very important technique that can help you gain more versatility from your lighting kit even if all you have is a standard dish reflector.

The original accompanying article at SLRlounge offers up a couple of lighting diagrams for you to dissect as well as the final images. The finals are a before and after composite of the raw and completed images.

Also, make sure you take a minute to check out Lauri's work at his website laurilaukkanen.com

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Award winning photographer, Fstoppers writer and entrepreneurial consultant David Bickley is wholly engaged in helping people become more. Be it more confident via the portraits and fitness photos that brought him world-wide recognition, or more profitable in business through mentoring... David lives to bring his client's voice out into the world.

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13 Comments

Great job, Lauri. Beautiful light and pictures.

Thank you Brian! :)

@laurilaukkanen:disqus Nice video outlining your lighting setup. It's amazing how much drama is added when shooting on the shadow side versus the lit side.

Were these images for a personal project or commercial use?

Thanks Todd. This is a personal project of mine, that I will be continuing for the next few weeks. :)

Look forward to seeing the updates!

Beautiful shots, Lauri.

Is it too much to ask about the post-processing on how to get the cinematic feel? =)

You can see the before & after images in the SLR Lounge article. I kept the post-processing to a minimum in these - the only thing I really did was changed the white-balance to a bit colder/blueish tone.

thanks for sharing! wonderful output!

Thank you! I'm glad to hear that! :)

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I'm glad you enjoyed it! :D

Gorgeous portraits! Looking forward to seeing more. Maybe even do a tutorial on your coloration & post production. Especially the coloration. :)

Thanks! Not a bad idea! I might do one soon. :D