Portrait photographers normally have a go-to light modifier they prefer from the standard array and might work with two or three lights to completely sculpt the light as they see fit. However, this neat video shows the awesome results you can get by using a lesser-known modifier as your only light source.
Coming to you from Daniel Norton with Adorama TV, this interesting video follows him as he does a portrait shoot with just one light modified by a lantern on a boom. A lantern is normally seen more often on film sets, where it’s used to light wider scenes from above with a soft and even glow. But here, Norton uses it as his sole light for a portrait shoot, from which he gets some excellent results. If you’re new to lighting, the thing to note is that he doesn’t just set the light up and forget it for the rest of the shoot. Notice how he constantly evaluates the shots he’s getting to see if there’s something he can change to improve his results, and sure enough, he eventually decides to add some fill by pulling the back reflector off the lantern and adding some v-flats. Check out the video above for the full rundown!
I wonder if the umbrella-softbox (like this one: https://tinyurl.com/y2h73keq) would do the same job.
Yes, and a lot of studio photographers use just that. A number will use a reversed version with a diffuser on a conventional umbrella. It is particularly useful as a lightweight mod in the field.
That's what I thought. I do not have anything like this lantern but using this softbox-umbrella, I get very similar results.
Seems like he's getting a lot of help from white walls, white ceiling, and white floor.
A lantern will do that. IMO a shoot through umbrella will do the same.
Probably.
The lantern is a variation of a shoot through umbrella with a more voluminous spill. It illustrates that the size and distance of the modifier are the key determinants of light quality. Studio wall color also has a huge effect on light quality if there is a lot of spill from the lights. Even the vaunted beauty dish adheres to these rules albeit with the flexibility of socks, grids and disks.
Evaluating the results as he shoots is a distinctly digital phenomenon.
When using film we used Polaroids to verify lighting and then nailed everything down. We even had diagrams with lighting patterns and measurements to quickly build a light scheme. A quick Polaroid verification and then we shot.
Great model!
Agree. She seems like one of the people you could shoot for hours and never get bored.
You could probably throw any light on Marisa and get good results... For once I wish some of these photographers would use a mundane or even an ugly person with no modeling experience for these demos.