Light and Dark
May 11th, 2012
It’s fun to play around with different kinds of light. In the winter when I can’t work outside with nude models because they seem to always complain too much about the cold, I often find myself experimenting with lighting methods in the studio. That’s what I was doing when I shot these photos of Ayn.
I first saw this style of lighting when photographer MC Grain shot my friend and favorite model, Brooke. Usually when I see a different lighting method I’m able to figure out how it was done by studying the photos. But MC’s photos of Brooke had me mystified. So I contacted him and he very generously shared what he was doing with me. That told me he is a photographer I can respect, not one of the fools who think they have a secret that they must guard to keep anyone else from using it.
So I set up a variation on the lighting he was using and set out to see what I could do with the method. That’s the point…I wasn’t interested in copying what MC had done, but rather seeing what I could do that reflected my own vision in that style of light. These are some of the first results from that test.
I plan to do more with this light when I find the right place to use it. I have a shoot planned in NYC next month where I will use it. In addition to this lighting style I’m also using my 50mm f/1.4 and fairly high ISOs. For these photos I used the lens wide open. At my next shoot with this light I’m going to stop down a stop or two and see how that changes the results.
Thanks Ayn, for being my test subject for this technique. We did very well with this shoot and you’ll be seeing more over the next few posts.
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