Sexy, bold, unapproachable, fragile, seductive and sometimes fatal for the heart… – for the most part sensual but never easy to get: Women.
Scenario “Femme Fatale”
I wanted to create a bold duality in this set of images: dominance and intimacy.
By having the model appear superhuman in form by shooting her from below, I attempted to have her portrayed as a figure of wonder or awe.
From this (wide-)angle the model appears extraordinary and statuesque but at the same time she appears casual because of her expression, closeness to the camera and posing.
My use of the cigarette in this set is symbolic as I tried to suggest that an act of love has just finished. The story is furthered by her postures and the angle of the camera, allowing the viewer to image they are reclining in a chair or lying on the floor, admiring her stunning beauty.
Her form is highlighted dramatically, focusing on the upper portion of her body so the viewer’s eye is drawn upwards from the floor to her meet her penetrating gaze.
Deconstructing My Light Setup
Important was the visual emphasis of the area from head to hips.
- The light falloff on the legs, increasing towards the shoes, intensifies the height and length of the figure.
- The window front – left extra cool and darkened – provides the necessary depth and indirectly emphasizes the model’s optical statuesque overlength.
- A hair light positioned at the back left separates the blonde hair from the black ceiling background.
Tech-Sheet: Lighting & Settings
- 2x 300 Ws Monoblocs
- Key light: as a key, I used a gridded beauty-dish
- Kicker/Hair light points directly to the model back head, producing a certain rim on the hair. Modifier: snoot
- Camera: Nikon 700
- Lens: 18mm
- White Balance: 5000K
- F-stop: 8
- Shutter: 1/60
- ISO: 200
Set-Analyses 3D (+BTS and Set-Plan)
Dramatic Lighting with Playboy Centerfold Coxy Dominika
Lighting Blueprint. Composing drama light does not mean to create dusky sceneries but rather working with well-chosen light areas and corresponding accents. Expect sexy lascivious, dark shadows, round forms, red lips, and 5 sets of sensual, seducing emotions!
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Dan,
You don’t mention it as you focused on the lighting, but I think your selection of a very wide angle lens goes a long way to create the mood you were going for.
Joe
Dan,
I like the use of a harder light source and the shadows. You don’t see that much in the US anymore. You didn’t mention this, as your focus was on the lighting, but I think your decision to use a very wide angle lens was a key element in achieving the mood you were going for. That’s something else not seen too often in the States. Nicely done.
Joe
Hey Joe,
thanks for sharing the US insights. I mean beauty/sexy/glamour photography is clearly related to some kind of soft-lighting. But on the other hand I thought story-telling and different mood-creation with harder light is an interesting approach too. Without going for the Noir/Hollywood style in particular.
Wide angle: true, I mentioned that probably not explicit enough. The series is shot with an 18mm prime and this only works flattering from specific angles. Or e.g. for a crazy free-style movement shoot alike. It was a kinda test and risk but definitely worth to try it.
Glad you like it:)
Dan
Hi Dan & Joe,
I think Joe’s observation is correct… I see here a lot more images shot with diffusion modifiers (softboxes, etc.) than with harder light sources (beauty dishes, reflectors, etc.). I don’t know exactly why, but I suspect that some people may have had the same experience that I did when learning studio lighting, that led them to rely almost exclusively on softboxes. In a nutshell softboxes are very forgiving and don’t require the same the level of precision and accuracy in adjusting them that hard lights do. Also, I think that many enthusiasts see their favorite pro using them, and they think that softboxes must be the secret to better photography.
It’s easy to get stuck in a rut of shooting everything with them (I did), especially if your attempts to use harder light sources don’t turn out well (like mine), so I turned my back on hard lights.
I think they are overused in general because old habits are hard to break… but the experience that changed my opinion came last year when I went to a workshop where the lighting was all hot lights (spots & floods) with only the occasional scrim for diffusion on one of the lights in some of the setups. I was surprised by the great results. Now I like using these harder light sources, instead of fearing them.
Dana
Hey Dana,
you’re right, with softbox (or shoot-through umbrellas) one can relatively easy achieve an even light without the risk of doing much wrong. And in many cases that lighting is appealing and not the worst solution. It just gets – well – boring sometimes.
But working with harder light (gridded and/or no-diffused at all) – doesn’t matter if flash or hot – another issue arises: as the model’s skin is much more harshly lit every imperfection is visually immediately recognizable (same goes for make up). This means – at least for me – more work in Photoshop. Because beautiful and sexy glamour-shots without post: undesirable.
Again: it’s about the story telling and the mood one want to create. Getting a spotlight-stage scene shot with a softbox just because of the even skin… – not possible 🙂
Dan
One thing not mentioned in the responses is what you eluded to at the biginning: mood. By having the model out of reach (higher than the camera) and looking away, she seems out of reach, austere, and forbidding. The pose where she looks at the camera has the same effect because of her look or attitude when seeing the viewer. She seems to almost spit on the viewer as the viewer is nothing to her.
Lighting is great and adds to the feeling as lighting does however, I think you made it work very well by the composition of the model, attitude, and movement. We’ll done.
I am still a bit past half way through your course and look forward to finishing. Thanks for your expertise!
Hey Rob, thanks for your observations and description! Sometimes it’s hard to describe all the details myself. Your observations are great and “correct”. And I think it’s reflected in the series title with “Femme Fatale” – which somehow exactly describes the character a women’s like this.
Great you are following the course and you find it helpful! Happy to share my knowledge.
Best, Dan