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christopher grey s lighting techniques for beauty and glamour photography a guide for digital photographers amherst media ® publisher of photography books

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about the author copyright © 2011 by christopher grey all photographs by the author unless otherwise noted all rights reserved published by amherst media inc p.o box 586 buffalo n.y 14226 fax 716-874-4508 www.amherstmedia.com publisher craig alesse senior editor/production manager michelle perkins assistant editor barbara a lynch-johnt editorial assistance provided by john s loder carey maines and sally jarzab isbn-13 978-1-60895-234-2 library of congress control number 2010904520 printed in korea 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 no part of this publication may be reproduced stored or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic mechanical photocopied recorded or otherwise without prior written consent from the publisher notice of disclaimer the information contained in this book is based on the author s experience and opinions the author and publisher will not be held liable for the use or misuse of the information in this book check out amherst media s blogs at http portrait-photographer.blogspot.com http weddingphotographer-amherstmedia.blogspot.com photo courtesy of joey tichenor christopher grey an acknowledged world-class photographer and master of light describes himself as husband dad photographer author educator lover of bad science fiction movies jazz fan average golfer poor dancer voracious reader unfulfilled comedian and occasional village idiot all are true.

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contents kudos .4 introduction .5 1 the gear and the look .6 11 low key and the isolation of your subject .56 12 overexposure as a creative tool .60 13 underlighting .63 softboxes .6 umbrellas .7 bare-tubed strobe .8 reflectors .8 accessory arms .10 2 proper main light meter placement .11 3 working with one light and fill .15 butterfly light with the subject close to the background .18 single umbrella .19 broad source from accessory flash .20 the bookend bounce .20 mirrors as main light .22 4 bare-tubed strobe .23 5 silhouettes and backlight .26 a basic photoshop trick .27 softbox as source .28 plexiglas as source .29 adding detail .29 lastolite s hilite .30 translucent diffuser .31 6 accessory flash diffusion .32 7 the double main light .34 8 triple and quadruple main lights .39 triple main lights .39 quad main lights .42 9 the search for super-soft light .46 turn your studio into a softbox .46 use two backgrounds .46 the studio as softbox .48 using multiple softboxes .49 one softbox one sheet .50 soft light that falls off .50 10 high key .52 underlight as accent .63 underlight for power .64 underlight as the main light .65 double main light and underlight .66 14 greenscreen .68 15 using reflectors in the studio .73 16 a few tricks with colored gels .77 photoshop tip .78 17 beauty and the barrier .83 cloth for mood .83 cloth as a barrier .84 cloth as design .85 semi-opaque cloth .85 cloth as mystery .85 a grayscale photoshop trick .86 plexiglass as a barrier .86 paper as a barrier .86 acrylic as a barrier .87 18 dimensional symmetrical light .89 19 a creative use for gobos .92 the gobo as cookie .95 20 shooting up down and across .96 shooting up .96 shooting down .96 shooting across .97 21 adding drama and focus .98 22 pinup images .101 23 fitness images .104 24 goth images .109 25 boudoir photography .113 26 the short eternity of maternity .119 one little page of shameless self-promotion .123 afterword .124 index .125 a really cool variation on the basic setup .54 contents 3

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kudos well by gosh by golly as we french russian danes like to say here s another one from ol brown eyes i had so much fun with this book i have to tell you that it really stretched me as an artist and photographer forcing me to flesh out new ways to work with lights and lighting i hope you play and learn from each and every one of the new techniques i ve laid out as i did when i thought them up we an industry of photographers dedicated to creating memories above the norm must continually evolve to meet the rising expectations of our clients visual mediocrity perhaps even corporate death awaits us if we do not and we simply cannot let that happen to the business we love and cherish our creative calling my models and makeup artists along with others who helped me on this voyage deserve recognition and as always i ll list each of the talented contributors who freely gave of their time to help me with this project you should also know that there are a number of models who were photographed at the outset of this project but whose images did not make the cut because their shoots were tests an error on my part or because i found easier or less expensive ways to accomplish my goals though they remain anonymous to you they have my profound thanks for their efforts this was a huge project and there are lots of people to thank first the models who put up with my mumbling to myself as i thought a shot through courtney agar tanya anderson denise armstead tristy auger gianna alvarez-avelli sandra avelli katy becker lola bel aire michelle blonigan melissa buche victoria bugayev d carmen angela christianson veronica clark laurel danielson jillian devona kelsey eliason laura erchul cassie glover tammy goldsworthy liz grey anthony hennigan victoria holliday laura hughes courtney johns andrea jones brooke keys kangla khang katie krall erin kromer christa lille hei erin magnuson kari maiorino michelle malinski erin nauman kathryn nelson katie netherton julie nielsen tammi rose sahata faith samson margot scheltens rachel schutz margaret sinarath marlee southam evangeline stacy aleta steevens cassie streich kay tuveson anne ulku alexandra vang liliane vangay sarah whiting kaesha williams ily yang linda yang pa nou yang and ying yang to all of you my deepest thanks and appreciation for your time and your talent as always the makeup artists are the unsung heroes of the studio i wrote a chapter on the topic in christopher grey s advanced lighting techniques without their help you d be looking at 120 pages of beautiful women with shiny faces special thanks to sandra avelli nicole fae sarah morrison jennifer holiday quinn nahla sonbol and derkie thor you are in one word fantastic to my buddy joey tichenor thanks for another great author photo joey tells his clients that i ve taught him everything he knows doubtful i may have taught him how to make things work but his vision is entirely his own joey does terrific work with a personal twist that s interesting and very entertaining and you can check it out at www.jtichenorphotography.com for this joey you owe me lunch to sue my beautiful wife thanks once again for not just putting up with my sometimes ridiculous schedule but actually encouraging it i don t think i m done yet so please don t lose that attitude and to liz our beautiful daughter you two wonderful people inspire me more than you know 4 lighting techniques for beauty and glamour photography

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introduction the female of our species has been the subject of artistic expression since the first artist scratched a stick figure on a cave wall artists have gotten better since then thankfully and with the advent of photography the range of artistic expression grew exponentially even so the objective behind our fascination with women is exactly the same as it was for that first nameless artist to create a work of art that represents our subject in a beautiful and attractive way that will transcend time i gauge the success of my portrait photography on the number of people who jump up and down or shed a tear or two when they look at a final print under that criterion i ve been very successful because i ve predicated that success on a number of factors some personal and some technical and i ll do my best to explain them to you over the course of this book both will take practice on your part as well as a commitment to challenge yourself to produce progressively better work nudity is frequently a factor in beauty and glamour photography even though i ve enjoyed the challenge of photographing the nude since i began my career i ve avoided including such images in this book because i want to reach the largest audience possible and some venues would not carry this book if certain body parts were represented rest assured that any of my lighting techniques will work as well on an unclothed figure it s up to you as a photographer and visionary to form your concepts and decide how they would be best represented as with every aspect of photography there are many subcategories that tag along for beauty and glamour one might call some work maxim style after the popular and titillating men s magazine boudoir photography typically describes a sexy image made for a client s significant other while goth glamour and fetish glamour explore possible darker sides we ll take a look at some of these styles and how they differ from each other to give you an idea of what s out there or to help you find your direction i heard a story many years ago from an internationally recognized photographer and friend who had photographed a woman tastefully artistically and in the nude the images were of sufficient quality to be included in a book of his images unfortunately the woman died in a tragic car accident shortly after the book was published the woman s mother confronted the photographer and sought to take out some of her anger over her daughter s death on him the photographer who had not previously heard of the death was distraught as you can imagine but he spoke to the mother about the freedom the joy and the cathartic experience his model had as she was being photographed as she had requested uninhibited and in a safe environment all i could say he said is that the photographs would keep her young forever the mother eventually came to treasure the images for what they were but the story illustrates the responsibility we have as photographers to be true to our calling and to represent our clients in a professional manner with every creative tool at our disposal introduction 5

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1 the gear and the look throughout this book i ll show you examples of many different types of light and light modifiers umbrellas softboxes reflectors and even sheets of white board any and all can be used to create stunning images of beautiful women the key is how they are used alone or together with similar or dissimilar modifiers you may find a technique i hope you find many that you really like but are reluctant to try because you don t have the same style or size modifier that i used don t be the principles are the same although the look may be slightly different if you follow the diagrams i ve included but modify them as necessary for your gear you ll still get stunning images when seeking to purchase any modifier consider the size of the product versus the size of your studio if you were to buy a 4x6-foot softbox would you have room to use it to its full advantage or would it extend too far into your shooting space do you have the space and the height to accommodate 4x8-foot bookends or would you be better off cutting them down a bit would collapsible reflectors be better you will be working with your gear for years think it through and buy only what you need softboxes softboxes image 1.1 are the mainstay of my studio and i use them more than any other modifier certain styles of softbox work better for some applications than others but they can be considered essentially interchangeable as long as you understand their properties and limitations large my large softboxes are 4x6 feet and take up quite a bit of real estate in the studio still they produce great light when placed close to the model the light is soft with open shadows because it s so large you can move it quite far from the model before you see evidence of the contrast and specularity you d see with a smaller source on average the distance from the main light to the model is 6 feet for a head-and-shoulders portrait for purposes of comparison all the following samples will show the main light and modifier at that distance and without any additional fill you ll be able to see the differences between the effects created by the various modifiers quite easily please bear in mind though that shadows and specularity will increase when the light is moved farther away and will decrease when the distance is diminished here i ve placed my model closer than usual to the background about 3 feet away so you can see what the shadow looks like see image 1.2 medium medium softboxes mine are 3x4 feet are the most valuable modifiers in my arsenal i use them for everything from portraits to product and i rely upon them more often than any other modifier they are extremely valuable for location portraiture as well whether it s a glamour shoot or business portrait indoors or out see image 1.3 small small softboxes are available in many sizes from the extra-small 15x18-inch version to 2x3-foot unit i think you ll find these most useful for background or hair lights or to add underfill highlights but they do make effective main lights you can see from my sample that at 6 feet contrast and specularity are more evident with the 2x3-foot unit than with the previously described sizes however should you move a image 1.1 6 lighting techniques for beauty and glamour photography

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image 1.2 image 1.3 image 1.4 image 1.5 box like this in quite a bit closer to the subject you ll find that the main light it throws is very dramatic soft with open shadows but with rapid falloff see image 1.4 strip lights strip lights long narrow softboxes engineered to produce an even output of light across their length are a somewhat specialized accessory i have several 1x6-foot strip lights that i use frequently as accents sidelights background lights or hair lights they are not cheap and require a special speed ring that not all strobe manufacturers make but they produce a light that s both beautiful and hard to define profoto my brand of choice is one of the few making a 1x6-foot box should you decide to purchase them and you don t use profoto equipment please make sure your strobe s manufacturer makes a speed ring that will accommodate them they can be used as a main light with a different look from any other softbox see image 1.5 quality softboxes have an additional layer of diffusion an internal layer of nylon called a baffle that diffuses the light even more before it reaches the front of the box and exits when buying softboxes be sure to check that the corners are heavily reinforced to with stand the constant pressure from the rods that connect the box to the speed ring umbrellas most umbrellas spread light by acting as a reflector the light itself is aimed away from the model and beamed into a reflective fabric shell white is the most common umbrella fabric silver provides a slightly snappier look with a bit more brightness a silver umbrella will almost always impart a slightly different color to the scene necessitating a custom white balance but potentially skewing the color of all other lights gold reflective umbrellas are available but they significantly warm the color of the light consequently you may not want to use one for everyday images this sample was shot with a white umbrella see images 1.6 and 1.7 the other common umbrella style is called shootthrough when using this style of umbrella the light is actually aimed at the subject passing through the translucent fabric of the umbrella and onto the subject while it functions much like a softbox the light the shoot-through umbrella emits is not as soft as that from the gear and the look 7

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left image 1.6 above image 1.7 left image 1.8 above image 1.9 a softbox because there s only one layer of diffusion most softboxes at least the quality boxes have a second interior layer of diffusion see images 1.8 and 1.9 bare tubed strobe working without a modifier on the strobe can produce terrific results from simulated sunlight to simply saturated color with deep shadows as you go through the book you ll see a number of ways to create great looks with bare-tubed strobes i ve found the best position for the tube with most gear is in the 11 o clock position it avoids any reflection from the usually chrome casing at the base of the tube and produces a cleaner shadow see images 1.10 and 1.11 reflectors basic parabolics basic parabolic reflectors are usually included with the purchase of a strobe head most are 6 or 7 inches in diameter and designed to throw a hard light evenly over the subject these are not generally recommended for portraiture there are exceptions of course but are used along with umbrellas or as fill or bounce light see images 1.12 and 1.13 grids very cool little toys grids are honeycomblike devices about 3 8 of an inch thick that reforms light that passes through them to a straight line expanding it in a specified amount from its center depending on the manufacturer sets of grids for parabolic reflectors may be purchased individually or in sets in a range from 5 to 40 degrees grids for beauty bowls are not as numerous the specified degree means that when a par 8 lighting techniques for beauty and glamour photography

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abolic is fitted with say a 20 degree grid the light will expand from the center of the reflector at 20 degrees grids can be used to create spotlight-like effects as controlled hair or accent lights or to skim across a surface one of the great features of grids is that they can throw bright accents from behind a subject yet keep light from striking the lens which could produce flare many grids will fit into many manufacturer s parabolics they are sort of a one-size-fits-all modifier some manufacturers make a parabolic specifically to hold grids see images 1.14 and 1.15 beauty bowls beauty bowls also called beauty dishes are large reflectors that have a baffle in front of the strobe head that reflects direct light back to the sides of the dish the result is a direct but softer light above image 1.10 left image 1.11 above image 1.12 left image 1.13 above image 1.14 left image 1.15 above image 1.16 left image 1.17.

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than one would get with a basic parabolic beauty bowls are usually at least 18 inches in diameter though some can be purchased that are 24 inches or larger they are pricey as are their accessory grids but they are more than worth it for the quality of light they produce some manufacturers beauty bowls allow the center diffuser to be removed for a more contrasty light source i use beauty bowls in a number of ways but find them especially valuable as hair lights when used with a grid this image was made with the grid from the predetermined distance of 6 feet see images 1.16 and 1.17 panels and collapsible reflectors as you will see i use a number of reflectors in my work my favorites are bookends two pieces of 4x8-foot foamcore taped together along a common spine you ll see many examples of how i work with these especially my favorite and my own invention the bookend bounce in chapter 3 see image 1.18 i also use a number of lastolite s collapsible reflectors usually meant for bouncing light when working outdoors i ve found these wonderful gadgets extremely useful for studio work see image 1.19 a word of caution always custom white balance whenever you change a modifier on the main light clients will put up with probably not even notice minor color variations on hair or background lights but will shy away from off-color main lights they may not know why they don t like the shots but they will know there s something wrong accessory arms i ve found accessory arms essentially short poles that clamp over light stands to be invaluable tools in the studio i have a number of these under the avenger label that do a great job for me some are engineered with clamps for reflectors some are just rods to which i can attach reflectors flags or whatever two of them together raised to the same height and pointed to each other can support a roll of background paper or a cloth background depending on the weight of what is being attached a sandbag or counterweight may be necessary to keep the stand from falling over see image 1.20 astute readers will realize that i ve written about some of this equipment before i apologize if i am repeating myself but it s necessary information for new readers believe me this little chapter is only an informational introduction to a beautiful compelling and artistic lighting adventure image 1.18 image 1.19 image 1.20 10 lighting techniques for beauty and glamour photography

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2 proper main light meter placement i ve written quite extensively in my blog www.chris greylighting.com monthly columns and other lighting books about the value of using a calibrated meter and/or proper light meter placement proper placement will deliver images with a full tonal range the richest possible range and give you the most options for postproduction whether you shoot raw or jpeg you can check out my book christopher grey s studio lighting techniques for photography for a more lengthy explanation of calibration and metering techniques i don t want to repeat myself too much it takes space away from the actual lessons i wish to present and raises the ire of some peer reviewers who will take the opportunity to off the critique he wrote this before and i only want to read new stuff still i know that not all of you read everything i write even though i think you should this is where a less proper editor than mine the outstanding barbara lynch-johnt would allow the insertion of one of those irksome winking emoticons so i think it s necessary to use a few pages to go over the information once again the correct position of the light meter determines the correctness of exposure indeed there s a reason why incident light meters utilize a plastic dome to see the light before it hits the meter s sensor and that reason is undeniably easy to understand the shape of the dome mimics the shape of the face and that shape reads the strength of light and shadow relative to a face and gives you a correct and proper f-stop for your camera it makes no difference what color of skin you re working with because a correctly metered light will be a perfectly exposed light and any skin color will be properly represented so what is the correct position of the meter s dome in the vast majority of circumstances the place to hold the meter is directly under the subject s chin and aimed at the camera this guarantees the meter reads the three zones of light the specular highlight diffused highlight and transition zone with an equal balance the result if your meter is calibrated is an exposure that s so perfect you can go straight to proofs without tweaking levels at all when you re using a calibrated light meter the amount of time you ll save is enormous you will be confident enough with your metering techniques to avoid shooting raw files entirely if you wish let s back up for just a minute raw files are the digital equivalent of a film negative allowing you up to 2 stops in exposure compensation raw files are a digital gift because in tough shooting situations they can really save your bacon each raw file is worthless by itself however it must be processed via digital software before it can be used as a jpeg tiff or any other format as you know or can imagine the amount of time required to process a large batch of raw files can be enormous imagine a wedding photographer who shoots two or three thousand shots in raw format over the course of the big day each shot may take 3 to 4 minutes to tweak plus the time necessary to process the files into a tiff or jpeg format depends on the speed of your computer think about the amount of time you might save if you nail the exposure especially in jpeg format straight out of the gate if you feel you must shoot raw set your camera to shoot large jpeg files and raw files at the same time when you download separate the raws and jpegs into separate folders look at the jpegs first if you find jpegs that need to be tweaked use the raw files to do so if the jpegs are fine trash the raw files or just burn them to a disc your time savings will be huge now back to our regularly scheduled chapter metering for correct exposure in the studio is quite easy i ve photographed a few test images just to show you how foolproof it can be let s begin with the light set at zero degrees to the lens axis i.e directly over the lens i used a simple proper main light meter placement 11

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parabolic reflector as a modifier for this test it s rather contrasty but it will demonstrate the principle nicely in image 2.1 you ll see there is a full range of tones from the bright whites of the subject s teeth through the shadows of her hair the correct position of the light meter in at least 90 percent of all situations is directly under the chin and aimed directly at the lens this will guarantee the meter will read all three zones and deliver an average reading that will give you a proper representation of those zones see image 2.2 at 22.5 degrees from center the angle of incidence begins to change you may have been taught in photo class that the angle of incidence equals the angle of deflection and this is absolutely true the meter angle stays the same straight on to camera but you begin to see some changes in the specularity of the light because it s now aimed at different planes on the face and reflecting directly into the camera from some of them see image 2.3 at 45 degrees the shadows deepen because there is no fill on the shadow side the exposure measured with the meter still aimed at the camera still produced a perfect exposure when the strobe generator was adimage 2.1 justed to the target exposure f/10 for this example see image 2.4 at 60 degrees which is more than most attractive portraits will tolerate a meter reading aimed at the camera still yields a beautiful result shadows and highlights are properly represented even though the image is very contrasty see image 2.5 so what happens if we aim the meter at the light at 60 degrees what can the difference be after all interestingly the difference can be quite major when you aim the meter at the light you will only measure the brightest part of the light not the average of highlights and shadows we ve been measuring so far with the meter aimed at the light note the difference in shadow density and highlight brilliance between the previous examples the inference is clear most circumstances do not require the meter to be aimed at the light aiming it at the camera will produce more consistent results almost all of the time the first image was made at the previous aperture the second was made with the reading given by aiming the meter at the light not at the camera a 1 4-stop difference see images 2.6 and 2.7 the easiest way to add fill light to your image is to bring in a white bookend or any other kind of white fill to add light to the shadow side i ve never been a fan of adding another strobe as fill i much prefer a fill card of some kind because it will not add any shadows of its own be advised that even at 3 feet away from the subject the extra light that bounces in will affect the overall exposure in this case introducing the bookend added 1 stop of light to the overall exposure which meant i /3 had to either take the exposure down at the source as i would recommend or move the main light straight back a few inches either approach will maintain the ratio of any other lights that may have been set this image metered with the dome aimed at the camera is a perfect example of how bounce fill can open up the shadows without looking like a second source of light see image 2.8 metering a profile is different in that it s one of the few times you ll need to aim the meter at the light rather than the camera this assumes that the light is coming from in front of the profile and from the side,

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image 2.2 image 2.3 image 2.4 image 2.5 image 2.6 image 2.7 image 2.8 image 2.9 image 2.10.

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relative to the camera when the light is coming from any direction less than the 60 degrees we previously discussed you can meter with confidence with the dome facing the camera when the light is coming from 90 degrees to the side if we were to meter with the dome aimed at the camera the amount of shadow would throw off the accuracy of the reading causing a poor exposure see images 2.9 and 2.10 once you re satisfied with the reading and f-stop set and meter any other lights you wish to use i reintroduced the white bookend and added a hair light powered to the same f-stop as the main light a small piece of black foamcore mounted on an accessory arm created a flag that blocked off part of the light striking the background the result image 2.11 is a visually interesting and lovely image this is a perfect technique for many portrait applications from beauty and glamour to graduation portraiture image 2.11 14 lighting techniques for beauty and glamour photography

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3 working with one light and fill how many lights do you need anyway you might be surprised to learn that you can do an exemplary job with very few lights often only one provided you understand your equipment and why it works the way it does understand that i m not talking about an oncamera flash those small specular sources that throw hard shadows and bright highlights ideally you ll need at least one studio strobe and at least one quality modifier like an umbrella or softbox and the larger the better but first a little background beauty and glamour photography frequently relies on soft open shadows to show the subject in a beautiful and youthful manner and this is usually accomplished by using a large diffused light source it is important to note though that placing a large source far from the subject will make it small relative to the subject and will make it act like a small source for a thorough and exhaustive investigation of this phenomenon please see christopher grey s studio lighting techniques for photography i ve heard many so-called formulas for determining the optimum subject-to-light distance for softboxes some of which might require a degree from mit to understand in my opinion the optimum distance equals the sum of the height and width of the box using my homespun formula a 2x3-foot box would be placed 5 feet from the subject while a 4x6-foot would require 10 feet to throw light without specular highlights but with perfectly defined yet open and soft shadows the effect of the light-to-subject distance can also be seen when using an umbrella another modifier most photographers have the most frequently purchased umbrella has a 36-inch diameter but if you re in the market for them or want to add to your existing stock i d recommend that you purchase the largest one you can find and afford the additional size means you can move the umbrella farther away while maintaining a softer look you can also buy what are known as shootthrough umbrellas made with translucent material unlike traditional umbrellas shoot-throughs are aimed at the subject acting more like a softbox than an umbrella we ve all heard of the inverse square law even if we ve never understood it which states that light that travels twice as far from point b to point c as it does from point a to point b will be only 1 4 its strength when it gets to point c than it is at point b in simple practical terms this means that a light that s placed image 3.1 image 3.2 diagram 3a working with one light and fill 15

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