Any Suggestions for this lighting technique?

[RaeNN]

Hi, I have been trying to achieve a similar look to these photographs, at the link below. My work is similar to this, in that I use pretty long exposures with mixed lighting to achieve these color casts. However, this technique of long exposures, dark images, doesnt work so well when I now what to get the models faces sharp....Does anyone know how he achieves this look of color casts with sharp models..what kind of lighting do you think he is using and how is it positioned?
I am well versed in digital retouching, but would like to achieve this in camera if possible. Thanks everyone!! Anything would help!

http://shotview.com/artists/luis-sanchis/vogue-gioiello
http://shotview.com/artists/luis-sanchis/sz

[Asylum Steve]

I am well versed in digital retouching, but would like to achieve this in camera if possible. Thanks everyone!! Anything would help!

Welcome to the site, Rae. Yeah, he has some great style to his work. And he certainly knows lighting.

My guess is it's a combination of lighting and digital editing techniques. Color-gelled spots and selectively modified lights (flagged or textured) can "paint" a scene with light the way he does, underexposure create the dramatic mood, and the basic color shifts could be the actual colors of the lights, mis-matching film, filters, or photoshop.

Put it this way: if this guy is NOT shooting digital and heavily editing his images, he's got a GREAT darkroom man who's putting in the hours to get them to look that way...

While it's skillful to create a stylish image "in the camera", striving to achieve unusual but controllable color shifting may be beating yourself up for no reason.

IMO "in camera" you should create the composition, lighting ratio, scene dynamic range and basic exposure, and especially the mood and emotion of the model.

Stylistic elements such as color shifts, selective sharpness and focus, vignetting, etc., are so much more easy to control in photoshop...

[MarcusK]

Yep! I would most definitely agree!

I myself tried so many times with so many elements to achieve this type of mood, the closest i got was shooting a rock band, in a bar, where the Lights designer, was controlling the moving heads to help me, but basically all the background would go black! or barely seen!

I even tried Steady lights (constant lights....hot shoes...can't remeber what to call them )

All in all, i found the best way is exactly as described by Asylum Steve, get them gr8, then fix the cast...

PS: I feel the same way about getting a shot gr8 in camera all the time!

Oh! I will try and post some of these images soon...I know its better to have something to show before offering advice or anything!!

Marc

[RaeNN]

thanks so much steve and marc-
yes, i agree, he does know his lighting, he actually has a cinematography background..i still like to print my color work in the darkroom, so thats why i wanted to achieve the look in camera..but thanks for the advice!

marc- please do post or send some examples, i would love to see what you did with your suggestions..thanks!