Serious help needed--portrait lighting.

[Kazzy]

Hi im a photography student and im kind of freaking out at the moment and i need some advice (my lecturers are very busy)
I want to shoot 2 portraits and i want to copy the lighting in these 2 images. I think i can judge the lighting but i need more advice on how it is set up and metered.

http://www.thelondonseason.com/images/beaton3.jpg


www.rankin.co.uk -- go to books---portraits and its the portrait of sean connery

Whatever question i ask i never seem to get everything im looking for so it would be great if you could go into the details, i have a fair amount of experiece in the studio im just not sure how to combine all these lighting effects together and go smoothly.

here are a couple of questions

Sean connery image--

standard reflector in the the form postion?
do i meter a white background and make it 18% grey (the same as subject?)
do i use a fill light? if so 1/2? 1/4 or do i use a white reflector to bounce the light onto the shadows?
if i use a fill light will it disturbe the main light and over expose the face?

**i am shooting digital**i have access to a wide range of lights**

marlon brando image(first image)

I know they probably didnt use flash in this because it is quite old but i want to do my best to replcate it.

Standard reflector main light?
how do they light the clothes are there additional lights to do that if so what ratio?
how did he manage to get the shoulders and hair so bright yet the face remains perfect? snoots on hair and shoulders for separtion mabye?
Background separation?

fill light for the shadows on face? if so will it effect the overall exposure if so how do i compensate?


It would be a mega huge help if you could answer my questions, it would help me understand things a whole lot better.

Thankyou
Calum Harris:mad2:

[Asylum Steve]

Hi Kazzy, welcome to the site. I hope you realize from the start that you're just about asking the impossible: to explain in a nutshell how two portrait masters with vastly different styles (and an amazing gift for interacting with people) light and capture their subjects.

Well, I suppose it's good to aim high, so, what the heck, I'll give it a whirl... :idea:

BTW, I browsed through Rankin's entire portrait page and could not find an image of Sean Connery, but it really doesn't matter, as his style is very consistent.

Rankin is a master of lighting, specifically using dramatic lighting to emphasize an aspect of his subject and match it to their expression and the emotion of their movement in the shot.

His studio b&w seems to be similar to the style of British icon David Bailey, using mostly a single large umbrella or lightbox placed high and to the side to get stark dramatic shadows and contrast on his subject. If the bg is white, he probably lit it seperately, if it's gray, the key light could very well be also lighting the bg.

His studio color (for the most part) has much more of a pop feel. This is done by placing a large umbrella or softbox almost directly behind the photographer (close to eye level) and shooting it straight at the subject (who is positioned very close to the bg). The effect is a bright front light with a "wrap around" shadow, almost like a ring flash.

His outdoor shots are mostly dramatic, created by underexposing the bg scene to darken it, then popping an umbrella flash on the foreground subject.

Cecil Beaton, OTOH, employed a much more traditional (almost Old Masters) type of portrait lighting, and most likely used several lights.

His shot of Brando is extremely dramatic, with (my guess) a key light (wide spot) high and to the front coming down on Brando's face, arms, and the book (note the shadow under his nose), and a hot accent light high and to camera right lighting his hair and back. There is possibly a third light on his pants, but it's hard to tell. Also could be a small bg spot on the floor to the side. The key to the dark bg is not letting the lights spill outside of their narrow direction.

As you would imagine, both of these photographers blend light extremely well, which makes it that much more difficult to break down their setups, Beaton sticking to conventional rules while Rankin is very quick to break them.

Also, don't forget that each of the two create such memorable potraits primarily because of the expressions and emotions they capture in their subjects, and that has little to do with the technical side of the shot.

Good luck if you choose to mimmick their style, and be sure to let us see what you come up with. And don't hesitiate to ask any other questions you may have...