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Dress On Fire by Lindsay Adler - part 1 of 1 2 3 4

by Lindsay Adler Published 01/07/2016

Creative Studio Lighting:

The Constant - Strobe Mix in the making of Dress on Fire Light gives you such control in the studio. You have the control to flatter your subject, set the mood, and even create 'special effects'. When I first began photography I spent years trying to master traditional lighting including my desire to really understand the direction of light, quality of light, and how to flatter my subject. Eventually, however, I wanted to get a bit more creative and advanced.

Seeking to take my lighting up a notch, I start to research advanced tutorials or creative lighting and I really didn't find very much.

This is why I've spent the last several months to create my brand new ebook, the Creative Studio Lighting Guide with 30 creative studio set-ups. Whether you have one light, four lights, or unusual modifiers, it is going to help introduce you to entirely new worlds in the studio.

For this article I'd like to share one of the lighting set-ups you can find in this guide, and how mixing constant light and studio strobes can create stunning results. This set-up is in the sample section of the guide that has five completely free creative lighting tutorials to get you started on your path to creativity in the studio!

The goal of this studio lighting set-up is to infuse energy and motion into the frame by mixing one constant light, one studio strobe and a long exposure. The end result will help this dress and the scene to come to life, making the dress appear as if on fire!

Let's take a look step-by-step at considerations for building this two-light set-up filled with movement and drama!

Step 1:
You'll want to begin by completely removing all ambient light in the shooting space. Be sure no light is coming through the windows and that any overhead lights are turned off. This will affect the look of the final photograph.

Step 2:
Next, you'll start with your main light. Place a strobe with a beauty dish with a grid as the main light illuminating your subject's face. The beauty dish will create crisp but glowing light on the face. The grid will focus the light primarily around the subject's face and torso.

As you can see in this image, by adding the grid the entire lower half of her body is completely in shadow. Since grids focus light and create more rapid fall-off of light, this is going to be perfect for adding the next element of the scene.

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1st Published 01/07/2016
last update 09/12/2022 14:53:27

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