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UV PORTRAITS
Get the look
in 10 steps
1
Make sure everyone
wears high-factor sun
protection on set. You need
to blackout the entire studio,
meaning that UV is the only
source of light. Even in the
makeup area where they’re
prepping the models,
because they need to see
exactly what the UV is doing.2
Get some UV bulbs for
lamps that can light up
workstation areas.3
To minimise exposure,
only turn on the UV
lights when and where you
need them.4
Use exposures of 1-2
seconds to enhance the
glowing effect of UV light.5
Use a hairdryer or fan to
blast some motion into
the hair and/or out t.6
Direct your model to be
as still as possible.7
Fire UV ltered strobes
as many times as you
can within the time frame
(four to six ashes if
possible). UV lighting takes
out up to four stops of light
as they are effectively black
bulbs or lters. So multiple
ashes will help to bring up
the brightness and
saturation of the colours and
avoid everything looking at.8
Use a UV cannon (the
types of lights used in
nightclubs) to add ll light
where needed and to create
a subtle sense of motion.9
The combination of
strobe and UV cannon
multiplies the hair in the nal
exposure, while blurring the
motion between each ash.
This was the step that took
me almost a year to gure
out and the real secret
behind these shots.10
This method
produces the best
results, but has a much
lower success rate!David uses a
hairdryer or a fan
to create a sense
of motion