Lighting Techniques for Photographing Model Portfolios: Strategies for Digital Photographers

Casino in Las Vegas. The goal was to

capture the beauty, power, and grace of

the aerialist’s performance.

Although there were many other acts

performing simultaneously, I wanted to

separate the aerialist to emphasize the

control and concentration needed for

her performance. There also needed to

be space in the frame for ad copy.

When shooting a performance dress

rehearsal, you are normally not allowed

tosetupstudiostrobesorextratungsten

lighting. This is because the lights can

cause the performer to miss their timing

or overpower the lighting director’s

setup. Therefore, I used a simple off-

camera auxiliary flash. By using a mono-

pod, I was able to shoot at^1 / 15 second to

record the background while the flash

froze the performer.

Because the performer was in con-

stant movement and there was a pre-

dominately black background, I could

not use the TTL feature. After shooting

the first few images, I noticed that the

flash was blowing out the lighting from

the stage, overexposing the performer.

Rather than recalculating the output, which would take too much time,

I placed two fingers over the flash and continued shooting. Using the

viewfinder,Iwasabletoseethatthereductioninoutputwasexactlywhatwas

required.

Practical Example: Headlights and Tailpipes.For this promo piece (7-

32 ), which was created for a Las Vegas show, I wanted to show aRomeoand

Juliet–style confrontation in a contemporary setting. The photo was taken

on stage during a performance. Hence, there were several limiting factors.

First,therewasanextremelylimitedopportunitytoshootandthenonlyfrom

the audience at a pre-determined place (not of my choosing). Second, the

shot required the use of ambient lighting that was not under my control.

Third,theshothadtobetakenquicklyasIcouldn’tasktheactorsto“dothat

again.”

I was given three days to produce frames suitable for the show’s promo-

tional purposes. The first step was to go to several rehearsals and get an un-

CREATIVE TECHNIQUES 117

7-32.Preparation was the key to captur-
ing this fleeting moment using only the
stage lighting.