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Images and tips by Jonathan Thorpe
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TIP 1
Lighting for Composites.
“The “Martian” shot is one of my fav’s. While it does have some elements of compositing in it, we lit it in a way that made those post edits make sense. The main light that helps the effect of the laser beam, is the light we have pointed to the back of our actor getting zapped, by having the bright highlight on his back, that would help motivate the edit and bring it all together. From there we have one large source in the distance going toward the camera to bring up our exposure value for the whole scene, and another light boomed overhead for both of our actors.
TIP 2
Make a comedian grown and sexy.
For the portrait of comedian Paris Sashay, we wanted to create something that had a distinct vibe and look, not often seen with comedy portraits. Confident, mature and sexy. We settled on a more vintage glowy vibe to the shot by using a pro mist filter to give the whole image a soft look. Hitting the scene with tons of light and using complimenting colors brought her shot to life and turned the typical silly photo for comedians into a grown-up portrait of an entertainer.
TIP 3
Using light to create dark.
For the fighter sometimes less is more. I always envision fighting gyms to be dark, with 1 maybe 2 lights to light up the space. So, in our shot made with the Tamron 17-70mm F/2.8 we kept it fairly simple, one large light source for the fighter, and then we show my other flash off in the background. I love seeing light sources in shots like this, it gives a sense of “looking behind the curtain” and provides a cinematic feel to the image. To enhance that light, we used a haze machine which also helped bring up the dark areas of the space.
For the fighter sometimes less is more. I always envision fighting gyms to be dark, with 1 maybe 2 lights to light up the space. So, in our shot made with the Tamron 17-70mm F/2.8 we kept it fairly simple, one large light source for the fighter, and then we show my other flash off in the background. I love seeing light sources in shots like this, it gives a sense of “looking behind the curtain” and provides a cinematic feel to the image. To enhance that light, we used a haze machine which also helped bring up the dark areas of the space.
TIP 4
Multiple lights to bring a location to life .
Comedian Steve Byrne is one of the best in the biz, and his photo needed to have the larger than life feeling. We created this moody/Library/Den style set, that feels like something you’d find in an old mansion. The fire was composited in, but by lighting everything from the sides and from behind, it created that nice warm shadow we see on the floor, since we knew the fire would be in post, this helps to add the realism to it. I think it’s always important to show the effect of light sources we see in the shots, so that shadow is key. From there it’s a simple flash boomed overhead, and it creates a great portrait.
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