A Master Class in Sculpting With Hard Light
UPDATE: For some reason, Brightcove has blocked external access to the National Geographic slideshow. Odd, as they originally listed the embedding code right under the hosted video. So, you'll have to click over to the original NGS page if you want to see it again.
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National Geographic has a wonderful "Editor's Pick" piece on photographer Rob Clark's approach to lighting a series of bodies that have been preserved for 2,000 years in European peat bogs.
The article shows Clark's relatively simple lighting design on the same subjects as he shot them ten years ago. His earlier thought was to bathe them in broad light sources to use the specular highlights to define the form of the bodies.
But lately, he has evolved to using as many as ten individual hard lights equipped with focusable irises (note to self: learn more about that) grids, snoots, etc, to sculpt the bodies with restricted beams of light from a wide variety of angles.
Check out the above slideshow of his thought progression on just one of the bodies, then head to National Geographic to see the difference between his more pedestrian stuff from ten years ago and the stunning lighting design he is doing now.
Watching his examples flash by, I wonder how much earlier I would have bailed out, happy with my interim results. The lighting certainly impresses me. But the tenacity of the photographer during the process of designing the light impresses me more.
There is a series of edited photos of some of the other bodies, too. Amazing stuff.
(Thanks for the heads-up, Duncan!)
:: Main Story ::
:: Rob's Edited Photos ::
:: Rob Clark's Website ::
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_____________________
National Geographic has a wonderful "Editor's Pick" piece on photographer Rob Clark's approach to lighting a series of bodies that have been preserved for 2,000 years in European peat bogs.
The article shows Clark's relatively simple lighting design on the same subjects as he shot them ten years ago. His earlier thought was to bathe them in broad light sources to use the specular highlights to define the form of the bodies.
But lately, he has evolved to using as many as ten individual hard lights equipped with focusable irises (note to self: learn more about that) grids, snoots, etc, to sculpt the bodies with restricted beams of light from a wide variety of angles.
Check out the above slideshow of his thought progression on just one of the bodies, then head to National Geographic to see the difference between his more pedestrian stuff from ten years ago and the stunning lighting design he is doing now.
Watching his examples flash by, I wonder how much earlier I would have bailed out, happy with my interim results. The lighting certainly impresses me. But the tenacity of the photographer during the process of designing the light impresses me more.
There is a series of edited photos of some of the other bodies, too. Amazing stuff.
(Thanks for the heads-up, Duncan!)
:: Main Story ::
:: Rob's Edited Photos ::
:: Rob Clark's Website ::
-30-
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Posted at 12:00 AM.
9 Comments:
I think more has changed than just his lighting. There are large compositional/storytelling differences in the aproach to the two shots on the NG website.
He is seeking more depth, more detail, more character ... just like trying to shoot a 3D object like others would cross light paper for texture.
Wonderful vision ... oodles of effort ... beautiful results.
Awesome.
Should I just give up now? Or can I get even close to that before I expire?
This really illustrates how a very subtle shift can change the entire feel. So many of the shots were great and it would be tempting to take a "good enough" approach but working past that often leads to that moment of brilliance (or, complete frustration).
I wish there was a set up shot for each of these bog images... did he use bare stobes? speedlights? snoots? barns? grids? what?
Years ago I worked in a large-scale studio outside Chicago where they shot furniture in sets we created. The photographers there used many individual focusing incandescent lights to bathe the sets fairly evenly for reproduction, yet sculpt these photos for style. The end result was a bit blander than these in this post, but I recall being struck by the difference in that approach -vs- the large bank light/large reflector approach.
I've seen Tollund Man in person - he really nailed it the second time around although I don't think any photo could really do it any justice. Fascinating subject.
BTW - not to take anything away from small strobes - but nothing beats an ETC Source 4 when you want to sculpt light.
http://www.etcconnect.com/products.family.asp?ID=20001
>I wish there was a set up shot for each of these bog images... did he use bare stobes? speedlights? snoots? barns? grids? what?
See to create photos that express your own feelings and originality.
Kitsch is a form of art that is considered an inferior, tasteless copy of an extant style of art or a worthless imitation of art of recognized value. The concept is associated with the deliberate use of elements that may be thought of as cultural icons while making cheap, often mass-produced objects, that are unoriginal.
>Time said: I wish there was a set up shot for each of these bog images... did he use bare stobes? speedlights? snoots? barns? grids? what?
Why? Do you can copy him and make uninspired, unoriginal kitsch art? Create your own style using your own feelings and originality.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kitsch
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