Matthew Jordan Smith Gives Tyra a Ring
We normally think of ring flash as having that signature, wrap-around shadow on the background. Or, increasingly, as a fill light. But it takes on a completely different look if you use it as a key and take everything else away -- background and any reflected light.
(Oh, and it helps if your subject is Tyra Banks, too.)
Matthew Jordan Smith explains in the first of an upcoming BTS series for Profoto. And not to just bang the Profoto drum here, either. We are always looking for the other educational BTS vids that the other flash manufacturers should be creating. Ahem.
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More Profoto BTS:
Gregory Heisler shoots: Springsteen | Giuliani | Jeter
Annie Leibovitz: Pro-8 and Machine-Gun Annie
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Posted at 1:06 AM.
16 Comments:
Thank you for sharing this. It was very interesting to watch this. I learned a lot and it was really nice to hear Mr. Smith's discussion about the timeless quality of the photos was wonderful.
I love Matthews narrative sytle here, so relaxed, friendly and giving. I love the look created with black flags, but never considered them with ringflash. Thanks for sharing!
what is duateen? How do you spell the backgrop he is using?
Debbi-
Duvateen. He kinda glosses over the "V".
I really appreciate you sharing this BTS video. I find Mr. Jordan's final comments on the glamor of the industry to be particularly insightful. Like just about everything, the final product - no matter how esoterically simple it may seem - is the product of effort. I akin it to Michelangelo sculpting David. Sure, the final product is a sublime masterpiece, but certainly Michelangelo poured sweat during the crafting process.
Also, for Debbi - Duvateen is a very heavy, thick black fabric commonly used to block all light from spilling onto a stage or set. Think of it as black velvet to the tenth power. There is practically no chance of any stray photons passing through this stuff. And, if you drape it so that it pools a little on the floor, there won't be any light leaking there either.
Cheers,
B. Patrick Colt
I love the effect of the lighting he used for this, to me it has that high fashion feel for sure.
I did a low-cost version of this by shooting on a flat rooftop pointing out to sea, so there was truly nothing to bounce the light back from the model. It was a starless overcast night, and a different pose and purpose. But I like this method better. Thanks for sharing.
That's how I shot my profile picture, except I used a circular fluorescent hobby light instead of flash
I love his calm...
Great post. Very useful info, and I could seriously listen to him talk all night.
Simple, but eloquent
Duvateen: http://www.tylersdisplay.net/Duvateen-p/duvateen54.htm
I agree with Sean about M's narrative style. I think that if I was photographed by him, I too would end up looking very serene. Also good point about putting all the work into the shoot. Sometimes I am in a hurry, use the deep dark muslin (thanks for the duvateen reference) and forget about all the extra flagging involved.
Simply stated and unpretentious.
Great clip, just goes to show sometimes all you need is one light.
Great stuff! I'm always fascinated by the effective use of lighting; I can't learn enough about it - thanks.
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