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Completing Your Visual Story

Lesson 6 from: Lighting The Scene

Nigel Barker

Completing Your Visual Story

Lesson 6 from: Lighting The Scene

Nigel Barker

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Lesson Info

6. Completing Your Visual Story

Complete the story with the final set, working with strong, directional window light and a reflector. Work with color temperature, flare, and other challenges. Then, move into a single strobe set-up with a gel for a more dramatic story blending both natural and artificial light.

Lesson Info

Completing Your Visual Story

So, this is gonna be our final set up. Rhonda, it's gonna be just you and me working this last area. We've got a lot of light coming through. It's afternoon light. It's a little warmer. It's quite intense. I can see the sun itself 'cause it's low in the sky. It's coming beaming through. It's actually quite a difficult lighting condition to shoot because it's so dramatic. The darks are so dark, and the bright areas are so bright. But we're going to balance it. We're going to bounce some light into this area. Now, I said this is our final light set up. And you've seen all day, we've been shooting all kinds of different light set ups in fact. We went from a three light set up, to a five light set up, to an eight light set up. And after I shoot you in this ambient light, I'm going to do a one light set up. It's about understanding light. This entire class has been about using light to tell a story. Absolutely, the outfits, the look, the feel, tell a part of the story, but lighting is so im...

portant and so key. And every given scenario that we've been in, we've used the ambient to use one story, and then we've lit it with strobe to tell a completely different story. Same clothes, same model, different stories. It'll be quite interesting. I think we need to shoot this right now before that sun goes down even further. Alright, let's shoot this, Toby. Can I have my camera? Great. (shoes scuffing floor) Alrighty. I'm going to have you in here. Okay. Kind of playing this sort of zone. And you can kind of play off anything. That, what you're doing there is great. You got a lot of range in here. That's nice. And this is that softer, slightly more gentle sort of approach. (camera beeping) (camera shutter click) Beautiful. (camera continues to shutter click) I kind of just like the way you were too when you stand on both feet? There you go, like that. Nice, nice. Gorgeous there. (camera shutter clicks) That's really beautiful. (camera shutter clicks) Look at this. (camera shutter clicks) There's a touch too much light on her. That's there. I'll come in here myself. (metal clanging) (camera beeping and shutter click) Back the light up in here. (shoes scuffing against the floor) So many things to play off of. So many sort of bits and pieces. And even for me, I'm looking at things I can hide behind and use to help crop my shot. (camera beeps and shutter clicks) Bring your one arm down, your left arm down, there you go. And look all the way past me, through. (camera beeps and shutter clicks) Very nice. Turn into the shot just a tiny bit here. (camera beeps and shutter clicks) Really pretty, really really nice! You really can actually sense the actual changes in the temperature of the light. This morning, it was a little bluer. And it cuts differently. And this warmer light really helps actually bronze everything up. Even though there's a lot of silver in the room. (camera beeps and shutter clicks) Nice. And looking all the way through. (camera beeps and shutter clicks) (Nigel exhales through his mouth) (camera beeps and shutter clicks) Nice, beautiful work. That's nice. (camera beeps and shutter clicks) Gorgeous. I'm going to bring...actually stay there for a couple more. Do we have an apple box up here? Do we have a ladder up here? Do we have a bucket? When in doubt. There, beautiful. Bring that one arm down. There, hold onto the top of that stair, here. Actually maybe just hold onto the railing next to you? Next to your head. See that? Oh, yeah, sorry. Sorry. That's okay. Nice, hold that. (camera beeps and shutter clicks) Nice. Oooh, it's super pretty. (camera beeps and shutter clicks) It's really pretty. It's pretty gorgeous. I got flare coming in, the sun is hitting my lens. These are sort of no-no's in a way, but quite frankly, one of the things about photography that I love is that you learn about all the different rules, things you're meant to do, ways to shoot, but of course, once you learn them, great thing about photography is that you break all the rules. Light right into the lens. I see that...turn a little bit? See the back end of it? Yeah. (camera beeps and shutter clicks) Eyes to me. Beautiful. Gorgeous. Perfect. Oh, too much. Okay, bring it around one more time. (metal clanging) This is stunning. Stand right up here. Come forward for me. That's good, like that. (bucket scrapes on floor) I'll move my makeshift apple box. (Nigel exhales) Shake it out, shake it out, shake it out. You got pockets in that too, right? Yeah, that's nice, just like that. I want to do this. Beautiful. (Nigel exhales) (camera beeps and shutter clicks) Twist your body that way. The other way, other way. This way? Yeah. (camera beeps and shutter clicks) Step, yeah. Step forward. Stop, too much. (camera beeps and shutter clicks) Now, step forward. There. (camera beeps and shutter clicks) Looking all the way past me. Beautiful. We got it. Gorgeous. Now, we're going to light this, but with one light. So, this is our final shot. Of course, this class is being called "Lighting the Scene", and it's all about understanding light. We've shot each scenario with daylight, just the ambient, and then I've introduced strobe. And, for the final shot, I'm down to one. We started with three, went to five, went to eight, down to one head. And it's the Profesnel Spotlight which has been the key light I've used throughout, so that's going to wrap all the pictures together. Still got the brown gel on it, and what I'm doing now is I'm going to actually use the sun, which is here, so it isn't really another light, but I'm only strobing with one, so it's a blend of the two lights. And its going to continue to tell that story. Very dramatic. And the narrative will come from a large part here because of the light. Using the drama of the darkness and the light will bring it all together. Okay, Rhonda, you ready? Ready! I'm going to get you right in here. Okay. And my settings... I am at an ISO of 200, my shutter speed is 2,000. And I'm at an F-Stop of 3.5. And I'm shooting with the 16-33mm lens. Alrighty. Beautiful. (camera beeps and shutter clicks) Gorgeous. Keep looking straight through this way. There you go. Actually, right here. And with your body language, almost like, remember how you were planted and you were strong? (camera beeps and shutter clicks) Gorgeous. (Nigel mumbles) (camera beeps and shutter clicks) Nice. Really great. Looking through here. (camera beeps and shutter clicks) Cheat your eyes to me. Can you put your hands in your pockets for me? (camera beeps and shutter clicks) Gorgeous, really really pretty. Right in there, and go in tight over this. I'm using the reflector to bounce, just add a little bit of fill. (camera beeps and shutter clicks) Gorgeous there. (camera beeps and shutter clicks) Beautiful. (camera beeps and shutter clicks) What I'm picking up as I shoot... As you can see the light sort of cascading across the wall, creating all these great shadows. Because this profile is not as so strong, it's almost like the sun, of course it can't overpower the sun, but it does make this look more dramatic. The blacks become really dense, and the rest of the light is a fraction of what it is now. (camera beeps and shutter clicks) Gorgeous, very nice. Beautiful. Gorgeous there, love that, Eyes face me there. (Nigel exhales) (camera beeps and shutter clicks) Be strong. Gorgeous. We have it, we've done it. Well done! (Rhonda laughing) That's all we needed. Super simple. Super beautiful. One light, we had eight lights, went to one light. We used ambient. Fantastic. You guys did a great job, both of my models. Both Richard and Rhoda, thank you very much. That's a wrap.

Ratings and Reviews

user-f37802
 

Nigel is a good communicator and excellent photographer. However, you won't learn too much from this class. It is a Behind The Scene footage showing Nigel at work. That's all. Nigel doesn't measure ambient and artificial light, and won't tell you the light values you need to achieve the desired effect. Recommend to those who look for motivational support; certainly do not recommend to those who look for technical knowledge. For that reason, I feel like the tutorial is a bit overpriced. Thank you

a Creativelive Student
 

I think this is a great class for a photographer who is interested in fashion and editorial work. Nigel shows you what it's like behind the scenes and how he invokes the looks, stances, and poses from his models to get the story of his images. This class isn't about the why's and how's of what camera and strobe settings he uses on set. He does show you the different gels, reflectors, and strobes utilized but really just plants a seed so you can explore on your own. He mentions that it's important for the photographer to own their style and lighting. I love how Nigel shares how he creates the environment for a story. For editorial work, I feel one of the most important elements of a shoot is the experience you create for your model. It is the magic ingredient for capturing images with impact.

Margaret Lovell
 

I prefer natural light, but want to learn more about studio light. Nigel is an excellent instructor, and photographer. He can explain lighting concepts in easy to understand steps. He also gives plenty of excellent and useful tips.

Student Work

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