For the last Studio and Lighting class, a model was brought in and each student had the opportunity to shoot her however we liked. Only four (of the 8 in the class) students showed up, so we had plenty of time to get set up and take the shots we wanted. We were a little limited, since we only had 3 lights, one soft box, and various other accessories. Going in, I had a basic idea of what I wanted…
We had never used a snoot in class, so I wanted to use that accessory to put hard light on the model’s face. I wanted a black background, with her body silhouetted against it as much as possible. I choose to shoot at f/8. I used a snoot on my key light, no fill and no background lighting, and two separation lights. I shot the broad side of the model’s face, with the key light at zone five-ish pointed directly at her from above. I think my separation lights were at zone 4. I was able to get set up, meter and adjust everything, and take a bunch of shots. Most of them I’ve posted in the gallery. My favorite is the one shown here, where the model’s eyes are closed and she’s looking slightly up. I was a little worried that my setup would end up looking like a depression commercial, but as the instructor pointed out, the result was more like something from a Reebok ad campaign! Overall, I was happy with it. I don’t see myself shooting a lot of models in studios anytime soon (product photography is more my thing), but it was definitely a good experience and I learned a lot.