Lesson Info
21. Demo: Clamshell & Rim Light Setup
Lessons
Class Introduction
03:47 2Flash & Exposure Review
11:36 3Demo: Flashes Overview
11:54 4Demo: Manual Flash
12:16 5Triggering Methods Overview
15:39 6Demo: Mixing Brands of Triggers
17:45 7Demo: Defining Lights Overview
14:45 8What Modifier to Use with Multiple Flashes?
05:48Demo: Umbrellas
20:31 10Demo: Soft Boxes
12:57 11Demo: Octas
10:58 12Demo: Reflectors
05:47 13Demo: Beauty Dish
05:01 14Snoots & Grids Overview
04:15 15Demo: How to Setup Multiple Lights in the Studio
13:12 16Demo: Key & Hair/Rim Light Setup
04:59 17Demo: Key & Background Light Setup
07:53 18Demo: Clamshell Two Light Setup
14:39 19Demo: Key, Fill & Background Light Setup
17:42 20Demo: Side Lights & Background Light Setup
10:21 21Demo: Clamshell & Rim Light Setup
06:16 22Demo: Rembrandt, Fill & Hair Light Setup
07:13 23Demo: Rembrandt, Fill, Hair & Background Lights
20:40 24Demo: Clamshell, Rim, One Background Light
09:40 25Demo: How to Produce a Pure White Background
28:26 26Demo: Full-Length Portraits with Multiple Lights
07:28 27Demo: Still Life Example with Multiple Lights
10:22Lesson Info
Demo: Clamshell & Rim Light Setup
What I wanna do next is I wanna go to clamshell lighting. Wanna show you what clamshell lighting does. Typically, typically you use clamshell lighting as a beauty look, so typically you're using it with females, not often with males, but yeah, I've done it both ways. So you're a female and you happen to be standing here, so we're gonna do clamshell lighting. Here's the idea with clamshell, think a clam, it opens up, light comes from the top, light comes from the bottom, and then you shoot right through the lights. Okay so we'll do clamshell lighting for the two front lights and then we'll do hair light for the background light. I like the umbrella for the hair light, it's making me happy, so I'm just gonna move that one back. And for the foreground lights I'm gonna use the octabox and a softbox. And we'll use the octa as the low light. And we'll use the softbox as the high light. Why? I don't know I just wanna try it out. Okay, so here's the, this is gonna be the high light. As in the ...
one that's higher of the two. And where did my other flash go? One, two, oh, there it is. (chuckles) Gotta be able to laugh at yourself. Put that one in here. Super. Great. Sometimes that top box can be horizontal, in fact, a lot of times with clamshell lighting it works best, just spatially and from a position standpoint, if it is horizontal and it's not rotating, why is that? Oh you know why, because it's hitting on the top of my flash. So, let me bring it down here. Come on. Oh, no, it's hitting on the trigger, it's hitting on the little Yongnuo trigger. So I gotta pull that back a little bit. Another learning opportunity. Okay. Sweet, just about there. And then because we want this flash to be the low light, I gotta make sure that my stand will actually go low enough. Well, I've got a big old heavy-duty Photoflex light stand here and it's actually too high, so I gotta switch it out to a lower light stand. Hey, here's one. Now we're running into issues like, will it fall over on me, and that happens a lot in studio photography, lights falling over, so really, I probably should be using, sandbags. If I was keeping this position for a longer period of time. Okay. I'm just gonna pull off the little brass stud, put the brass stud into this one. There we go. And bring this guy down. Lower. And aim it up. Okay. Great. Perfect. So, we've got our clamshell scenario. The higher light, the lower light, and then I've got the rim light, and that rim light I'm gonna bring up higher into the air. And the rim light is at 1/16 power. The lower flash is at 1/16 power. And the upper flash (grunts) I can't see. It's at 1/16 power. So everything's at 1/16. Let's see how it turns out. Okay, go this way about three inches, yeah, perfect, right there. Here we go. This one you can smile, this is a beauty shot. Easier. Yeah. Oh, love the smile. (shutter clicking) Great, fantastic. Ooh! Too much. (laughs) Smile with the eyes closed, there we go. Okay, starting point, right, always a starting point. It's a little bit hot. So two things you need to think about, overall brightness and then how are those catchlights, what's it look like in the eyes, do we need to position them a little bit higher, a little bit lower? I think I'm gonna position the high light a little lower, physically, just so I can get a little catchlight in her eyes. Great. And then the power. Definitely need to bring the power down. So we'll bring it down to, let's go to 1/8, drop the thing down a full stop. I was at 1/16, 1/32. There we go. Even I get messed up with my fractions. That's saying something from a math guy. And this one was at 1/16 so we're gonna go to 1/32. Okay, same thing. Take a picture. Go this way ever so slightly. Yeah, perfect. Nice smile. Love it. I love it. Oh, I can already tell that's better. So let the thing load and render. There we go, let's zoom in on her eyes. Okay, see the catchlights in her eyes? Not great catchlights, but pretty good catchlights, I'm happy with those. Overall, I'm gonna say it's a little bit dark, so I dropped it down a full stop, it was probably too much. Probably should have been more like, I don't know, 2/3 of a stop down, but you get the feel.
Class Materials
Bonus Materials with RSVP
Bonus Materials with Purchase
Ratings and Reviews
Marty Walker
This is really a fantastic class and at an even fantastic-er price. Well worth the money, and is a great help. The instructor does a very good job explaining the methods, light shapers, and effects they create. One of my favorite videos!
Jeph DeLorme
Mike Hagen does a great job of presenting what could be a complicated process in a way that makes it easy to understand and implement. Not only does he make it easy to follow along, he presents alternative solutions that don't break the budget. I have viewed several instructors and various classes at Creative Live and this would definitely be one of my favorites. I have to say, this class would be a bargain at 10x the price!
Tim Stapenhurst
What can I say about this class? Mike is great- not only does he give a thorough break down of all the equipment one could need but he also includes wide variety of price options for those just getting started. Aside from his thorough knowledge of gear, Mike provides an excellent and easy to follow bread down of how to build up the light for your subject. His lesson plan is super easy to follow and very concise as he slowly builds up from using 2 lights to 5 lights. He also demonstrate what I think is a much needed trait in a photographer and that is being cool under pressure, dealing with issues and not getting rattled and simply going back to the basics. Creative Live Nailed it with this class
Student Work
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