Inspiration Gen NEXT

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I was commissioned to do a beauty story with Cosmopolitan South Africa. We wanted to create an editorial that portrays a fun, happy night out and I used a variety of colour gels to liven up the backdrops and to add colour to this New Years Eve party theme.

My main lighting setup consisted of a Pulso G 3200 head with Para 88 and a Pulso G 3200 with P65 as a fill light. The Para was placed at a higher angle slightly to the left of the model and the P65 was placed at a low angle to the right of the model. I tried to keep the distance between the Para and the P65 as small as possible. To enlarge the apparent size of the Parra 88 I placed a white polly board next to it on various shots. The white polly board also bounced some light from the Octabox back into the scene. These lights were paired on a Scoro 3200 S.

Hair was a big focus in the story. All the models had dark hair so it was important to light them accordingly as I didn’t want to lose too much light detail and information in the darker areas. I decided to use a 150cm Octabox on a boom as an overhead light to add more detail to hair. I positioned it in such a way that the light also spilled slightly onto the model’s face. The spilled light of the Octabox highlighted prominent facial features like nose, cheekbones and on some models, the forehead. The Octabox was paired on the same Scoro 3200 S as the main lights.

I shot against a white background and placed my model just over six meters away from it. This distance allowed me to light the model and my background separately. The small focused size of the Para 88 and the P70 reflector didn’t allow much light to fall onto my background and I could use colour gels to create colourful backdrops without too much interference from main frontal lights.

I used two Pulso G 3200 heads combined with P70 reflectors that I used with and without grids. I used a variety of gels on the P70’s to create colour gradients in the backgrounds. I used a Picolite with projector or Fresnel attachment to add additional colour to the background. The projector attachment helped with creating geometric shapes when I needed it. The P70’s were paired on a second Scoro 3200 S pack and the Picolite was paired on a Scoro 1600 E.

Main Light: Para 88 placed camera left at higher angle than model’s face

Fill Light: P70 with white silk placed camera right below model’s face

Overhead Light: Octabox

Background: Two P65 reflectors covered with separate colour gels place on either side behind the model. I used a Picolite with a lavender coloured gel on a projector attachment. Little did I realise I left the modelling light on the Picolite on which caused the colour gel to melt and create the shapes you see in the background. It is pretty insane how hot these little lights can get and it’s good to you see in the background. It is pretty insane how hot these little lights can get and it’s good to always remember to turn off the modelling light unless you really need it.

Main Light: Para 88 placed camera left at higher angle than model’s face

Fill Light: P70 with white silk placed camera right below model’s face.

Overhead Light: Octabox

Background: Two P65 reflectors with various colour gels to create a beautiful gradient. These lights were placed on the left and the right hand side behind the model.

Main Light: Para 88 placed camera left at higher angle than model’s face

Fill Light: P70 with white silk placed camera right below model’s face. I added a silver pollyboard to the right of the model.

Overhead Light: Octabox

Background: One P65 with a deep dark orange tone to create one solid colour for the background. I used another P65 covered with a grid and a lighter orange gel to create a focussed circle of lighter orange in the middle. I used a cyan gel over the Picolite with Fresnel attachment to create a spot of light around the model’s head.

Main Light: Para 88 placed camera left at higher angle than model’s face

Fill Light: P70 with white silk placed camera right below model’s face. I also placed a silver pollyboard to the right of the model.

Overhead Light: Octabox

Background: Two P65 reflectors with strong saturated colour gels placed on either side behind the model to create an even gradient in the background.