Guess that lighting setup...
 

Ok, thought we'd have a little fun. I'm working on a corporate training video. See if you can guess the fixtures used on this 1-up.

Light is VERY flat, creating just a bit of triangle under her nose. Same temp as the background. Looks to me like 2 "normal garden variety" fluoros (as opposed to Kinos and the like) on stands about 30 degrees above her pointing down.

I'll guess a softbox just left of the camera for openers.

Hah!

Mr. Ford has left us a big hint - look very closely at the glints of her eyes.

I wanna' say a small softbox or open-face light behind diffusion on the left, and some kind of bare bulb fixture and an umbrella on the right (tota?). Both fairly close to the axis of the camera to flatten things out.

But that's just a guess as to what I think I'm seeing in those reflections in her eyes - as Shaun and Brian point out there are other fixtures that could produce similar results, depending...

Heheh, that's what I did too Seth, they say the eyes are the gateway to the soul, but in this case, they might be the gateway to Perrone's lighting scheme.

Excellent... you got 2 of 3.

Rifa88 (36"v36") on the left, all fluorescent. On the right is a Lowel DP bounced int a silver umbrella.

Lighting was kept flat to minimize modeling on the face. It's actually a bit more flat than I wanted, but the situation was dictated to me somewhat.

From her eyes it looks like there's a grid on the softbank or is it that there's no diffusion in front of the bulbs?

Neither. You are seeing the reflection of her eyelash. Normal diffusion was on the Rifa, and I don't own a grid;

You could have popped her off the background better with a backlight. Just sayin'...

You should. Grids are great tools for keeping the light where you want it, and off where you don't!

Yes I know, but budget limits prevent ownership right now. So I flag instead.

Yes, and it was something I wanted to do. However, in a historical building, after hours, with nearly 2k of power running, I wasn't ABOUT to tempt fate. The building guy was long gone for the day, and the risk simply wasn't worth it.

Oridinarily, I'd use a hairlight, and you're right it would have helped. Especially with the background being the way it was.

You could have achieved a nice effect with just one of those sources (probably the Rifa and a bounce board positioned close to the down side of her face, angled back to pick up the Rifa, and had all that power left for your hairlight. Or, hung a bit of shiny board on a boom behind her head to bounce back some of the key onto her hair for a nice soft edge.

With a bit of flagging you could have kept the exposure a bit more down on the back wall, which would have helped separate as well--and I personally don't like the bookcase being centered directly behind her, it might have been nice to split the frame somewhat with it.

that's my 1/50 of a dollar.

All valid points Charles. So for the benefit of those who are wondering why I didn't choose those options, I'll explain:

1. I tried the RIFA bounced into white foamcore. Problem was that there simply wasn't enough light on the foamcore to give me enough fill. That was exactly what I was going for before I had to place a second light there, and forgo the hairlight. This setup was not my first choice.

2. Shiny board on a boom would have been great. But I have no boom in my kit and both c-stands that I have at my disposal were already being used. Lack of gear in this case limited options.

3. I could have taken some of the light off the back wall easily. I put it there. Decreasing the light behind her would have increased separation, but would also have stopped the effect I wanted where her face was not the brightest thing in camera. It was a tradeoff I had to make in this case. I wanted a daylight filled room but just couldn't get it. I thought of bouncing the light off a piece of foamcore, but simply ran out of time.

4. I also HATE the bookcase being centered behind her head. The space and angles in the room were dictated to me. I had furniture I simply could NOT move. It was a challenge just to get a clear path from the camera to the chair the talent was seated in.


This shoot is a classic example of trying to come up with a look, then having to improvise on set because of limitations. In this case there were limitations of power, room, and gear. I did the best I could to get a pleasing look with the tools I had at my disposal. Charles' comments are spot on, and with different gear, or better options, I would have incorporated every one of them.

Thanks for your comments, and I am sure they will help others who have a chance to read them.

That's a fun game! Anyone got any more?