Ketsia : Sensual Glamour

Once again, the amazingly gorgeous and sexy Ketsia. When those eyes look at me that way it's time to press the shutter button before the moment is gone.

Camera & Lens:
Nikon D700 & Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8

Settings:
ISO 200, 38mm, f/5, 1/160s

Lighting:
Main Light- 53" Octa w/inner and outer diffusion [positioned just to camera left]
Fill - Large sunfire (mixture of silver and gold) reflector [positioned at camera right, about 45 degrees to subject]
Back Lights - (2) strobes with wide angle reflectors and silver deflectors installed

Hi Robert,

This is one of my favorites. The lighting and the expression is just....well, that good.

Is the silver/gold reflector being lit by one of the backlights, or from the main light? I ask this because of what you were teaching me about the problems of cross-lighting, thinking that silver reflectors can put out a lot of directional light.

Thanks always,
Hamilton

Hi Hamilton,

Whenever I use a reflector for fill, it's picking up light from the main light and returning to the shadow side of the subject to lift shadows and reduce contrast a bit.

Ketsia has her body turned roughly 45 degrees off the axis of the lens and the reflector is positioned about another 45 degrees around, which places it about 90 degrees from the lens' axis. The sunfire reflector is something I really like with dark and tanned skin because it offers the efficiency and directionality of silver combined with a softer, more diffused look of gold. With light skin I never use it because it tends to make the skin look a bit too orange, or as I like to say, "pissy".. lol

By having the reflector that far around to the side of the subject, there's very little chance of the cross lighting effect and with the reflectors' efficiency being so low, a secondary shadow will never appear. On a large set with a wide shot you can't get a reflector close enough to have a significant influence on shadow or exposure.

I didn't want to upset the directionality or shadows created by the main light and the reflector is being used for the sole purpose of opening up the side of her face that is turned away and tucked under. Without the reflector, that area of her face meters about 1/2 stop less and there isn't enough detail to differentiate deep shadows from black.

The shot still works without the reflector but seeing the far eye and the expression completes the overall look and adds to the sensuality and inviting feeling Ketsia is portraying.

Robert, if the skin had been white would you have chosen a white or silver reflector? Do you set Picture Control to "neutral" on the D700?

Thank you for your time,
Hamilton

If the skin were light or pale I would use my custom white reflector. It's amazingly efficient and produces a very soft diffused light. I only use the sunfire reflector with dark skin and dark skin in the sun, as it adds a beautiful bronze, but only with dark skin.

I do like silver reflectors but not for this type of work.

I always set the picture control on my D700 to neutral and I always shoot raw files so that picture control setting is only what I preview on the back of the camera. When I shoot tethered, the setting is ignored and all images import to the machine with a custom preset that applies my ColorChecker profile, white balance, a tone curve and lens correction.