Face projections - The Lighting Series 07

Nikon D800, 85mm f1.8 @f1.8, ISO 400, 1/100s

Sometimes an experimental idea turns out to be a stunning success. This was something like that.

Gear

1x Light Blaster by Spiffy on LED continuous light emitters
1x translucent umbella on 100Ws monoblock
1x black, light-absorbing background

Setup

The idea for this picture was to draw a kind of height map on the model’s face with shadow stripes. It presented a few challenges.

In principle, four things can be used the create the projection:

slide projector
video projector
Light Blaster
Gobo projector

We opted for the Light Blaster because it fitted our LED lights with their studio adapter.

Since this is a pure black and white gobo—that is, a template that either blocks light or not—you can really use just about anything.

The important thing to remember here is that your light sources will not be emitting lots of light. You will need to work with high ISO numbers and fast lenses

The individual light sources

: Key Light
The projection is the only visible light in the scene. The slide for it was created using Photoshop and then printed by slide-printing company. The light direction is important here: if the projector (aka Light Blaster) is too far behind the model, the nose casts a shadow, if it is too far forward, the lines on the cheek are no longer beautiful. Posing and positioning your model requires a great deal of attention.

: Hair light
With the translucent umbrella behind the model, we get a suggestion of light for the hair. It’s not as pronounced as a hair light or rim light, but is just enough. You have to make sure that no light falls on the model’s face or it will ruin the effect of the projection.

Downloads

For the pictures in the article, we used the light simulation Set.A.Light 3D. You can download the lighting setup and try everything for yourself.

If you’ve never worked with Set.a.Light before, you should give it a try! There is also a free demo version on the website, which you can use to open our set