How to get a gradient on black background! HELLLLP

[TatTwamAsi]

Hey humans,

I'm trying to perfect my headshot skills, and I have a very particular form I'm trying to emulate. I'll post my picture (of the woman) as well as the the person's I'm trying to emulate (of the man). The photographer is David Noles. If you want to look at more of his photos this is his website: http://www.davidnoles.com/

I am shooting with a Canon 60D, 50mm lens (which equates to 80mm on the 60D), with an Xplor 600, and a lastolite 61" parabolic silver umbrella. The back drop is simply a v flat, which I've heard is what David uses for his pure black backgrounds.

The problem is, try as I might I can't get a gradient on my backdrop, at least not anything close to what Noles is achieving. I've tried with reflectors on my subject and without. I've tried moving the subject closer and and farther away from the background and the light farther and closer to the subject. I even bought a remote trigger so I could play along all day taking picture so myself to get the placement right with no dice.

I've started to suspect that perhaps the 61" is simply too large, and spreads the light too evenly? But I still thought by utilizing the inverse square law I should be able to achieve the effect.

The only time I've got something that looked like that wonderful halo was when I took a picture so close to the light that my framing was all wrong (subject too big in the frame for a headshot). Could it be he's shooting at a different focal length to get closer to his subject (like a true 50mm)?

Someone please tell me what I could be doing wrong! I'm out of ideas at the moment. Thanks!






My photo




David Noles' Photo

 

[Don89]

This is shot through a white Translum behind, strobe toward left feathering across the Translum and 48” octa on the right close to the model and also feathered a bit

Translum was illuminated from behind by a strobe, 8” reflector red and blue gel to get purple, and a difuser hanging on the reflector to soften the edges. The rest is light falloff and exposure

Trial and error Practice, study And know/understand exposure and your f-stops

You need to illuminate the background maybe feather it. Practice Not with the subject It’s too late by then. While the pic below was done shooting through Translum you can also illuminate from the front to get what you need.



--
Nikons, Rolleiflexes, Elinchroms

 

[jazja]

Of course, you need a additionally light to illuminate the background.

Radial gradient-reflector+honeycomb grid (+color gel option) or snoot

Linear (stripbox)

 

[Don89]

With your large light, try moving the light and model a bit closer to the background, next, move the light back a bit Leaving the model there It’s a matter of moving and shifting a single light and model Once you get the background, you can try feathering the light Maybe 1/4 at an angle behind the model, 3/4 in front angles towards model Then fill with a reflector (white or silver) on the opposite side The 1/4 of the light behind the model illuminates the background The front shines on her. The reflector fills what the 3/4 misses.

Many ways to do this

a horizontal striplight will work too

--
Nikons, Rolleiflexes, Elinchroms

 

[BAK]

There's a black background.

Near the light, the black is overexposed.

Overexposed black is lighter black. Which is still black.

At a guide number-friendly distance, the black is illuminated so that it turns out black.

Seems reasonable.

And, at farther distances, the black background is underexposed.

That makes it black.

So maybe a medium grey background would give you a gradient without a color cast.

What am I missing?

BAK

 

[Ellis Vener]

If you are paying attention to his lighting he is lighting the background separately from the face. Which means he has at least two if not three lights going, and one of the lights either just lighting the background or the background and the rear of the person from off to one side.

That background light is in the area between the person and the background. Almost never directly behind the person but off to the side.

Noles is doing what I call “lighting in layers.”

 

[Don89]

There's a black background.

Near the light, the black is overexposed.

Overexposed black is lighter black. Which is still black.

At a guide number-friendly distance, the black is illuminated so that it turns out black.

Seems reasonable.

And, at farther distances, the black background is underexposed.

That makes it black.

So maybe a medium grey background would give you a gradient without a color cast.

What am I missing?

BAK

Gel?

 

[elliotn]

David Noles's work has been discussed on this forum before.

Loading…

www.davidnoles.com

Contrary to what others have suggested, I don't think he is lighting the background separately.

 

[Ellis Vener]

David Noles's work has been discussed on this forum before.

http://www.davidnoles.com

Contrary to what others have suggested, I don't think he is lighting the background separately.

Of course he doesn’t. How silly of me to think so.




Obviously David Noles doesn’t light his backgrounds.



--
Ellis Vener
To see my work please visit http://www.ellisvener.com
And follow me on instagram at therealellisv

 

[elliotn]

In most of his shots the background is being lit by the same key light that is lighting the model. The background is not far from the model - often a soft shadow is cast by the model onto the background. IMO.

 

[TatTwamAsi]

Yeah, I have spoken with a couple people that shot with him and he only used the one light. But he was also shooting them on wood and colored backgrounds where the gradient is less important. He clearly has at least one other light that he uses for a hair light at times. . .

I've watched tutorials where people do a similar lighting set-up with a softbox instead of an umbrella and it seems like they get the gradient with the single light. I'm not sure why the umbrella would be any different. Any thoughts?

I also know from talking to them that he uses an umbrella and shoots from in front like I have been. I've wondered if maybe it's a deeper parabolic that can be focused more directionally. Sadly, these are out of my price range at the moment.

I suppose if I simply used a snoot with a speedlight and hit the backdrop it would do the trick, but for my own educational purposes I am trying to figure out if am missing something.

Thanks!

 

[elliotn]

Re. the gradient on the background (in the shot of the man in your initial post) - it seems to me that it's as simple as burning the corners in post.

 

[itsDing]

If you want a more focused light from a brolly then dont open it fully.

 

[TatTwamAsi]

There's an idea! Although it would affect the catch light I'm going for. Still I'd love to try it. What do you suggest for locking it in place when it's not fully open?

 

[itsDing]

Clothes peg or button magnet on the stem. Try halfway open at 1st then experiment, dont forget you can move the light further in or out too.

 

[elliotn]

There's an idea! Although it would affect the catch light I'm going for. Still I'd love to try it. What do you suggest for locking it in place when it's not fully open?

Yes, if you're trying to imitate Noles's set-up, you need a bigger not a smaller key light. Instead of collapsing your brolly, you need to bring it closer to your subject.

Re. focal length. Looking at his website, it is clear that Noles uses a range of focal lengths for his portraits, from wide to standard to telephoto.

 

[Ellis Vener]

There's an idea! Although it would affect the catch light I'm going for. Still I'd love to try it.

It’s worth trying but overall for me it’s a “meh” effect.

What do you suggest for locking it in place when it's not fully open?

a wooden clothes pin or a small spring loaded clamp, but you are welcome to make it more complicated

There’s nothing complicated caged about Noles lighting. It’s the obviously active emotional engagement the people in his photos have with him that makes the difference. They are partners in a performance. Try to make the camera and technology as transparent and as unimportant as possible during the portrait session.

 

[TatTwamAsi]

So are you saying that it's impossible for me to get the effect on the photo I posted of his, without another light? If so that answers my question of whether I'm banging my head against the wall for a deficiency in my own skills or simply a lack of the proper equipment.

As I said, I've been able to achieve a subtle gradient on the black background with the one umbrella and a strobe, but nothing that resembles the effect he achieves in that photo.

Thanks for all your feedback and help!

There's an idea! Although it would affect the catch light I'm going for. Still I'd love to try it.

It’s worth trying but overall for me it’s a “meh” effect.

What do you suggest for locking it in place when it's not fully open?

a wooden clothes pin or a small spring loaded clamp, but you are welcome to make it more complicated

There’s nothing complicated caged about Noles lighting. It’s the obviously active emotional engagement the people in his photos have with him that makes the difference. They are partners in a performance. Try to make the camera and technology as transparent and as unimportant as possible during the portrait session.

--
Ellis Vener
To see my work please visit http://www.ellisvener.com
And follow me on instagram at therealellisv

 

[d750guy]

Hey humans,

I'm trying to perfect my headshot skills, and I have a very particular form I'm trying to emulate. I'll post my picture (of the woman) as well as the the person's I'm trying to emulate (of the man). The photographer is David Noles. If you want to look at more of his photos this is his website: http://www.davidnoles.com/

I am shooting with a Canon 60D, 50mm lens (which equates to 80mm on the 60D), with an Xplor 600, and a lastolite 61" parabolic silver umbrella. The back drop is simply a v flat, which I've heard is what David uses for his pure black backgrounds.

Ditch the umbrella and get a softbox, square or round, it doesn't matter, then google or youtube "softbox feathering", you're welcome.

 

[TatTwamAsi]

Yes, if you're trying to imitate Noles's set-up, you need a bigger not a smaller key light. Instead of collapsing your brolly, you need to bring it closer to your subject.

I can't get any closer to my subject without going out of the range of a typical focal length for portraiture. So far in my tests it does seem to distort the face in a way that his photos don't. How low do you think he pushes his focal length and can you post an example of the photo you see him doing it? I understand if that's asking too much from a stranger online haha.

I understand that getting closer to the subject will create more fall off with the light, which might give me a more dramatic gradient on the backdrop. Is that what you're saying?

Re. focal length. Looking at his website, it is clear that Noles uses a range of focal lengths for his portraits, from wide to standard to telephoto.

That's one thing I'm not very good at intuiting. I'm a self-taught photographer who's solid on the basics of theory and practice, but still looking to improve my skills and knowledge. How can you tell the different in focal lengths just from the pictures?

Thank you for all your input! You've been super helpful.