In case you missed it, Pye Jirsa from SLR Lounge shared his thoughts on the new MagMod XL line after getting his hands on the Professional Strobe Kit XL. You can find the video here.
This time around, he takes us in-studio to share his approach for using the kit to capture dramatic dance portraits. As Pye notes in the video below, “I've been wanting to use MagMod gear with larger lights for some time, so I’m excited that now, I finally can.”
Let’s get started.
Here’s a list of the gear used in this tutorial.
Using the C.A.M.P. Framework (Composition, Ambient Exposure, Modify/Add Light, Pose & Photograph), start with your composition.
For this session, Pye decided he wanted to use a two-light setup to create a dramatic dance portrait with a silhouetted, backlit sort of look, as well as a light shining down on the subject’s face and front side.
Knowing this in advance will help you know where to place your subject and lights in relation to the background and location in general.
Once you’ve decided on how to compose your shot, it’s a good idea to dial in the ambient exposure before adding any lights. You may need to adjust this setting later, depending on whether or not you’re using flash and what you want the flash-to-ambient ratio to be.
A darker ambient exposure and brighter flash will create a more dramatic look, while a brighter exposure and lower powered flash will create a more natural look.
That said, this shot will fall on the more dramatic side, so the ambient exposure will land on the darker side (see above). In fact, all of the ambient light has been knocked out.
Next, it’s time to add some light back into the shot, one light at a time.
Because you’re going to need to position your lights and dial in the appropriate settings, you’ll want to place your subject and move him/her or the lights as needed.
As you can see above, Pye has placed a Profoto B10+ directly centered behind the subject, about 5’-7’ back.
Pye opted to use the B10+ for the backlight as opposed to an A1 or something similar because he felt he’d need more power in the back than he would for the main light up front, which would be placed very close to the subject.
Here’s the result (see above) of adding the first light as a backlight and making adjustments to get it just right.
Because all MagMod modifiers are modular, you can use them to connect different MagMod items.
Pye opted for his favorite combination of a MagSphere XL, MagGrid XL, and a Dome Gel (all placed on a Reflector XL), and he used MagRing to mount the light onto the light stand.
You could stop with just the backlight and take great silhouette shots, but adding a second light to light the front of the subject will make the portrait even more dynamic.
You won’t need as powerful a flash in the front because it will be placed close to the subject. Just like the backlight, the Reflector XL, MagSphere XL, MagGrid XL, and a Dome Gel gel will work perfectly for modifying the light.
The grid will control the light so it doesn't spill, and the sphere will soften, diffuse, and open up the light a little bit.
Now, with both lights set up, it’s time to get that second light dialed in.
The image above was captured with the second flash set to full power. The light is too bright and spilling everywhere, so the next adjustment is to lower the power by three to four stops, or down to 1/16th power. You won’t need a ton of light.
If you don't have a white floor like the one in this demonstration, and you want light to bounce back up to fill in some of the shadows, you can always set a reflector or v-flat on the ground.
Finally, if you feel the backlight is coming in too hot, just lower the power a bit. For this session, full power works.
You’ll see the subject strike a number of dynamic dance poses for this session. Whatever your vision is for the shoot, direct your subject accordingly to help get the look you’re after.
It’s worth noting that because the light is directly above the subject, she has been directed to tilt her head slightly up in each shot. If she looks down, you’ll get a “raccoon eyes” effect, which you probably don’t want.
Before we get to the final images, here’s a look at what each light is doing independently.
With the images side by side, you can see what each of these lights is doing. The main light is highlighting the subject in the middle of the overall studio space while the backlight works to create ambiance and add dimension.
All that’s left is to capture a variety of poses and then edit out any distracting elements in post, most of which can be handled by AI’s generative fill features.
With the new lineup of MagMod XL modifiers, it’s incredibly easy to get the look we want from our larger, more powerful lights, whether we’re using one light or several.
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