Congratulations to DanielScott for winning Feature Thread of the Week with 2 votes - View Previous Winners
A friend of mine rented some Arri SkyPanels for a short film, but before returning them she was kind enough to let me experiment with them on some portraits of my best friend Kwazee (for anyone who might not know what an Arri SkyPanel is, it's a very high quality and powerful LED light panel that's often used in high production filmmaking. It also gives you full custom control over the color of the light output). Kwazee is so naturally and ridiculously expressive with his body and face and is so fun to work with, making him the perfect muse.
There were only two SkyPanels to work with, so I also used the modeling lamp from one of my Neewer strobes to create a third light source as a second rim light (you can tell which light source this was, because it didn't fully match the brightness and richness of tone of the other Arri light also being used as a rim light). These LED panels are honestly really amazing, and I can see why they are so integral to many filmmaker's setups. They also work decently for still photography, but I prefer using strobes because I can use narrower aperture settings for a wider depth of field; conversely these would be a useful tool for photographers who would want to use artificial lighting while also being able to retain a wide aperture setting for a shallow depth of field without having to use a ND filter. That said, the ND filter paired with strobes is the more affordable option in most cases instead of buying these particular LED panels if you're looking to render a shallow depth of field with studio lighting, and color gels over strobes would also be a more affordable option if you're wanting colored lighting.
Shot using the original Canon 5D with a Canon 100mm f/2.8 macro usm lens attached, set to f/5, 1/160th sec, ISO 1000. A silver reflector was used to add a second catch-light.
I'm not a portrait photographer so take this simply as an expression. The large blurry forearm and hand is too distracting for me in the first. I have a hard time getting past that to the subject. Your second shot I love. The detached hands might be a problem for some but I think they add to the dramatic lighting you've captured. He appears to be imprisoned by himself. This is really a unique and beautiful portrait. Just my impressions.
Gary
Very nice! The Arri lights are really handy, but I wish they weren't so heavy and expensive! Got a chance to use them a year ago and they are very versatile. I wouldn't use them a lot outside, but here's an exception.
This is using one Arri Skypanel (daylight balanced) for fill. It worked great since I was at 1/400th to get the shot. It was great not to mess with HSS or Hypersync. We also had some 1K's and 5Ks on the set.
sum1sgrampa wrote:
I'm not a portrait photographer so take this simply as an expression. The large blurry forearm and hand is too distracting for me in the first. I have a hard time getting past that to the subject. Your second shot I love. The detached hands might be a problem for some but I think they add to the dramatic lighting you've captured. He appears to be imprisoned by himself. This is really a unique and beautiful portrait. Just my impressions.
Gary
I appreciate your feedback! Honestly that is my main issue with that photo as well. I like the shot a lot but it has that glaring flaw.
Thank you for the kind words as well.
story_teller wrote:
Very nice! The Arri lights are really handy, but I wish they weren't so heavy and expensive! Got a chance to use them a year ago and they are very versatile. I wouldn't use them a lot outside, but here's an exception.
This is using one Arri Skypanel (daylight balanced) for fill. It worked great since I was at 1/400th to get the shot. It was great not to mess with HSS or Hypersync. We also had some 1K's and 5Ks on the set.
I actually quite like the first one, don’t find his forearm distracting at all. Maybe apply a radial filter to his face to drop the exposure in the surrounding parts of the frame, but all in all I like the unique composition and lighting! Great job mate!
ahqball wrote:
I actually quite like the first one, don’t find his forearm distracting at all. Maybe apply a radial filter to his face to drop the exposure in the surrounding parts of the frame, but all in all I like the unique composition and lighting! Great job mate!
