Day 45

45/365, originally uploaded by Aaron LaRue.

Light, gesture, and color. Yesterday (Day 44), we had gesture. Today, we have light. The explanation, along with a set-up shot, is after the jump.

Jay Maisel said good photos have light, gesture, and color. I took this to heart, and am creating photos that emphasize each of these qualities. Yesterday, I emphasized gesture. Today, I went all out on the lighting, and I have to admit, this is one of my favorite photos so far (I'm such a narcissist!). I love low-key lighting, I love noir films, I love Janusz Kaminski, and I've been addicted to Mad Men since school has been out (I've watched 3 seasons in about a month). This lighting set up is something they use in Mad Men all the time, and I think it is gorgeous. 





They use a nice soft key to start with, so that's where I started. Being the narcissist that I am, I know that I look better when lit from my right side, so I put my key there. When I look at it, it gives me that nice light that wraps around my face. Then from the other side, I put a hard light behind me that's down a stop or two from the key. For a little extra separation, I have another hair/separation light coming from above me and camera right, just to keep my dark hair from getting lost in the background. I balanced that one on top of the cabinet. My eye sockets were a little too dim for my liking, so I busted out one more flash and stuck it right next to my lens for some on axis fill. You can't really see it in the picture above, but it's directly in from of me. It's dialed WAAYYY down, probably 4 or 5 stops darker than my key. It's just enough to keep my left eye from going dark, and because it's on axis it doesn't cast another shadow. Add in the remote I got recently (which I'm holding in my hand), and you have a fancy self portrait. The best part? I was watching shark week the whole time.