Film Noir Photography E-Book

Neil Freeman

• Herausgeber: Crowood
• Kategorie: Geisteswissenschaft
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 324

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2019

Beschreibung

The classic look of film noir portraits was iconic to the 1930s and 1940s - the use of light, shadows and styling created a timeless look that is as popular today as ever. This practical book explains how to take photos and use lights to create powerful portraits typical of this time. With over 100 photographs, it covers the equipment needed; explores the types of images that are classed as film noir; shares tips and tricks to improve your images; guides you through the lighting set-ups in detail; recreates some classic film noir images and ideas, and finally, explains how to shoot film noir images inside and outside on location. It will be of great interest to photographers particularly with film interest; 1930s and 1940s enthusiasts; Hollywood interest and movie goers. Neil Freeman is a professional photographer, tutor and writes for various photography magazines and it is beautifully illustrated with 114 colour photographs.

Leseprobe

Film Noir Photography

Film Noir Photography

Art and Techniques

Neil Freeman

First published in 2019 byThe Crowood Press LtdRamsbury, MarlboroughWiltshire SN8 2HR

This e-book first published in 2019

www.crowood.com

© Neil Freeman 2019

All rights reserved. This e-book is copyright material and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or publicly performed or used in any way except as specifically permitted in writing by the publishers, as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorised distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the author’s and publisher’s rights, and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly.

British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication DataA catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

ISBN 978 1 78500 608 1

CONTENTS

      Introduction

1History, Lighting and Inspiration

2Kit: Cameras and Lenses

3Kit: Lights and Modifiers

4Settings: Cameras and Lights

5Composition, Props and Directing Shoots

6Interior Shoot Ideas

7On Location Shoot Ideas

8Digital Darkroom Techniques

      Glossary

      Index

Introduction

Film noir portraits are a genre of photography that I never get tired of viewing or shooting. This classic look, made famous in the heyday of Hollywood films and portraits of the 1930s and 1940s, still captivate many people. The use of light, shadows and styling in the images creates a timeless look that is still relevant in today’s world. I think the way the scenes are composed, with shadows and the implied drama, coupled with the low light aesthetic, looks iconic. The ‘Hollywood’ or ‘film noir’ style of lighting came to prominence between the 1930s and 1950s. At the time, this was the main way to market movies, movie stars and famous performers. By using light in such a way to create very powerful portraits, it further reinforced that the stars of this time were seen as different to everyone else. The images are created and lit for simplicity and emotion. This era is still considered by many (including myself) to be a golden age of photography due to the catalogue of classic images created. The photographers were using groundbreaking photography techniques. This, combined with their complete understanding of what could be achieved with the lighting available, enabled the studios to showcase and market their stars in a way that had not been seen before. These images, with their drama, elegance and sophistication started the portrait photography trend for photographers to ‘paint’ with light rather than just use the light to achieve an exposure. By using multiple light sources in a controlled manner with careful and creative placement, the photographers could bring a new sense of emotion and storytelling to the images, which is what makes them the timeless classics that we still enjoy today.

Fig. 0.1

This image was shot with a single speedlight placed high to the right and behind the model to create the mood in the image. Nikon D750, 24–120mm ƒ4 G, 1/400th, ƒ4, ISO 100, SB-910 Speedlight, SU-800 infrared remote trigger.

As a photographer, the actors and actresses’ portraits that were used by the Hollywood studios for promotion of the current blockbuster films of the day really fascinate me, and they have been a big influence on a lot of my portraiture work. The portfolios of photographers, such as George Hurrell, Laszlo Willinger and others of this generation of 1930s and 1940s Hollywood photographers, have left us with a legacy of great images. Although arguably the images do not stand up well to technical scrutiny compared with the sharpness you can achieve with today’s cameras and lenses, I still consider them to be outstanding works of photography given the cameras, lighting, lenses and printing techniques in use at the time.

In my professional photography career, I have photographed many film noir-style shoots – everything from recreating some of the iconic images to putting my own interpretation on this classic style of portraiture. The portrait shots in my portfolio that stand out as my favourites are inspired by film noir. Whether they are the product of a controlled studio shoot or have been taken on the streets in an urban environment, each of these images have something special about them. The chiaroscuro lighting used to great effect in all good film noir photography is one of my favourite forms of lighting and although initially it can look daunting to create and master, with modern speedlights or studio flashes it is actually very easy to create. Of course, it is nearly impossible to reconstruct exactly how a particular image was lit eighty or ninety years ago, however, technology has changed significantly, which makes our job as photographers easier. With film noir portraits, your ability to see, create and shape the light in the scene is the single biggest contributing factor to the success of the image. Making the shapes and shadows come to life, using either the implied menace of a shadow falling into a scene or the bright highlights of a studio portrait, is what gives us our film noir look and elevates the images beyond a standard black and white portrait.

Fig. 0.2

Here I’ve used two speed lights, one to light the model and the other to create extra detail in the background. Nikon D810, 24–120mm ƒ4 G, 1/500th, ƒ4, ISO 100, 2 × SB-910 Speedlights, SU-800 infrared remote trigger.

Throughout this book, I will be aiming to show how you can set up the lighting in your images to give a ratio that creates this strong contrast between light and dark, and creates the chiaroscuro lighting effect. This offers us as photographers the chance to create some amazing images. A digital darkroom also has its place in creating the film noir look; even with the dynamic range in today’s digital sensors it is important to understand what can and cannot be captured ‘in camera’. It’s worth noting that the classic Hollywood portraits were actually heavily retouched, especially the skin, so that it appeared flawless. This was done by painting out any imperfections or making any other changes required on the negative before producing the prints. However, the one thing that cannot easily be fixed in postproduction is poor lighting. To shoot a great portrait, you need controlled lighting. This may come from one or multiple lights. When you learn to use light modifiers, such as barn doors, softboxes and snoots alongside techniques such as feathering and flagging light, you will become a photographic artist and light will be something you ‘paint’ on to your subject and scene. This will help you turn your everyday portraits into exciting film noir masterpieces.

One of the other big things in film noir and Hollywood portraiture is what could be considered ‘fake’ lighting. Many photographs of this genre have lots of lights in the images – be it a table or overhead lamp or a streetlight seeming to create a long shadow. If you actually look closely at the images and where all the shadows are really falling in the photograph you will soon realize that a lot of the lighting included in the image is for effect only and bears no relationship to the lighting falling on the main subjects in the image. The real lighting used to create the image is actually out of shot. So if you are trying to recreate some of the classic images from this period you really need to become a bit of a detective and use your photographic and perception skills to work out what, where and how the lighting is put together for any particular image. Given the body of work that exists across movies and stills for film noir, the benchmark is quite high if you start to try and recreate some of the great images. To shoot a film noir image to a high standard can be both fun and challenging at the same time. It is a real test of your lighting skills and even placing the light or subject a few centimetres out can be the difference between success and failure. By using such precisely controlled lighting we can make the most of the light we have available; be it a spotlight casting a long shadow or a rim light creating an outline of the hero or heroine. Very often when building up the lights in my images I find that I start to go on a journey with the light, which leads to doing something slightly different from my original plan and results in more experimentation. This always means that there are many more images to take or ideas to explore.

With the advances in camera and lighting technology, putting together a film noir-inspired shot can be as easy as just using a camera and one flashgun. This has made film noir photography more accessible than ever before with cameras and lighting syncing together to produce perfectly exposed images in almost any situation, even using multiple lights. With high-speed flash sync systems, we have the capability to actually shoot out on the streets in daylight and make our images look like night, or turn a bright room into an atmospherically lit interior. With the ability to capture a wide dynamic range of light and detail, mixed with digital darkroom processes that allow quick and easy manipulation of our images, we now have the tools that allow us to capture, edit and finish our images to a standard that is higher than was achievable by the Hollywood studios back in the golden era of film noir.

This book aims to make film noir photography easy to understand, helping you get to grips with the techniques and tricks that will allow you to create great photographs. It explores topics such as: essential kit, camera modes and settings to get the best possible images, and how to set up and work with a variety of different lights. There is a lot of information on creating the film noir look and chiaroscuro lighting. I will also be covering many more subjects, such as the importance of knowing what you can expect to get from your camera and how to finish your images to a high standard in the digital darkroom. Throughout this book I will explain how to take and recreate great film noir-type images, both on location and in a studio or interior shoot. I will also be covering a wide range of tips and tricks to improve your images, keep your costs down and make your lighting set-ups easy.

This book is for every level of ability, whether you are just starting out with lighting and portraits, or you are already an experienced photographer looking to try a new genre. I will start by exploring the type of images that are classed as film noir, the difference between the film noir look and standard black and white portraits, how to create chiaroscuro lighting and how to get inspired. We will then explore the equipment needed, including the cameras, lenses and the accessories that are essential to create high-quality film noir images. After that, we will take a look at shooting film noir images inside, covering lighting, settings ideas and potential set-ups, then move on to how we can then take what we have learned inside out on location.

I will be explaining the lighting set-ups in detail, especially as speedlights or studio flash heads can be quite daunting to work with at first. I will guide you through the buttons, functions and features that you need to use and then look at some suggested settings to enable you to create the best results in any given situation, inside or outside. We will also consider how to recreate some classic film noir images and ideas, and most importantly discover how to understand chiaroscuro light, especially the main components: quantity, quality and direction.

The final chapters will take you through finishing your images in a digital darkroom and how to get a true film noir look. The aim is to show you ‘realworld’ photography that concentrates less on the technical aspects and spends more time on creativity, so you can go out and learn new skills while enjoying the experience.

Each chapter will provide you with practical assignments for you to try, alongside a variety of professional photography tips and tricks. Hopefully this book can be a starting point to guide you through the steps of creating great film noir portraits, but don’t forget that you should try to add your own style and creativity to the images once you have mastered the basics. Technology is moving fast, enabling us as photographers to shoot some incredible images and get instant feedback, enabling us to make immediate adjustments to push our creative ideas further. There is no better way of doing this than when you think you have achieved the perfect image at a session, to then keep shooting, changing your angle, moving your props or suggesting a slightly different pose for the models. This all helps to push your creative vision. I always try to make next image the best I’ve taken. I don’t always succeed but by setting such a high standard, even if I fall short of my goal, it means I have still learned or achieved a lot. Sometimes images exceed expectations and this is a great feeling, something that we should constantly aim for.

Fig. 0.3

Single light source placed behind the model, to produce a beautiful ‘edge’ or ‘rim’ lighting effect. Nikon Df, 50mm ƒ1.8 G, 1/800th, ƒ4, ISO 100, SB-910 Speedlight, SU-800 infrared remote trigger.

Chapter 1

History, Lighting and Inspiration

WHAT IS A ‘FILM NOIR’ IMAGE?

To me, film noir defines itself through high-contrast visuals. It is predominantly shot in black and white, with the image showing a strong contrast between the light and dark parts of the image. The photography is very much about the character, with props tending to add context but not be the main part of the image. For portraits this ‘less is more’ character-driven approach allows for very striking images to be created.

Fig. 1.0

In this image two speedlights are used to create the light in the scene. Nikon Df, 24–70mm ƒ2.8 G, 1/400th, ƒ4, ISO 100, 2 × SB-910 Speedlight, SU-800 infrared remote trigger, Lastolite Hotrod strip softbox.

Most of the catalogue of film noir or Hollywood ‘noir’-style portraits is referenced from films of the 1940s. At the time, the standard convention for film and studio lighting was a set-up that involved ‘three-point lighting’ to ensure all the subjects and characters were completely lit and therefore visible. Film noir lighting turned this around; the style involved deliberately casting shadows and pushing characters and subjects into darkness, sometimes hiding parts of their faces or body. Lighting with film noir is all about creating dramatic shadows to build a mysterious environment.

Probably the most recognizable film noir image is one where the blinds on a window cast horizontal lines of shadow upon a subject’s face. Also very common was the use of silhouetting for a character. This could be used in a studio or urban portrait, or in an image involving multiple people that tells a story. Film noir may instantly bring to mind cinematic scenarios of detectives and dames that are on the run from something or someone. For me, the aim is to create an image that is dramatic and moody.

When you light a film noir scene you are doing a lot more than just adding light. The shadows that fall into the scene also make a key part of the image and are used to convey a feeling of menace or a sense that danger is lurking just out of sight. Lighting is the most important factor as it will make or break your photograph, hence I will be spending a lot of time covering how to set it up.

Fig. 1.1

This atmospheric shot of the ‘detective’ used a single bare speedlight placed directly behind the subject. Nikon Df, 24–70mm ƒ2.8 E, 1/800th, ƒ4, ISO 100, SB-910 Speedlight, SU-800 infrared remote trigger.

FILM NOIR PORTRAITS VS. BLACK AND WHITE PORTRAITS

There are clear distinctions between a film noir or Hollywood portrait and a standard black and white one. The lighting and the subsequent strong contrast that is created is what really sets a film noir image apart. When you then start to add in models or characters styled appropriately to the era, your image really comes to life.

The lighting you choose should add depth and dimension to your shot and this is achieved by using side and backlighting. You will rarely want to light a film noir image from the front as this will make your subject easy to see and possibly too bright. Overly bright images with no shadows are not consistent with film noir as they do not give strong enough contrast.

The light also needs to controlled and shaped in a way that varies the intensity hitting an object or person. This control of the light will add to the depth and dimension of your image, making subjects either stand out or disappear into shadow. This extra depth now sets your image apart from a standard black and white portrait.

You can now add even more depth to your image if you start to think about actually lighting the background or individual props with indirect light sources as well. It is worth pointing out that when I talk about side lighting it doesn’t literally mean to the left or right of the frame; the light could be at a diagonal to the camera, or it could be a high or low light crossing the camera angle. Sometimes the look of your image or location will actually dictate the lighting and you may find some exceptions to the side or backlight guidelines.

Fig 1.2

Here a simple one-light set-up can recreate the look of a classic Hollywood image in film noir style. Nikon Df, 24–70mm ƒ2.8 E, 1/200th, ƒ4, ISO 100, SB-910 Speedlight, SU-800 infrared remote trigger, Lastolite softbox with honeycomb grid.

UNDERSTANDING LIGHT

Whether you are using natural or artificial light, it is important to understand that light has four main characteristics. You may already have an understanding of some of these. If we have a clear sunny day with no clouds in the sky, this is harsh or hard light, which makes for deep, defined shadows. Conversely, on cloudy days, the cloud bank acts as a huge diffuser or softbox, which makes the light source (the sun) bigger as the light passes through the clouds, thereby creating soft light with minimal to no shadows at all. Each of the characteristics of light will play a significant role in the outcome of your image, so consideration should be given to each of them before you press the shutter release on your camera.

The four characteristics of light are: quantity, quality, direction and colour. As we are shooting film noir portraits that will predominantly be black and white, we do not have to pay that much attention to colour. However, as our black and white images will be created from colour originals, it is important to get the colour tones correct to ensure that the tonality of our final black and white image is good.

There are really only two types of light in photography, the light that is already in the scene, often called available, ambient or natural light, and the light that you as the photographer choose to add. You can create great images with available light, by adding light or by using a mix of both. The trick to adding light into a scene is to make sure what you add complements the scene both in power and colour; more often than not, added light, especially light from artificial sources, can have a tendency to overpower all other light, resulting in a disappointing image.

I speak with a lot of photographers who will only work with natural or ambient light. It is easy to look at the light in a room or on location and just start shooting. This does not make you a photographer. Simply using the light in a room to get an exposure is not ‘working with ambient or natural light’, that is just shooting the light that happens to be there. To work with the light you first have to stand back and analyze where the light is falling, whether it is harsh or soft light, and how much of it is there. Ask yourself: where will the shadows be? How is the colour of the light going to affect my final image? Is anything reflecting the light back around the room? What will be illuminated? Where is the best light in the room for the image I want to take?

Approaching your shoots like this can save you a lot of time as sometimes there is just not the right amount of light to take the shot you want. It is very easy to look at all the classic film noir portraits and forget how much work actually went in to lighting those images. For each of the images, every light that was used would have been thought about in terms of the quantity of light it was giving, the quality of light it was providing, the direction it was travelling and the colour or tonality it would produce. Each of these was visualized and considered carefully before the shutter release was pressed.

Getting proficient with lighting means taking all of these factors into consideration with every light you use or photo you take. You have to think about it for both the ambient light and for any additional lighting you will be adding to the image. Being able to see, evaluate and use light is much more important than having lots of expensive camera equipment and lighting kit. Having a good understanding of the various forms of lighting and the considerations that influence how the quality of light will play out in your images is essential. As photographers, we have to pay careful attention to the quality of light, how much of it is around, its direction and the colour, as all have a big impact on our images. As a quick exercise, stop and consider the light you are working in at the moment. Ask yourself the following questions: what is the quality of light? What is the quantity of light? What is the main direction of light? Where are the shadows being cast? Where is the light falling off? Your answers should start to give you an idea about how you could use the light currently around you to take an interesting image.

Fig 1.3

Here we have soft light falling on to the model. Soft light creates few or no shadows and is very flattering for skin tones. Nikon D810, 85mm ƒ1.4 G, 1/200th, ƒ2, ISO 100, SB-910 Speedlight, SU-800 infrared remote trigger, Lastolite Hotrod strip softbox.

QUALITY (OF LIGHT)

This to me is the most important consideration when looking at light. Unfortunately there is no way to really measure the quality of light in a scene or falling on a subject, so you have to have an idea upfront about the light you want in your image to enable you to choose the correct source and modifier in order to achieve this. The quality of light is defined as being ‘hard’ (sometimes also called ‘harsh’) or ‘soft’ light. When discussing this we are actually talking about the shadows that are created by the light. If you go outside at midday, on a bright sunny day, look at the shadows falling on people, cars and buildings. The overhead light creates deep and strong shadows under the eyes, or beneath the cars and to the sides of buildings opposite the sun. This is ‘hard’ light.

If you were to look at the same scene on an overcast day, they would be either minimal shadows or none at all. This is soft light, often referred to as diffused light. Neither of these are the ‘wrong’ light, they are just different. It is up to you as the photographer to choose whether you go out to shoot on a bright or an overcast day. This is fine if we are working with ambient light, but we are shooting film noir portraits, so how do we go about creating ‘hard’ or ‘soft’ light whenever and wherever we want it? You can do this by following a simple guide: the bigger the size of the light source relative to the size of the subject, the softer is the light. For example, if you place a 3ft × 3ft softbox very close to someone (about 1–2ft away) this is a large light source relative to the size of their head, so you will get soft light in the image. If you move the softbox back, say 30ft away, it is now a small light source given its size relative to the person. This will create hard light with deep shadows. As a general rule for portraits you would want soft light on skin tones or people and hard light for creating shadows, but the choice is up to you depending on the look you are trying to achieve.

Fig. 1.4

By using a small light source, e.g. a bare speedlight, you create hard light, which can be used to good in effect in making well-defined shadows and chiaroscuro effects. Nikon Df, 24–70mm ƒ2.8 G, 1/320th, ƒ4, ISO 100, SB-910 Speedlight, SU-800 infrared remote trigger.

LIGHT SOURCES

Small light sources relative to the subject’s size create harsh light with strong defined shadows. Large light sources relative to a subject’s size give soft light with minimal shadows. Diffusers, either man-made or natural, would usually cause the light source to get bigger and subsequently create soft lighting conditions.

QUANTITY (OF LIGHT)

The quantity of light is a measure of how much light is in the scene or that you want to add to the image. Depending on whether you are working with ambient, flash or constant lighting, the quantity of light available will determine what ISO, shutter speed and aperture you could use. Quantity can be classified as either a lot, a medium amount or little to no light. You could choose to have a lot of light coming from one light source, or lots of lights each producing a small amount of controlled light. This then combined with how you have decided to use the ambient light in the scene will give you an almost limitless scope of opportunities to work with light.

The quantity of light can actually be measured using either a reflected or incident light meter. Your camera has a reflected light meter built into it and these days they are very accurate and will be good to use for the vast majority, if not all, the images you will take. The quantity of light you have to work with will also determine how intense the light appears in your image. If you have ever observed light and the way it falls on a subject you may noticed that the intensity decreases the further it has to travel. Have a look at any of the light sources in your home. You will notice that the quantity and intensity is much greater on items closer to the light source than objects on the other side of the room.

This behaviour of light is explained by the inverse-square law, which states that ‘light falls off in an inverse proportion to the square of the distance travelled’. As a low light photographer, this is important to understand and is not as complicated as it first appears. For example, the light coming from a table lamp is strong at 2ft, but at 4ft it is four times weaker than it was at 2ft. The inverse-square law effectively says that light falls off a lot quicker than you think. You have probably come across this if you have ever used flash in your images. If you have two people, one 6ft from the camera and flash, the other 12ft away, the amount of light that hits the second person, is four times weaker than the light that illuminated the first person. This can sometimes cause issues with your images, particularly if you do not understand what is happening with the light. To solve this type of lighting problem you would need to either move the second person closer to the light source or add an additional light source closer to the second person.

DIRECTION (OF LIGHT)

The light sources you work with will determine the direction of light and where any shadows will fall in your image. A good way to determine the direction of light is to look where the shadows are falling, this helps you make an informed decision about how to compose your image. The direction of light is what will add shape and structure to the subject in your image. For portraits we would move our lights and modifiers until we achieve the direction of light we need to create the look we want. This is more of a challenge if we are working outside with ambient light, which is why later in the book I will be showing you how to quickly and effectively overpower the ambient light in a scene so you can take full control of the direction of light regardless of whether you are inside or outside.

You usually have three options when evaluating the direction of ambient light: shoot with it, shoot into it or ‘kill it’ (i.e. set up your camera to ensure that the ambient light in the scene is no longer being recorded in the image). I will go into more detail on this later as this is a very powerful and creative way to work. If you are adding lighting into a scene you will need to decide on the direction you want it to take, the subject you would like it to illuminate and how to create the desired quality with light modifiers or shapers.

The direction of light can have a very dramatic influence if you are shooting portraits and this is especially so in film noir. Depending on the direction of light you choose, your subject may be lit to show either a classic, dramatic or sinister appearance. You may have heard of terms such as broad or short lighting, Rembrandt or split lighting, which are all ways of describing the effect the direction of the light has on a subject and where the shadows fall. These terms are covered in more detail later in the book. Working out the direction of light you want in your image is easy: first evaluate the ambient light, then when you have made a decision on that start to think about the direction of each light you will add to the scene.

COLOUR (OF LIGHT)

I’m covering colour here for completeness. As most film noir is mainly shot in black and white, the colour of light captured is not as critical as if we were shooting an image that would be output in colour. However, strange as it may seem, it is still important to understand the colour of the light we are using as it will affect the tonality of our final image. For a colour image, the colour of light will have a big impact and influence on the mood of the scene. The great thing is that the colour of light can be measured and then changed in camera so we can get the exact tonality we require. Colour of light is rated on the Kelvin (K) scale (a scientific measure of colour based on the colour temperature of light). A blue colour cast is a higher-colour Kelvin temperature, around 9000K, than an orange colour cast, which is around 3000K. Daylight and flash are considered to be around 5000–5500K. I personally use 5560K if I am not using auto white balance.

Getting the colour temperature correct in the original image is advisable as it will affect our black and white conversions. If you have a colder (blue) colour cast to your image, on conversion this will end up very shadowy and dark, which is not ideal. With the white balance (WB) function in your camera you can choose to match the colour temperatures of light, either by selecting Auto WB or by dialing in one of the lighting presets. This would be technically correct, but can often leave you with a flat-looking image. I prefer to use white balance creatively when using light and so sometimes deliberately set it to a Kelvin setting that I know will give me an interesting look. For example, if you are working with flash outdoors on a sunny day with blue clouds in the sky, setting a white balance to 2500K will turn all the ambient light blue. If you then fit an orange gel to your flash and fire it at your subject, the skin tones will come out correctly, perhaps even with a healthy glow to them. If we now think about how this will look in black in white, the brightest part of the image will be the highlights – which are skin tones and our subject – while the darkest part of the image will be the blue colder area – which in this example is the rest of the image.

A camera will only record the light in a scene or on a subject, so to ensure that you get great images, you have to be able to see and understand the light that is in front of you. Working with light can be either hard or easy, it’s your choice. The hard way of doing this would be to get very technical with the camera settings and how you are setting up and controlling the lights. The easy approach, which is what I recommend, would be to set up your camera, make sure your subject and scene are set up, then move the light around until you get the results that you want. Also, by taking this approach, while you are building your image, whether you are moving or adding lights, you might come across a set-up that you like even more than the image you initially set out to achieve.

You can also get several different looks and images simply by walking around the scene or subject and looking at the light and the angle you want to shoot from. Try shooting from the individual position of your lights; this means that you are shooting with the direction of light and this can be very effective for additional portraits while building towards your final image. The more you do this, the quicker you become at shooting great portraits and setting up your lighting.

LIGHT METERS

There are two ways of measuring light using light meters. You have the choice of using a reflected light or incident light (the light that is falling on the subject) reading. Historically, photographers have used incident light meters and measured the light falling on to the subject or model and then dialed those settings into the camera to get the correct exposure for the image. With advances in light technology and the capabilities of the reflected light meters and the expanded dynamic range in modern DSLR cameras, solely using a reflected light reading from the meter in your camera should get you a good exposure. I would argue that light meters are obsolete these days if you have embraced the technological advances that have been made in camera technology. I sold my stand-alone light meter in 2004 and have not used one, or needed to use one, since then.

CHIAROSCURO LIGHTING

Chiaroscuro lighting is defined as a ‘strong contrast between light and dark’, and that is exactly what we are looking for in our images. Film noir lighting can also be described as ‘low key’, which can also be a way of lighting an image to help create a chiaroscuro look or effect. As discussed above, for film noir we would not usually use the standard three-point lighting set-up, which uses a key light, a fill light and a backlight. Low-key lighting more often than not only uses one key light, and maybe a fill light modified in a light shaper or diffuser. Low key is used in photography to describe any scene with a high lighting ratio, i.e. a wide range of light from shadow to bright areas, especially if there are a lot of shadows in the scene. It’s worth noting that low-key images do not always have to be dark images, although as this style of lighting does intentionally create dark areas and shadows in an image and tends to heighten the sense of mystery felt by the viewer, it is commonly used in film noir. The low-key lighting is mainly used to light the contours of a subject by throwing areas into darkness and shadow, while a fill light or reflector is then used to maybe illuminate the dark and shadow areas to balance the overall contrast in the image. Film noir is probably the only genre of portrait photography where it is completely acceptable to use harsh light. With chiaroscuro lighting in a film noir scene, the shadows should be considered as characters in the image. It is very important for those shadows to be sharp and distinct wherever possible as this will help the viewer create a clear idea of the subject casting the shadow, be it a man in a hat just out of frame or a gloved hand holding a weapon, depending on the story you are trying tell in your image.

Fig 1.5

Here I’ve used a single speedlight in a strip softbox placed to camera right. The light is angled to ensure that only the right side of the scene and model is lit. Nikon D810, 24–70mm ƒ2.8 G, 1/200th, ƒ8, ISO 200, SB-910 Speedlight, SU-800 infrared remote trigger, Lastolite Hotrod strip softbox.

LIGHTING RATIOS

Lighting ratios are used to describe the strength of key light vs. the strength of the fill light in a scene or image. With chiaroscuro lighting you are ideally trying to achieve a lighting ratio of around 8:1 or higher, i.e. the key light is eight times stronger than the fill light. However, this is not a hard rule that is set in stone. Your first questions should be ‘does the image look good with the lighting’ and ‘have I achieved a strong contrast between light and dark areas’?

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