How did they take this?

[mikeboy]

Greetings, It's been a long time since I last posted, but Im back now.

I have a question, I saw this portrait the other day and was wondering what kind of light must have been used, and where were they placed.

http://caracasballet.com/shows/images/Flamenco-El-Almar.jpg

I know there is a gray backdrop, but how do they get the fade effect? And how about lighting the subjects?

I think there where 2 lights, 1 shining at the backdrop from below, behind the subjects, and just 1 diagonal light lighting the subjects, the flash acting as filler.

would this setup work for this shot? :confused:

[RexK_Cozumel]

from the shadows in the picture I dont think a fill flash was used. lighting from above left of frame and the backdrop could be done the way your describe or it could just be a backdrop that is a gradient and normally looks like that.

[ELAY]

Looks like the main light is high camera left, but judging from the shadows is not far from the camera (could the photographer be holding it high in his left hand?). I agree the backdrop looks lit. I suspect there is also something weak coming in from camera right, but not sure.

All questions lighting-related are answered at Strobist (http://strobist.blogspot.com/)...if you haven't been there already, I highly recommend it as a place to start learning about lighting.

EL

[henryp]

The background is almost certainly lit, but you could approximate the effect with a graduated background (http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/shop/2407/). Here's a link to Flotone's graduated studio grey (http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/17740-REG/).

[mikeboy]

thanks for your replies!

Dont you think this could be a fun game to play around here on DPS? Really tests your deduction and lighting skills