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DPChallenge Forums >> Photography Discussion >> Hair Lighting techniques
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 02/07/2008 12:37:15 AM · #1
Hello,

I've been operating my home studio using a four white lightning studio strobes - two for main subject lighting with umbrellas and two for background lighting when needed. I'd like to start differentiating the subjects hair better from some of my darker backdrops but I'm not sure what I should buy... any comments? My studio is in my basement (7.5') ceilings, so I'm a bit restricted on how high I can hang something. My backdrop lights are currently hanging at 45 degree angles to the backdrop from the ceiling. Can I just turn one of these around and angle it toward the back of my subject? Do I need a snoot or some time of adapeter to control the lighting? I know I should just play around with it, but I thought some of you might give me some direction of where to start. Thanks in advance!
 02/07/2008 04:52:08 AM · #2
With 4 lights you have enough stuff to spare one of them for a hairlight. simplest way would to be just turning round one of your background lights and point it at their hair from a downward angle. Also, you might need to move the hairlight further away so it doesn't look like their head is on fire. It should be subtle to provide a bit of definition, not give them a halo.

I don't think you'd need a snoot honestly. I've used them in the past but don't really think it helps much unless you're trying to avoid highlighting the shoulders, but then they look like a floating head.
 02/07/2008 05:16:53 AM · #3
I like to use a honeycomb grid on hair lights to keep the light from spilling all over the place. The AlienBees honeycomb grids come in four angles: 10º, 20º, 30º and 40º. They pop right into the standard reflector.

Note: The AlienBees snoot comes with a 20º honeycomb grid. However, the snoot requires a 'Unit Mainframe' to attach to the front plate of your flash unit.
02/07/2008 05:56:12 AM · #4
Originally posted by Tez:
With 4 lights you have enough stuff to spare one of them for a hairlight. simplest way would to be just turning round one of your background lights and point it at their hair from a downward angle. Also, you might need to move the hairlight further away so it doesn't look like their head is on fire. It should be subtle to provide a bit of definition, not give them a halo.

I don't think you'd need a snoot honestly. I've used them in the past but don't really think it helps much unless you're trying to avoid highlighting the shoulders, but then they look like a floating head.


I agree about the snoot. Since you don't realy need the local light a snoot provides, you're probably better of using barndoors, giving you more control.
 02/07/2008 06:49:21 AM · #5
A lightbox or strip can also be used from above and behind for a softer hair light. But, no, no snoot is needed, unless as stated above you want to localize to only the hair.

The important thing to remember is that the thing doesn't need to be blasting a lot of light to be effective, so you might consider a 5th low power strobe, if you don't want to compromise the b/g lights.
 02/07/2008 08:35:15 AM · #6
get christpher grey's book on mastering studio lighting - it will show you a number of different lighting types and how to do them.

for a hair light, since I too work in a low ceilinged environment, I use a grid on my light and it sits in the back corner. the grid just slips into the standard reclector. the downside is you need to watch it, aim wise, as your repose your model. That's why strip light soft boxes are popular.

you could use one of your lights as a kicker with a reflective umbrella also.
 02/12/2008 09:07:40 PM · #7
Thanks for the advice!!! I will start pracicing! My backdrop lights are old "coffee can" White Lightning 5000's. They don't have a lot of power control, only in 1/3 increments. But now that I know where to place the lighting, perhaps if these are two powerful, I'll just buy a smaller light for hair only.

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