About this week’s episode

In this week’s episode, we’ll discuss a three light setup. This is the light talk for the Free Halloween Tutorial. As always, the image we are discussing is the retouched version, and not the image out of camera. We used three lights, namely two striplights in the back, and a 82′ silver-inline umbrella coming straight from the top.

The subject was shot on a charcoal grey backdrop, which makes it easier to blend in the new background and textures and also easier to cut out the subject. The rimlights were placed to the left and right of the subject and the lights were powered almost to their maximum. The striplights were used without any grid. We did this to create a strong rim light on the subject. This will also cause light to spill on the background but we tried to control this by creating an even spill.

We also used a large silver-inline umbrella placed basically above the subject. We didn’t use any diffusing material in the umbrella. This helps to amplify the shadows to create a moody look. If you want more light in a subject’s face we would advice using a polyboard to bounce some light.

Another important aspect was the background. You have to take your perspective into consideration when you shoot it. We then blend the two images to create a moody Halloween image.

Here’s what we used for the light setup:

• 82′ silver umbrella
• Elinchrom strobes
• Strip softbox

If you want to know more about the Halloween Retouching, then find the Tutorial here:

• Halloween Retouching In Photoshop