Super basic lighting question

[tellure]

I'm going to a friend's wedding next week and plan to shoot a short video (not in any official capacity).  I'd like to get a series of brief B&W shots of the guests, inspired by the fan and crew shots in the RHCP video Snow (well some of them anyways, some are pretty meh).  Below is a screenshot of such a shot.  Just curious what kind of lighting the experts here would recommend for this type of shot.  Hopefully something light and portable I can bring with me :).  Looks fairly basic, like any LED video light would probably do it, just not sure how much of a diffuser / softener I'd need.  Thanks for any help!

 

[JazzBox]

In this screenshot it seems that the light come from above, slightly from the left, as you can see from shadow on his neck and under his nose. It is similar to "butterfly (or Paramount) light" photographers use a lot for portrait. It comes from old Hollywood era: you can move the light from 25° to 70° in front of your subject.

For my taste this kind of frontal light on your screenshot is a little too flat, I would go at least at 45° in order to have more contrast. 

More info here: http://photo.stackexchange.com/questions/6772/what-is-butterfly-lighting-and-when-do-i-use-it 

[tupp]

There are a lot of different lighting scenarios shown in that video, and many of them are available light.

 

In regards to the screen grab that you posted, the solitary light source seems to be coming from a moderately steep angle, and ever so slightly to camera right.  Judging from the falloff and cast shadow edges, it appears to be fairly close to the subject, perhaps two to three feet outside of the frame.  The source might be 10-24 inches in diameter/width, and it probably is a flat, smooth-faced (diffused) source.

 

To get a similar effect, you could use an LED panel with some diffusion, or get a small portable soft box (like a Rifa) or just clip a large piece of diffusion to the bardoors of most any fixture.  Position the light closer than usual, and have stuff in the background that barely reads in the darker area of the light's falloff.

[tellure]

Thanks for the help, much appreciated!

[tellure]

Just wanted to follow up and say thanks for the advice from the community.  I bought an Aputure Amaran H198C (small handheld LED light) and I was able to use it to get some shots similar to the above.  Here's one screencap of such a shot.

In testing this light I found it was too harsh on its own so I needed a diffuser of some kind but I was going all handheld and didn't have a lot of space for gear so I just used a floor lamp and shone the light through its lampshade.  Seemed to work pretty well.

Full video is here: https://vimeo.com/174464993/03b9aafdbb

[DBounce]

4 hours ago, tellure said:

Just wanted to follow up and say thanks for the advice from the community.  I bought an Aputure Amaran H198C (small handheld LED light) and I was able to use it to get some shots similar to the above.  Here's one screencap of such a shot.

In testing this light I found it was too harsh on its own so I needed a diffuser of some kind but I was going all handheld and didn't have a lot of space for gear so I just used a floor lamp and shone the light through its lampshade.  Seemed to work pretty well.

Full video is here: https://vimeo.com/174464993/03b9aafdbb

I don't dislike your lighting,  but I don't think this is the same or even particularly close to the first picture you posted.  The first picture is much more moody with harsher shadows. A completely different vibe imo.

[tupp]

25 minutes ago, DBounce said:

I don't dislike your lighting,  but I don't think this is the same or even particularly close to the first picture you posted.  The first picture is much more moody with harsher shadows. A completely different vibe imo.

The lighting angle in the original shot is is higher, and there is (consequently) a little more contrast in the original.  Also, it looks like the original might have a tad bit more fall-off.

[tellure]

Yeah I agree the lighting has harsher shadows and a more severe angle.  I was trying to make do with what I had on scene so I didn't have much ability to get it as close to the original as I had hoped.  Appreciate the critique.

[DBounce]

19 minutes ago, tellure said:

Yeah I agree the lighting has harsher shadows and a more severe angle.  I was trying to make do with what I had on scene so I didn't have much ability to get it as close to the original as I had hoped.  Appreciate the critique.

I think you might get pretty close to that look with a single light and something to bounce off. The harsh shadows are from shaping the light. That said, harsh shadows might not be ideal for female subjects unless artfully done. It's easy to make the subject look intense... but that may not be flattering. Experiment and have fun.

[M Carter]

Check out the catch-lights in the pupils as well as the shadow quality. If the photo has enough resolution, you can often see exactly what was used, like umbrella ribs or ring-light circles. For the look in the example photo, my go-to is using a Speedotron strobe - I use the 11" reflector, with mylar diffusion behind a grid. For up-close work, it's flattering but still pretty directional. This one uses the speedo reflector, but I hacked together a way to use it with a Vivitar flash and a radio trigger so I could mount it to ceiling joists and so on. (this also had a full CTO on the strobe to match a fresnel on the BG).