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Food for Digital Thought

The Law Of The Light Part II: Lighting People

The jockey picture.

The jockey picture.

In my part I post on the “Law of the Light” I talked about positioning my 57’Chevy in a position where I could get a “POP” on the front grill. By placing the car in such a way as to have the Angle of Incidence (the light falling on the grill) being the same as the Angle of Reflection (the light reflecting off the grill to the lens).. I also said that it was my favorite way to light …anything!!! Well that, next to backlight, is my favorite way to light people as well.

In my online class with the BPSOP, and in my “Stretching Your Frame of Mind ” workshop I conduct around the planet, I provide my students with a diagram of a clock as I’ve provided here. If you notice, I have my subject right in the center and my camera right above the six. I tell them to imagine this clock on the ground (or behind your subject depending what is easier for you to imagine) and the person they want to photograph standing where I have the subject (in the middle of the clock).

In order to light the person so that they’re in the “Law of the light”, I want the sun, or the light source to be either around 10 o’clock or around 2 o’clock with the camera at 6 o’clock. This would be when the angle of the light source hitting the subject is the same angle as the light sources reflecting off the subject hitting the lens.

As you can see by my clock diagram, the source of the light is coming from about 2 o’clock and from behind the jockey. The angle from the ‘2’ to the subject is the same angle as the subject to the camera.

Here’s a few more examples of shooting people in the “Law of the Light” In each of these photos, imagine the clock superimposed over the photo:

Visit my website at: www.joebaraban.com, and follow me on Instagram www.instagram.com/barabanjoe. Check out my workshop schedule and come shoot in the “Law of the Light” with me.

JoeB

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