Photographer Julie Clegg, Seattle.
A main light softbox from slightly to camera left provides the overall illumination. Julie added a fill card to camera right, and it is just out of frame. Directly behind the center fireman there is a gridded spot to add very sharp edges to the subjects. The ambient lights of the firehouse were turned on full, and they even fired up the “emergency lights” on top of the firetruck for the shot.
The result is a dramatic portrayal of a local fire station. Julie used a 16-35MM lens on her Canon to get a bit of a wide angle look (somewhere around 30MM on a FF body). The slightly lowered angle of the lens allowed her to include the emergency lights and get a feel for the ambient area around the truck.
Takeaways:
Use light to sculpt and add drama where appropriate. The angle of the camera can have a tremendous effect on the overall feeling of the image, as well as include areas that can be more (or less) interesting. Attention to detail is very important.
Assignment:
Use a second light to sculpt the edges of a portrait. From behind the subject try an unmodified or snooted or grid-spotted single light. Note the different characteristics of each of these modifiers… they are all different in presentation.
