For today’s photo deconstruction I’m going to take you behind the scenes of a 4 light fashion editorial image using a scrim and bounce light.
My concept for the editorial was to have a model painting on a canvas, and then the photo itself would mirror that, basically an idea reflecting upon itself.
I enjoyed this concept since it was a challenge, as well as something different than I normally do. It gave me the opportunity to build up the scene and lighting in a way that embodied the concept and to make it appear like a painting.
👉 Final image 1:13
There were several things I needed to achieve with my lighting for this. Since this scene required a lot more of the backdrop, I needed a light source that could evenly right everything. I opted for the Westcott Scrim Jim which is an 8x8 foot large sheet of diffusion material that I could light through. To fill in some additional shadows I used a large umbrella with diffusion but instead of directly to the models, it was pointed at the white walls as a bounce light.
The scene still looked a bit flat, so I added two more strobes. One to light the subject’s face with a 5 degree grid and one to act as a rim light.
Finally, a background light with a 20 degree rid to light the hair and profile of the subject on the left.
I also used a haze machine that flared out the light a bit. Something magical happens with the haze machine that blends the colors together, makes them look smoother and thus more painterly. So this is a little trick if you’re trying to do something that looks like a painting. 😆
So as you can see 4 different lights and a bunch going on here, but each light has a specific job.
To see what all of this light did straight out of camera skip to 7:09.
Finally for post processing, I heavily desaturated the image, added a lot of contrast and added blue to the shadows.
👉 Before/after: 8:06
Beyond that, was some retouching such as filling in the gap at the top, removing light stands and some other misc tweaks.
Overall I think we achieved our goal of the photograph looking like a painting and telling a story which was used in an editorial for Faddy Magazine. https://faddymag.com/
What are your thoughts on the end result? Is this a style you’d try — making a photo look like a painting?
👇 Drop a comment below and let me know your thoughts!
⚙️ Camera settings:
✅ 1/200
✅ F400
✅ ISO 250
📸 Gear Used:
✅ Canon EOS R5: https://adorama.rfvk.net/JxzdE
✅ Canon RF 24-105: https://adorama.rfvk.net/KG0ne
✅ Profoto D2: https://adorama.rfvk.net/qvB7y
✅ Large Umbrella with Diffusion: https://adorama.rfvk.net/JAyMe
✅ 20 Degree Grid: https://adorama.rfvk.net/nvn0A
✅ 5 Degree Grid: https://adorama.rfvk.net/YYa4r
✅ Westcott 8x8 Scrim Jim: https://adorama.rfvk.net/KNZ5a
✅ Gravity Backdrops canvas: https://www.gravitybackdrops.com/
✅ V-Flat World Black v-flat: https://adorama.rfvk.net/djdBq
🔥 To learn more about lighting, I definitely recommend checking out my class - Master Studio Lighting. In it I teach you all of my knowledge of studio lighting including using a scrim. Learn more at https://lindsayadler.photo/msl
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