Yeah, you were kind of right there lol.burnzz wrote:
ok mcminty - there's light low left, and another light source directly right (as you look). the light is better diffused from the left. the light on the right is blowing out or leaving a hotspot on his left cheek, so it's more direct.
I'll now explain the setup shot.
The main lights were the ones with the umbrellas. However, the light to the left was slightly more powerful (maybe 0.5-1 stops of light). Bringing them in close to dad created the effect of having a reallllly large light source on either side. This gives a nice even and flat light, filling in the shadows to make the skin look smoother. However, that on its own was boring. There was no "edge" to the photo.
Enter the rim-lighting. I started with the flash in the back right of frame. This added that nearly-blown-out highlight just in front of his left ear (our right obviously), as well as some subtle lighting on his neck and hair. You can see what his neck would have looked like without it by looking to see where the t-shirt blocks out the light on his neck. This is a very subtle effect, but one that makes the photo "pop". After a few frames, I decided to replicate the rim light on the other side (I only had 3 stands, hence resting it on the chair). The effect of this light was much more subtle, but still added to the 3Dness that the rim lights create.
