i went to a workshop last year put on by zack arias.... he's a big proponent of the "one light" aesthetic, where you keep your lighting setup very simple.... one light source, and that's it. while i respect that in a purist sense, i almost always want to set up a light for the subject, a light for the background, a rim light, an uplight...... the list goes on and on.
so for this post, i wanted to see how far i can get to that goal using only one light. i used dean collin's trick of using a translucent panel with a light behind it as my main, and then manipulating the raw light that goes past the panel to provide my rim and fill.
it doesn't take any longer to set up than setting up three or four lights would.... the sacrifice you make comes in the form of being able to easily adjust the ratios of the lights against each other.... if i wanted to make the background darker, say, or the uplight or rim light stronger, it would involve changing the relative distances to the lightsource, or putting up thicker material as a scrim, or moving farther away or closer to the background. it's not impossible, it just requires a lot more creativity in your approach.
i'd like to do a project where i recreate all my favorite lighting setups with only one light.... it would definitely be a challenge. i'd have to buy a lot more mirrors and reflectors and goboes.
-tim feb'11
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