On Wed, Jun 25, 2014 at 2:12 PM, Bruce Walker <[email protected]> wrote: > Two lights would actually cast two shadows either side of her nose, > which is also pretty fatal. Plus it would spoil the nice contrasty > fall-off I'm getting that so prominently carves her cheekbones.
This is incorrect. Google "butterfly lighting". This is what a nose shadow should look like when it is applied http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-czWwmHHbbVk/UZU75l7sbBI/AAAAAAAAAMs/9N57h8u55Yc/s1600/butterfly+1.jpg and (as you can see) you do not lose the cheekbone carving. Note: this is a high contrast example to exaggerate the butterfly lighting. The ratio of shadow to light can be changed with a reflector underneath or other appropriately placed fill light. Butterfly lights should always be placed on either side of the line formed from where the subject's nose is pointed. In my link above, since the subject's nose is pointed towards the camera it would be on either side of the lens to subject line. In your set up they would be on either side of the line drawn outwards from where her nose is pointed. It is the ALTITUDE of the lights that gives you the cheekbone shadow (and also affects the dimension of the butterfly shadow. The rule is that the shadow should not touch the upper lip, but it can be much shallower if desired (like this: http://media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/c3/6b/f5/c36bf548a7845fbbda6dc445a49116da.jpg ) -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List [email protected] http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
