Lighting masterclass - advanced studio photography lighting

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PORTRAITS LIGHTING MASTERCLASS

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Having started out as a press photographer Paul Cooper is well versed in the art of dealing with celebrities, and his lighting approach is dictated by his need to shoot high quality location portraits under pressure WORDS TERRY HOPE PICTURES PAUL COOPER

ressure is something that most photographers have to learn to deal with, and those who are in the business of producing editorial portraits will often find that time is the factor that gives them the biggest challenge. This is something that’s multiplied exponentially once you add celebrities into the mix, and suddenly you could find yourself not only dealing with a sitter who is in big demand but also having to negotiate your way around their entourage, who are in a big hurry to move their client on to their next pressing engagement.

Paul Cooper knows all about the trials and tribulations that come with the territory, and he’s coped with it all, moving on from his time as a photojournalist working for titles such as The Times, The Sun and the News of the World at News International to build himself a big reputation for the quality of his editorial and PR work. Although he’s worked all around the world in his time, he’s particularly busy around his home base of Manchester, working regularly with sportsmen and women, and dealing with huge Premier League clubs such as Manchester United, Manchester City, Liverpool and Everton.

The nature of Paul’s work sees him regularly working on location as opposed to the more predictable confines of the studio, and he’s had to adapt his lighting approach to take account of the need to be able to set up quickly and often within an adapted and less than ideal environment. There’s also the small matter to consider that Paul is often working on his own, and it’s crucial that he’s able to carry everything he needs with him and to be entirely self-sufficient.

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“Through the years of experience I’ve built up it’s become almost second nature to me to consider the direction and quality of the light I need and which light shaping tools will work best,” he explains. “This allows me to think on my feet if changes are needed at the last minute. There have been times when I’ve been asked to change from locations where I’m already set up and ready to shoot and have had to do it all again somewhere else in a matter of minutes. To be able to cope with demands such as this the process needs to become intuitive and instinctive.

“My lighting set-ups vary from high key/low key, dramatic/bright and poppy, one light and sometimes up to five lights. It all depends on the person I’m photographing, how much time I have to set up and the mood I want to create.

I don’t have set lighting plans; rather they tend to be fluid depending on the situation unless a client has asked for a specific look.”

Although adept at handling a big lighting setup if required, Paul’s forte is using his ingenuity to create a professional-looking image while working with the minimum of components, and he’s constantly living on his wits, ready to change everything around at a moment’s notice should the need dictate. Given the number of people who might be on set he also needs to be aware of the potential for distractions and safety issues, and his whole approach has to be geared around getting the job done with the minimum of fuss.

“One of the things I always try to do is to work with wireless triggers to do away with the need for trailing wires,” he says. “I also pack a Sekonic light meter and blue gels for tungsten

Subject

Strobe 1

Strobe 2

Camera

Carl Froch, boxer “I wanted quite a hard light for this portrait of super-middleweight world champion Carl Froch at his training gym. There was not a lot of room in the ring, so I opted for the portability of my Elinchrom Quadra flashes; these pack a punch but are very light and portable and, as they attach to a battery pack, you don’t have to worry about finding a convenient power point. I placed my lights at angles either side of Carl, one being metered a stop less and positioned slightly higher than his eyeline to create some shadow on the opposite side of his face. I lay on the floor of the ring so that I could slightly look up at Carl, to create a sense of power. I only had about five minutes to get my shot, which is often the case when you’re working with wellknown celebrities because they have such huge demands on their time, but Carl was a great sport and very easy to work with.”

Nikon D800, 50mm f/1.4, 1/250sec at f/5.6, ISO 100

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PRO ACADEMY LIGHTING MASTERCLASS conversion and green for fluorescent, plus a reflector and spares of any lighting kit I might need for the job. More often than not there is no second chance to set up the shoot again, so if something does fail I need to be able to replace it immediately so I can carry on.

“I was faced with a situation like this during a shoot with Rio Ferdinand. All the tests had gone perfectly, then just two minutes into the session my key light packed up on me. Luckily I had another two spares, so I quickly swapped everything over and got on with the shoot. I tend to meter a backup light before I start so I can switch things in and out quickly if needed.”

Working quickly With most editorial celebrity portraits Paul gets just five to ten minutes within which to work if he’s lucky, and it’s quite common for him to have no access to the location where he’s due to shoot until around half an hour beforehand. “I always ensure I get there as early as I’m permitted so that I can recce the area for possible locations and consider which lighting set-ups will work,” he says. “Even then there have been times where a pre-planned slot for the shoot gets pushed back and all the planning goes out the window.

“A good example of this would be a shoot I had with Didier Drogba, where I ended up literally doing the whole thing in 30 seconds flat. He had overrun on a few interviews and when he finally arrived he basically wanted to leave immediately. I knew my planned shot 200 yards away was not going to happen, so I quickly asked him to stand against a nearby wall, grabbed a speedlight in my left hand, held it up at 45° and managed about five frames.

There might not have been much lighting technique involved in that one, but it’s all about thinking on your feet. Thankfully situations such as this are very rare but it does illustrate that having a Plan B is always a good idea.”

Most of Paul’s editorial commissions come directly via an editor, and the brief is often along the lines of ‘a strong portrait that works with the story’. Design agencies meanwhile might ask for something as simple as a clean shot of the subject with the client’s logo or product or a subtler portrait with a grittier, editorial feel. Once he has the brief Paul is generally left to get on with it, but he always needs to bear in mind that the resulting photos have to tie in with the client’s expectations.

“There are a number of things I need to establish before the shoot,” he says. “Where it’s taking place and how long we have with the subject, and then I’ll need to liaise with the celeb’s agent, press office and PA and make sure that the wish list of the client and my requirements can be met. It can be a battle sometimes to get the location you want because the people in charge of some celebs just want the easiest solution and this may not be the best for the shoot. Ultimately you have to be firm to get what you want.

“Once I get to a location my considerations for the shoot include checking out the existing background textures/colours, and then I think about the quality of the light, hard, wrapped, soft etc, then its direction and whether I should place it front/back/side or overhead? Then

James Martin, chef “This portrait of TV chef James Martin was shot in his new restaurant in Manchester. We were looking for a strong image suitable for a magazine cover that was gritty and had dramatic lighting. I went for a very simple setup, using just one Bowens light to the right of camera, slightly raised above James’s eyeline and used in combination with a Maxilite reflector and grid to create a focused hard light. I positioned him close to a plain brick wall to create the sharp shadow around him.”

Brick wall

Subject

Camera

Light with reflector and grid

Nikon D3s, 80mm f/1.4, 1/200sec at f/4, ISO 200

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Jordan Henderson, footballer “Jordan Henderson was photographed at the Liverpool training ground, and for the wide shots in the series his boots added a nice touch of colour. I set up two Elinchrom Quadra rangers with shoot-through brollies, one at right angles to Jordan and the other to his left slightly further away, set to a stop less power to act as a fill. We had been in this location for just a couple of minutes when we were photo-bombed by Daniel Sturridge!”

Subject Strobe with umbrella 1 Strobe with umbrella 2

Camera

Nikon D3s, 60mm, 1/200sec at f/4.5, ISO 400

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the modifiers are added to the light to create the effect. I make sure I’m 100 per cent happy with my lighting set-up beforehand because a celeb shoot with time constraints is probably not the time to be experimenting with untried and untested set-ups. I might change a few things when I have the shot in the bag for the client, but my priority is to get the shot first and only then do I think about having a play with the lights.”

Before he meets the celebrity Paul tries to find out something about them to help the initial conversation to flow and to put them at their ease. Sometimes if they’re relaxed enough it’s possible to get some extra time out of them.

“The celebs are generally very professional and are used to being photographed and accept it as part of the job,” he says. “That said you do get the occasional tricky person who wants to be somewhere else. It takes a bit of a smile and joke to get them on side, but on the whole they 038 PHOTO PROFESSIONAL ISSUE 90

LIGHTING MASTERCLASS

Peter Jones, Dragon’s Den “For this portrait of Peter Jones, my light, a single Bowens Gemini 500 Pro monobloc, was positioned about 45° off-axis to camera right, and was metered to f/8. I positioned this carefully to create a catchlight in his eyes at around 2 o’clock (this would be 10-11 o’clock if I had positioned my light to camera left). I wanted a moody feel to the shot, and a beauty dish is a better choice than a softbox for me as it produces a slightly harsher, more contrast filled light that’s more defined. Peter sat for this shot as he was keen to show off his signature socks!”

D800, 24-70mm, 1/250sec at f/8, ISO 200

Subject

Beauty dish

Camera

are engaged in the shoot. I find maintaining a professional approach helps instil confidence in the celebrity and enforces the idea that we are both there to get the job done and to achieve the best result.

“It’s very rare that the subject and myself will be the only ones present. Depending on the shoot, you could be one-on-one with the celeb or surrounded by an entourage of PA, make-up artist, agents, press officers, art director, stylists etc and suddenly it can get quite crowded. I find it pays to be firm but polite and ensure you are given space. Subjects can become very distracted during a shoot and it doesn’t help if a friend/agent etc continues to chat with them while you are trying to work. That eats into your valuable time, so it’s definitely something you should try to discourage.”

MORE INFORMATION www.cooperphotos.co.uk

Wayne Rooney, footballer “I was shooting against a black cloth backdrop, and I used Bowens Gemini 500 Pro monoblocs triggered with a Pulsar Tx. My key light was a 27in beauty dish with a honeycomb positioned approximately 45° off-axis and about 1.5m in front of him. The light was metered to f/11, and positioned carefully so it fell on both sides of the face while maintaining some shadow. I added a second light, fitted with a Maxilite reflector and honeycomb grid. Placed roughly 45° degrees behind the subject, opposite the key light, it was metered to around f/8.”

With reflector & honeycomb grid Black backdrop

Subject

Key light, beauty dish with honeycomb grid

Camera

D800, 85mm f/1.4, 1/250sec at f/11, ISO 100

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