I just did a week-plus-long belly dance photograph marathon recently (my 3rd annual), and I was really trying to force myself to be uncomfortable with using older tricks I know. I really wanted to expand and improve the lighting options for this sequence shoot. So, for the last shoot of the series, I did some additional research on lighting, where I had a particular interest in creating gradients. This research ultimately led to Chiaroscuro lighting setups. I reasoned how to do this for the particular studio I normally work in ... and how to do it with one light!

Here's a link on the very lively photo.net website explaining a one-light setup:
photo.net/photography-l...s-forum/00KAf3

The key insight I had looking at their diagram was understanding that I could use a white cyclorama at an ANGLE, not directly incident, or flush parallel with the curved bottom edge of the cyclorama. Normally, we shoot with the model directly in front of the cyclorama, and the camera looking in that direction. Instead, for this type of lighting setup, I took a slant angle, perhaps 30-40 degrees, looking ACROSS the cyclorama, instead of directly at it. It was a simple matter to base our operations on this slant view, which causes a deeper gradient toward the background, as light falls off.

The photo.net post recommended a fill card and gobo, which was not illustrated in the setup diagram. I did a little experimentation around this idea, putting the gobos and reflector panel where I thought they would work. The results were fabulous! I'll describe the particular modifications I did, the results of which can be seen in the samples (links below), for what I'll guess is a hybrid, or modifed Chiaroscuro lighting effect.

The belly dancers brought veils, so I used a large/wide softbox to allow good coverage of their body plus veil being flown, an enormously larger surface area than a single person. But I wanted to be able to control and direct the light output, so previously I've learned to create apertures using large black foamcore gobos to stop down and direct the edge of the light out of the softbox. I really wanted a really dark dark-side, so having a large soft-box, I used two 4' x 8' black foamcore V panels to block all spill light from where ever the aperture slit was (one-sided in this instance, all at right, partially occluding the softbox, and beyond it, to catch all spill light). Another slight improvement which was used for most of this shoot was to use a translucent fabric as a neutral density filter immediately inside the softbox outer diffuser panel is, just outside where the black gobo is placed for (in this instance) a one-sided aperture. This allowed the creation of a much softer edge between light and dark. We also removed this fabric for some shows, to create a more distinct shadow line.

All of this was all quite revealing as we worked, and the working process allowed numerous options for shooting that I had not initially envisioned. I very quickly learned I could chose an angle for the model where she's all in the light (which was a light gradient...), all in the dark (which went from dark to really dark...), or split between the light-dark boundary (both in diffused and distinct versions).

Also, this setup had great latitude for exposure (about 1 stop) for specific effects, and depending on where I placed the model relative to the softbox. This latitude was borne in two dimensions. The first dimension was her relative distance from the softbox (hence incurring inverse square-law light attenuation). This sets a baseline for the usable EV, and also relative softness: closer is softer. However, another dimension was her angular distance from the light-dark line created in the setup. Small variation of perhaps +/- 15 degrees of arc from the light-dark line were all aesthetically viable. I could just align the angle for the camera-to-model central axis for a variety of "looks," and/or I could have the model reposition herself.

This was all done with one single softbox as the light source, and the accessible complexity of light-dark-light areas, both on the background and on the model, were just fabulous, it worked incredibly well. I certainly do use more than one light, but I am very excited to learn what a single light can do, with more research and experimentation. For this Chiaroscuro setup, I can now see lots of improvements that would offer even better results. I think some supplementary gobos could be more helpful, and I'm interested in controlling the light-dark edge definition even more precisely. Another improvement would be being able to "size" a more fully developed gradient of light, esp. on the light side. That is, having more control over the tone range (e.g. more tone in less space), for a specific size view behind the belly dancer.

Here are photo samples of some of this work, all selected and processed in post by the model herself:
tribes.tribe.net/michaelba...a46d79f2c1
tribes.tribe.net/michaelba...51a5091444
tribes.tribe.net/michaelba...1b92f520e2
tribes.tribe.net/michaelba...8e69e7dc82
tribes.tribe.net/michaelba...597e940f25
tribes.tribe.net/michaelba...73867a0c5e

Wish all fellow photographic artists here much joy and success for the coming New Year, may you have Great Light!

Blessings and Light,
M