I’m a huge advocate of creating depth in a photograph. One of the ways is to use a back light or at times referred to as a hair light when shooting talent.
Some of the challenges I might have are when the talent has blonde or gray / silver colored hair. I’ll lose hair detail in the hair light. I found a great method for helping gain back that detail without losing the depth that a hair light can create.
First I’ll spray paint the inside of one of my reflectors from metal to flat white. This will soften the contrast:
The next thing I will add is some diffusion material referred to as Quarter Grid. It’s a soft fabric you can purchase from B&H.
I’ll take the Quarter Grid fabric and stretch it over the reflector. I’ll add a 20? grid to that reflector and pull it on the edges nice and snug:
I’m ready to shoot some talent with a soft diffused hair light:
Here you can see the details in Rene Auberjonois suit and hair through the diffused light:
Anytime you have the opportunity to make anyone look better through a simple technique such as I’ve just shared, take it up a notch and see the amazing results you can achieve.
That’s a wrap, fade to black
Mike is best known for his work on countless popular shows that are household names: CSI, CSI: Miami, CSI: NY, JAG, Boston Legal, Pretty Little Liars to name a few. His current projects are NCIS and NCIS: Los Angeles.
Mike is a Trainer for KelbyOne, and Los Angeles Center of Photography. Mike is also a member of the International Cinematographers Guild.
You can view Mikes work at .
I enjoy reading the educational posts on photofocus. I think it’s great that Mike Kubeisy has recently joined the team and his contributions have been awesome. Mike is not just a fantastic photographer but he’s also a great teacher. He has a way of explaining the “how he does it” details so that photographers with any level of experience can understand and then feel like they can go shoot something similar and get great results. Before reading about how Mike uses a hair light to create depth in a photo, I wouldn’t have known where to start if I wanted… Read more »
Diffusing light is my biggest weakness as a photographer.
Thanks for reminding me to spend the time in setting up before taking the shot!