We wanted to see just how versatile of a look we could achieve with the MagBox so we put it through its paces to create these dramatic portraits. These images were created for our Lighting 3 Course (special discount for the MagMod Community at the end of the article!) which is all about multi-point location lighting and advanced lighting refinement. Every piece of gear, every modifier, made simple so you can choose what best fits your budget and vision.
1. Stacking the MagSpere with the MagBox
In order to create this painterly portrait, we needed one light to illuminate our subject and a second light for added fill. What characterizes a photo as ‘painterly’ as the additional depth created from multiple light sources filling into the face. We started out with 2 Godox AD200s placed in the MagRing firing through a MagBox with the Focus Diffuser. This light is being used to add light onto the subject, firing both strobes at full power.
Our secondary light source is a simple pocket flash, the Godox V860IIC, firing at full power directly at the subjects face. Adding a MagGrid and a MagSphere to this light gives us a pin-pointed diffused light source that will match the same light quality of the light being produced from the MagBox. Both lights are angled to create a Rembrandt light setup, giving us that perfect triangle of light under the eye on the far side of the face. We then take a plate shot with the light stands and remove them and take a second shot to composite the two later in post to arrive at our final image.
Final Image:
Camera Settings:
1/200th of a second, f/18, ISO 50
Lighting:
2 Godox AD200s placed in MagRing on MagShoes firing through MagBox with Focus Diffuser
1 Godox V860IIC with MagGrid + MagSphere
2. Double Diffusion - 2 Magboxes are Better than 1
Placing our first light (2 Godox AD200s placed in the MagRing firing through a MagBox with the Focus Diffuser) high and angled down at our subject, we create a pretty basic image that illuminates our subject, parts of the background, and his bike. While this is a great first shot, we are aiming to elevate the scene by adding a level of light refinement.
Adding a skrim just in front of our key light, we are able to ‘double diffuse’ our light source, softening the highlights and wrapping the subject with light - a concept we discuss heavily in Lighting 201. Taking another MagBox with the Focus Diffuser, we want to bring back some of the detail on the right side and add a kicker to highlight the left side of the subject without completely ruining the drama we create with our camera settings. This technique can be replicated with 2 lights modified with a MagGrid and MagSphere, just like we showed you in the first technique above.
Final Image:
Camera Settings:
1/200th of a second, f/11, ISO 50
Lighting:
4 Godox AD200s placed in MagRing on MagShoes firing through 2 MagBoxes with Focus Diffusers
3. Top-Down Triple Lighting
Don’t let my fancy title for this fool you into thinking that this is complicated, it’s really not. The trick to getting a studio-like top-down lighting setup on-location is to getting higher than the subject and making sure you are creating that shadow underneath the nose, otherwise known as butterfly lighting - you can learn more about this in Lighting 101.
I wanted to create something dramatic since the sun was just overhead, so I stopped down to f/14 to create a starburst effect just at the top part of the frame. To match that effect we placed one Godox AD200 on either side of the camera just out of frame to create starbursts on the left and right side of the frame.
Final Image:
Camera Settings:
1/200th of a second, f/14, ISO 50
Lighting:
- 2 Godox AD200s placed in MagRing on MagShoes firing through MagBox with Focus Diffuser
- 1 Godox AD200s Camera Right
- 1 Godox AD200s Camera Left
There you have it. With a little bit of compositing help from Photoshop, we were able to create dramatic portraiture with the assistance of some powerful MagMod lighting tools. The Focus Diffuser is one of my favorite aspects of the new MagBox System simply for the type of light output it produces.
If you are interested in learning more advanced off-camera flash techniques with MagMod gear, be sure to purchase our new Lighting 3 Course.
Since we love the MagMod Community so much we wanted to offer them a pre-sale discount price of $99 for a limited time.
Price: $99 $149
Discount Code: MMSLRL99
Expiration: 7/18/2019
Purchase the workshop here!
