Ok I give up how do you do this? (Page 3): The light clearly comes from above and the left but it is difficult for me to guess what the light source is. One thing that appears evident...

bunuweld Loc: Arizona

Loudbri wrote:

I hope this isn't bad form to just be blunt and simply ask "how'd he do this" This is a photo by Mark seliger who is my hero and a shooter I would most like to emulate. Yes I know he's probably using a $50,000 med format camera. Can any of ya'll tell if that key light is a shoot thru umbrella, beauty dish w/ sock I'm stumped thank you in advance

The light clearly comes from above and the left but it is difficult for me to guess what the light source is. One thing that appears evident is the the picture was manipulated to darken considerably the the background on the upper left portion of the picture. This approach was well known to classic painters to create a more powerful contrast between the subject and the background. It really exaggerated our own eye perception where dark areas appear darker next to bright ones. In the image that you posted, this darkness next to the lit portions of the face really enhance the power of the image, which was very powerful to begin with.

bobby shaftoe

Natural light, and a white card on the opposite side to lighten the left cheek enough to get some detail in the shadow.

sb Loc: Florida's East Coast

It could be soft window light or a light box, but he may also be using a reflector on the subject's left to give a little bit of soft light on that side.

bunuweld Loc: Arizona

Radioman wrote:

Loudbri wrote:

I hope this isn't bad form to just be blunt and simply ask "how'd he do this" This is a photo by Mark seliger who is my hero and a shooter I would most like to emulate. Yes I know he's probably using a $50,000 med format camera. Can any of ya'll tell if that key light is a shoot thru umbrella, beauty dish w/ sock I'm stumped thank you in advance

*******
This is one of him in colour - possibly taken at the same shoot.

And note again the post-darkened background next to the lit part of the face.

photobuf Loc: Mississippi

I've seen photos made with a point and shoot look better than any I have ever done with all my Canon gear. The "eye" of the one holding the camera is the most important tool in photography. If I could only see as well as they do! Sigh!

GrahamS Loc: Hertfordshire, U.K

My best guess:
The key light is a white umbrella used in reflector mode high left. The fill is a white reflector board at lower right. The background light is a flash head fitted with a snoot. I think there is a hair light at right rear, but I'm not sure.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

GoofyNewfie wrote:

I remember Sea Hunt.
Lloyd Bridges with a Rollei twin lens.

Remember the remake they did in the 80's?

GoofyNewfie Loc: Kansas City

bunuweld wrote:

And note again the post-darkened background next to the lit part of the face.

It could be, but I doubt it's done in post.
Called checkerboard lighting, you light the background on the opposite side of the main subject light.

Darkroom317 Loc: Mishawaka, IN

Assuming that he did not put the frame on the photo in photoshop, I would say he using large format film.

This is because of the notch codes, but a lot of times digital photographers put film frames on their photo. Not sure why. So it could be either. With that amount of detail and sharpness I would say film.

bunuweld Loc: Arizona

GoofyNewfie wrote:

bunuweld wrote:

And note again the post-darkened background next to the lit part of the face.

It could be, but I doubt it's done in post.
Called checkerboard lighting, you light the background on the opposite side of the main subject light.

Please, note the unreal difference between the background areas on the right and the left side of the original picture. It looks to me like post-processing. The attached versions of the pictures are here with what I think the original look(ignore my imperfection in the corrections; just a quick manipulation)

jeryh Loc: Oxfordshire UK

I too thought that was a shot taken by natural light coming thru a window; it is too natural to be anything else.

jjestar Loc: Savannah GA

Loudbri wrote:

thanks everyone I never thought to simply ask the man. It's definitely above and left. It seems slightly more concentrated than a softbox because the light isn't wrapping around the face, soft box w/grid maybe???

I think there may be another light behind him directed at the rear wll that is also lighting his left ear and the rear portion of his head.

thefunxtr Loc: Atlanta

bunuweld wrote:

The light clearly comes from above and the left bu... (show quote)

I disagree that this image was manipulated to darken the background as you suggested. The reason also suggests that this was taken with natural light in a fairly dark room with strong sunlight through a window ... the area just above the right side of Jeff's head (in the original B&W posted) shows the natural transitional "penumbra" that will occur with this kind of lighting. If we could magically ask Jeff to step away from the scene, I think we sould see that this same dark to light transition would continue to the bottom of the frame.

Bridges Loc: Memphis, Charleston SC, now Nazareth PA

The light looks very narrow. My thought would be a narrow softbox with an egg-crate grid. Also people talk about wrapping light around. This is impossible -- go back to your physics lessons -- light does not bend except when subjected to a giant magnetic field. All soft light and secondary light sources come from reflected light. My thoughts on this photo would be that the subject is standing in front of a narrow window like in an alcove where surrounding walls would be used as a reflector, or it could be created in a studio to mimick that effect.

rmalarz Loc: Tempe, Arizona

Loudbri wrote:

I hope this isn't bad form to just be blunt and simply ask "how'd he do this" This is a photo by Mark seliger who is my hero and a shooter I would most like to emulate. Yes I know he's probably using a $50,000 med format camera. Can any of ya'll tell if that key light is a shoot thru umbrella, beauty dish w/ sock I'm stumped thank you in advance

It appears that there is one main light to the subjects right. This could be natural light through a window or one studio light. It is a large format camera, 4x5 or 8x10. The interesting thing is that it appears that the photographer used Kodak Fine Grain Positive 7302 film.