Jerry Ghionis: On-Location With the Ice Light 2

Unless you’ve been living the hermit life in the wilderness without Internet access, you know that Rangefinder has been giving away some really sweet stuff through series of Facebook giveaways. Next week, we’ve got a big one for you: The Ice Light 2 from F.J. Westcott, designed by WPPI Grand Master Jerry Ghionis. In light of this (see what we did there?), let’s take a look at how Mr. Ghionis plays with the Ice Light 2 on location.

For this video series with Westcott, Ghionis is shooting around a home, using the various forms of ambient light it provides in tandem with the Ice Light 2. Here he shoots in a living room, and despite the camera crew’s clutter, Ghionis finds a way to make the room work anyway: he isolates the lights in a chandelier behind the model with a bokeh effect and goes in for a head-and-shoulders crop on the model to keep the viewer’s focus on her face.

Ghionis exposes for the ambient light first, adding the Ice Light 2 afterward; the room’s existing light is something he can’t control, so leveling with it and then matching the artificial light (or making it just a bit brighter) will render the best exposure. The chandelier’s bokeh creates a point of interest in the photo, but darkening the background overall creates some separation between the model and the rest of the room.

The master photographer also shares a few extra tips regarding directing the model and light:

1. If you’re taking a photo from the ground, direct models to lean toward you to correct your lower perspective.
2. When models aren’t smiling with their eyes, say something funny and take the photo toward the end of their laugh. Natural laughter gives you a warmer look in the eyes.
3. Tell your models to breathe through their mouthes to makes lips look fuller without pouting, and keep the light above them to create a shadow underneath the lip to amplify this further.

Check out more Videos of the Week, and email Libby Peterson with submissions.