Benjamin Huddleston Posted August 18, 2014 Share Posted August 18, 2014 I'm just fishing for any basic tricks you have to light and expose for a subject close to a window, while keeping the EXT mostly properly exposed. I've tried a couple of times, and have never been perfectly satisfied. Assuming a brighly lit day at 3pm in Los Angeles, what would be your go-to quick protocol for getting in the ballpark? ND the windows? How strong (and what kind) of a key light? Any special considerations? Thanks to all for sharing your experiences. Ben Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member Satsuki Murashige Posted August 19, 2014 Premium Member Share Posted August 19, 2014 Shooting an actor's reflection in a window is just like shooting the normal way. 1. Expose for the background (in this case, a day exterior) and light the actor to match. 2. Find or place something dark in the background (in this case, outside the window) and line it up behind your actor (in this case, their reflection). As long as you compose a light subject over a dark background (or vice versa for a silhouette), the subject will read and be clearly visible. It also helps to use shallow depth of field to make the background less distracting, although if you choose your background carefully deep focus can make for a very layered and powerful shot. It's all about context though; composing random backgrounds or objects behind your actors can make for pretty pictures but completely nonsensical images. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member David Mullen ASC Posted August 19, 2014 Premium Member Share Posted August 19, 2014 I did a similar shot in "Northfork": I knew I had to light the actor's face to get the effect, so I put ND gel on the window in order to make the balance easier, though it still required blasting the actor with a bright HMI. Now if the real sun was hitting the actor's face, it would have been easier to get a reflection without using lights nor ND gel. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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