Red White and Blue Shoe

Jimmy Choo - Next Stop!

This was shot during a Studio Session with our Model, Dinah Wolf. We experimented with High Key Lighting. The idea is to use a white backdrop, light it up with strobes from behind the Model to wash out the scene and then light the Model from the front using strobes from left and right. You can reverse Engineer the front lighting from the reflections in the shoe. This is a great tip for Photographers for Studio work. It is often very easy to tell how the lighting was set up by looking at reflections, especially with Portraits. Look for “Catch Lights” in the eyes of the Model. Often you will see one, or several. If the Catch Light is circular, they used a Beauty Light which is quite popular.

Now a bit about Catch Lights!

Catch Light is a photographic term used to describe either the Specular highlights in a subject’s eye from a light source, or the light source itself. They are also referred to as eye lights or Obies, the latter a reference to Merle Oberon, who was frequently lit using this technique. A catch light may be an artifact of the lighting method, or have been purposely engineered to add a glint or “spark” to a subject’s eye. This technique is useful in both still and motion picture photography. Adding a catch light can help draw attention to the subject’s eyes, which may otherwise get lost among other elements in the scene.

We experimented with Catch Lights during this shoot, not with eyes but with the shoes – fun!

Thanks for visiting our humble Photoblog! If you have any questions, just leave a comment and we always answer!

Kathleen and Erik