Hair Shine and/or Good High Key Hair Spot Lighting Setup

[Nick Lovell]

Hi, all! Anyone have tips to add shine to hair for hair product spots, and/or a general good high-key setup for hair spots?

Not just a kicker or typical hair light for separation, but making hair that's facing toward the camera shine.

In this video, Matthew Rosen shows how to place lights to the sides (almost like kickers) to create reflections in the hair... But I find that, when I do this, in order for the lights to be around to the front enough for the hair to reflect the light, it also creates shadows on the face. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YLg9SGa9tIQ).

The client likes no shadows under the chin, so I've been using a large source as key in kind of a typical clamshell setup with either a reflector or another light from underneath (sometimes both)... Would a harder key light create more shine coming back toward the camera?

We have access to lights like Godox VL300s and Aputure LS300s, and also 1x1 and smaller led panels... But not anything like a Briese or Skypanels.

Any thoughts or experience on this would greatly appreciated! Thanks!!

Nick

 

[Mark A. Jaeger]

A basic principle is "angle of incidence equals angle of reflection". Thus, accent lights need to be placed so the bounced light hits the camera lens. If you are creating shadows on the face I suspect your lights are not in the right place.

The presence of carefully crafted shadows is often the accent that makes a model's appearance really pop. If the light is too uniform there is no shape to the face = no definition to the cheekbones, etc.

...just things to consider.

 

[Michael Korvak]

What if you change the hair color of models to lighter? Can it help? On the Internet you can find quite a lot of information about hair color. You can even read the article blonde highlights, where you can find a lot of useful and interesting information. My girlfriend liked this article and repainted it, although I was satisfied with its original color.

 

[Tom Gleeson]

Don't forget you need the help from the Makeup/hair department. They can treat the hair to enhance the sheen and make your life easier.