photo - Ken Gilbert

house, Miller assured that the
twilit background would have an
electric blue cast. “That little bit
of blue in the distance gives this
shot its surreal quality,” he adds.
Dramatizing the models.
Rimlighting the girls from two
sides allowed their figures to
separate from the bland, brown
background behind them. It
also shaped them three-dimensionally
and assured that their
expressive body language would
register. The soft frontlighting
HarOLD LEE MILLEr
how to set up your lights
SimPle ComPlex
First, avoid dead zones of dense shadows or featureless highlights. Plan to shoot when (and
where) ambient light will fill shadows without blowing out the highlights. to light the players and
props, Miller used three Dynalite SP2000 power packs and Dynalite roadmax 2050 heads—two
with standard reflectors (A) and one softboxed (B). to tease out detail in the background, he
used two Speedotron 2403CX units ($1,675, street) with Speedotron Universal reflectors (C).
tHe geAr
Miller’s rig?
A Hasselblad
H2, Imacon
Ixpress 132c
digital back,
and
50–110mm
f/3.5–4 HC
Hasselblad
lens set to
55mm.
C
Dynalite
SP2000
power
pack ($1,990,
street)
made sure their important facial
expressions had presence.
highlighting the props.
The TV (seemingly thrown out a
window) and the water shooting
from the pistol-like hose are both
carefully lit to elevate them to
distinctive narrative elements.
Creating a shadowy landscape.
Carefully shaped and placed, the
foreboding shadows underscore
and sustain the menacing ambience.
They’re dark, but like most
www.storemags.com & www.fantamag.com
A
Speedotron
Universal
20-inch
reflector
($75, street)
C
B
Dynalite
Roadmax
2050 strobe
heads ($500,
street)
A
stage shadows, are not completely
black, which would have
robbed Miller’s scene of dimension
and visual texture.
adding depth to the set.
By selectively lighting background
walls, Miller created a sense of
cinematic depth and dimension.
It gives all areas of the scene narrative
potential, including inside
the home, where one of Miller’s
Dynalites invites you to wonder
at the dramas being played out
within. —Peter Kolonia
POPPHOTO.COM PoPular PhotograPhy 45
KrIs HOLLanD/MafIC sTuDIOs