Lighting the Needle

[MarianMurdoch]

From Lauren:

Marian - I'm not sure if this is the right place to do this, but I'd love to hear how you set up/lit your last shot with the needle. It's very dramatic and I always struggle getting the subject well lit while having the background completely black.

I have a board that I covered in black velvet and I use that as my background. The lighting is simply a shop light that you can pick up at any home improvement hardware store. The camera was set for a high shutter speed.

[Lauren MKS]

Thanks Marian! Never thought about using a shop light. If you can put up with a couple more questions - how far was the needle from the background and where was the light placed?

Thanks

[MarianMurdoch]

Apr 6, 2010 16:44:58 GMT -5 Lauren MKS said:

Thanks Marian! Never thought about using a shop light. If you can put up with a couple more questions - how far was the needle from the background and where was the light placed?

Thanks

The background was about a foot behind the needle. The shoplight was to the left of the needle and about a foot forward.