How Do I Recreate This Shot?

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Jason
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Hello, this is my first post here and it's a basic one as my knowledge is fairly basic at this stage.

I would like to recreate this shot in a studio:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ohs***photos/4603167988

Essentially what do I need to do apart from climb up a stepladder? To me it looks like there is a light from the left, one from the back and a soft one from the front - is this correct?

Most importantly - what lens has been used for this - I know it says "wide angle" but how much of a wide angle is it? The lens that I have with the widest angle is the one that came with my Samsung GX20, it's a 18mm-55mm. Am I going to be able to get anything like the same effect with that lens?

I have been looking out for a wide angle lens for a while but cannot afford the £400+ that they seem to go for on Ebay - is that the amount that I am going to have to spend or are there cheaper options?

Thanks in advance for any advice, I think I'll be asking a lot of questions on here!
 
you need an UWA lens, a softbox for key camera left and looks like another softbox, maybe gridded, behind for rim.

Oh, and a hot model. :)
 
I wouldn't of thought it was very wide angle to me, and your kit 18-55mm should do it fine.

As for lighting, large softbox to camera left, you can see the reflection in her eyes. bright light behind her = shadows from legs and probably a reflector to the right of the camera to soften the shadows.
 
Hi, thanks for your reply. Could you please talk to me as if I am an idiot please as I don't understand some of the terms :-)
 
When you say softbox - will one of those flashes with an umbrella on the front do it? There are some in the studio I use.
 
UWA = Ultra wide angle lens
Softbox = a large light modifier that fits over a light and softens the light
http://www.alzodigital.com/images/equipment/alzo2000_softbox_studio_boom_600.jpg

gridded softbox = a softbox with a grid over it, another way of modifying the light. Although I couldn't tell you what it does exactly other than helping direct the light more :)

That's pretty exactly what it does. Makes the light more directional with more control of fall off.
 
I wouldn't of thought it was very wide angle to me, and your kit 18-55mm should do it fine.

As for lighting, large softbox to camera left, you can see the reflection in her eyes. bright light behind her = shadows from legs and probably a reflector to the right of the camera to soften the shadows.

I'd agree with Harvey - looks about right.

Hi, thanks for your reply. Could you please talk to me as if I am an idiot please as I don't understand some of the terms :-)

They'll have used a softbox to soften the light hitting the model's face - the dark surroundings suggest they wanted to control the spill so a shoot-thru brolly might not have been suitable. A softbox has a closed back so you only get light where you want it.
You can see the rectangular reflections of it in the model's eyes.

The bright halo around the model's head and shoulders is from another, possibly bare flash behind her - if you've only got a single trigger then use it on the softbox flash and trigger the rim-light with an optical slave.

Since the shaded part of her face isn't too dark then it suggests there's a reflector bouncing back some of that softbox light to soften the shadows. I think you can just about see the reflection in her eye (the right one, as you look at her).

So; two flashes, one with a trigger of some sort and one with an optical slave (or two receivers for the trigger), a softbox and stand and a reflector. Plus the ladder and the model and you're set!
 
this was the EXIF on the photo... so not very wide..
Camera Maker: Canon
Camera Model: Canon EOS 20D
Lens: 17.0-85.0 mm
Image Date: 2008-04-08 18:39:45 -0300
Focal Length: 17.0mm
Aperture: f/10.0
Exposure Time: 0.0080 s (1/125)
ISO equiv: 100
Exposure Bias: none
Metering Mode: Matrix
Exposure: Manual
Exposure Mode: Manual
White Balance: Auto
Flash Fired: Yes (Manual)
Color Space: sRGB
Photographer: stas
Title: Funny wide angle woman studio portrait
Caption: Funny wide angle woman studio portrait. Top view.
 
Worth noting the relatively small aperture of F10 is used to get decent depth of field.
 
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