How would I light this?

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I want to do a Halloween studio shoot using illuminated LED masks like the ones in the pic. How would I light this? A strobe would wash out the weak light from the mask. Use speedlights instead? use edge lighting? Beef up the glow in post production?

purge.jpg
 
I would think the starting point is expose for the LED mask and go from there. May well need to kill all ambient light in the studio. The add light for what you want, likely to be pretty low power. I think the choice is more which light modifiers and their placement to get the look you want than strobe vs speedlight.
 
As above, and as I’ve said before; just remember you’re looking at 2 desperate exposures.
First the LED, you’ll likely need a slowish shutter and high ISO.
The flash is little more than a rimlight from above/behind, given the high ISO it’ll probably not be very powerful, it could easily be a speedlight in a small soft box.
 
These type of posts dishearten me, those where the OP wants all the answers to quickly rustle up a picture and move on to the next, The willingness and ability to learn from experimenting seems as if it is being lost or peoples cannot be bothered with the time it take to actually learn something.

I would be more likely to answer this type of post is the question was 'I tried this but... or a what did I do wrong here type of question, those questions that showed that the OP was willing to have a go first than rely on a being given a formula to achieve a particular image.
 
redsnappa said:
These type of posts dishearten me, those where the OP wants all the answers to quickly rustle up a picture and move on to the next, The willingness and ability to learn from experimenting seems as if it is being lost or peoples cannot be bothered with the time it take to actually learn something.

I would be more likely to answer this type of post is the question was 'I tried this but... or a what did I do wrong here type of question, those questions that showed that the OP was willing to have a go first than rely on a being given a formula to achieve a particular image.
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+1!
 
redsnappa said:
These type of posts dishearten me, those where the OP wants all the answers to quickly rustle up a picture and move on to the next, The willingness and ability to learn from experimenting seems as if it is being lost or peoples cannot be bothered with the time it take to actually learn something.

I would be more likely to answer this type of post is the question was 'I tried this but... or a what did I do wrong here type of question, those questions that showed that the OP was willing to have a go first than rely on a being given a formula to achieve a particular image.
Click to expand...

I can see both sides to this; your point, and the counter argument that the best way to learn is from other people's mistakes. Why go though trial and error, wear and tear on your kit and batteries, losing an hour or so of probably scarce leisure time if a quick post on here will point you in the right direction?

A lot of posts on this forum are from people wanting advice, everything from which kit to buy to how to start a business. If we all took the 'they've got to learn' approach the forum would be pretty quiet. I can generally work out how most photos have been taken by looking at the direction of light, its colour and intensity, then I'll usually have a go like you suggest, but not everyone has the time or analytical mindset to do that, which I think is fair enough. :)
 
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I’d hope (and more hope than expectation) that the OP will read the answers then look at the image and try to ascertain the relationship between the description of the setup and the end result.
From that the op will maybe start to learn the greatest skill of all - how to read an image.
 
This looks to me like it's had the photoshop treatment. It looks like the mask, the eyes and the hooded top are three separate images meaning that the lighting has only been applied to the hooded top. In that lighting the eyes wouldn't be as white as they are but would be purple instead due to the mask.

Maybe take the images separately and use studio lights for the hooded top. I can't help if you want to do all of the images in the one photo.
 
redsnappa said:
These type of posts dishearten me, those where the OP wants all the answers to quickly rustle up a picture and move on to the next, The willingness and ability to learn from experimenting seems as if it is being lost or peoples cannot be bothered with the time it take to actually learn something.

I would be more likely to answer this type of post is the question was 'I tried this but... or a what did I do wrong here type of question, those questions that showed that the OP was willing to have a go first than rely on a being given a formula to achieve a particular image.
Click to expand...

Jesus. Sorry I ruined your day. I hope one day you can see fit to forgive me and I can put this behind me and live the rest of my life in peace. I can see that me asking a question about photography on a photography advice board was completely uncalled for and I will modify my behaviour going forward.
 
Rooster said:
Jesus. Sorry I ruined your day. I hope one day you can see fit to forgive me and I can put this behind me and live the rest of my life in peace. I can see that me asking a question about photography on a photography advice board was completely uncalled for and I will modify my behaviour going forward.
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Wouldn't bother listening to this. People ask questions in the same format all the time and never get snash. Clearly @redsnappa isn't a community player and neither is anyone who liked that post. They shouldn't have even replied. It's a d**k move.

You will NOT modify your behaviour going forward! If you want help with things then ask. Don't be put off by the minority in this forum who have nothing better than to moan about people asking for help.
 
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Gavin Hoey (Adorama TV) published a useful video recently, about how to balance flash and ambient light in a single exposure.

View: https://youtu.be/uay4SpzT2wc


The main thing to remember is that aperture and ISO affects both ambient and flash, whereas shutter speed affects only the ambient light.
 
I also have the same mask and will be going to the woods soon with a suitable model to try this with smoke and lights etc. Although our close proximity to each other leads me to think we might have chatted about this on social media??
 
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