No sunlight on location? Create it!

It's been about 30 years since I was was invited to my first "big production" shoot for a TV commercial. My good friend and first "serious model" had landed her first commercial. I was extremely excited when Pam asked me to come along. I remember that the director was a very friendly gentleman who welcomed me with enthusiasm. I think the product was a frozen ice pop called "Ice Juicy" or something like that. The shoot took place on a Long Island NY beach. It wasn't exactly a stunning Long Island Beach day. In fact, I remember it being quite overcast. I was a young student of lighting and was VERY concerned. I couldn't understand why the director and crew didn't seem to be upset. I finally got the nerve to ask the director about it: "...but, there's no sun today," I exclaimed! He calmly replied "Oh that doesn't matter...we'll create it."

It is now 30 years later and I live on a different island on the opposite side of the United States and this director's words ring through my head on almost all of my location shoots. I cannot rely on -- or wait for that magic time just after sunrise or before sunset. "Sunset" is a term that has very different meanings depending where on Oahu we are shooting. The Koolau Mountain range along the East-Northeast blocks the sun much earlier than you'd expect because the sun is setting in the West--well behind the majestic mountains. There may be plenty of light peaking over the mountains and illuminating the background, but our model is always in shade.

My job is to "create" the sense of a sunlit beach--just like I watched 30 years ago. Fortunately I do not need one of the monster "hot lights"- -blinding spotlights that were on at all times. I bring on of my Dynalite Uni400 monoheads and a couple of light modifiers.

We used an 18" white beauty dish to create these images of Joanne Guillermo. (You've seen Joanne a few times now. She's become one of my favorite models and always does a great job.) The beauty dish, fitted with a white diffuser, does a great job of simulating sunlilght. We set the strobe/ambient combination according to the background and we are good to go!