Plate VSample
One light, low and hard
A single hard light in a dark room, with almost everything else falling into shadow. Dramatic, controlled and possible at any hour, which is why thriller writers keep coming back to it.
Light
One small LED panel or spotlight fitted with a grid or a snoot, high and to camera left at forty-five degrees, two to three feet (60 to 90 cm) from the book. The room is dark: curtains closed, every lamp off. Aim the light at the cover, never at the backdrop.
Bounce or flag
Flag, don't bounce. Stand one black foam board on the far side of the book (negative fill) to deepen the shadows, and a second between the light and the backdrop so the background falls to black. Leave about three feet (1 m) between the book and the backdrop.
Angle
Low: ten to fifteen degrees above the table, close to eye level with the book. A longer lens (85 mm, or the phone's telephoto) keeps the frame tight and the shadows large.
On the table
Four things, counted
- A slate tile or dark wooden board as the surface
- A heavy black or smoked-glass tumbler
- An old brass key or a torn envelope
- The book
Settings
- On a phone
- Telephoto lens. Turn off night mode and the flash, lock focus on the title and pull exposure down a full stop, more if the shadows look gray. Shoot RAW if your phone offers it.
- On a camera
- f/5.6 · 1/125 s · ISO 200 to 400 with a continuous light. White balance to match the light (5600 K for most LEDs), then warm it slightly in the edit. Expose for the brightest part of the cover and let the rest go dark.
Method
- Darken the room. Set the slate on the table with the black backdrop board behind it.
- Stand the book on the slate, angled about twenty degrees toward the light.
- Raise the light high on its stand, camera left, and turn it until the title sits in the brightest part of the beam.
- Put the tumbler behind the book on the light side, so its rim catches a single line of light, and the key in front, on the shadow side.
- Add the black flags one at a time and watch the shadows deepen.
- Take a test frame and look only at the cover. If its darkest corner has lost all detail, lower the light or bring it a few inches forward.
What we used
- A small bi-color LED panel with a CRI of 95 or aboveLink coming soon
- A light standLink coming soon
- A honeycomb grid or snootLink coming soon
- Two black foam boardsLink coming soon
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