How did they light this?

There was a hard light below the camera, possibly a standard reflector
And probably a beauty dish high and to camera left.

This created some interesting lighting, then it was ruined in PS
 
Do you think the bg was done in photoshop or with a light?
 
A[L]C;3961030 said:
Do you think the bg was done in photoshop or with a light?
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The easy way of doing it is with a focussing spotlight, but it was done in PS
 
Is there a giveaway or do you just know through experience. I can tell you don't like it, but i'd like to recreate it. Any tips to improve it?
 
TBH, the vignetting on the background is just obvious.

As for the rest of it, actually I quite like it, it's eye catching, sexy and dramatic and you're right to try to recreate something like it.

What I don't like about it is the VERY heavy PS work. Hard lighting like this does require good makeup followed by some careful and subtle retouching, but this isn't what I would call either careful or subtle...

But don't mind me, other people will probably think it's wonderful. Just about everything in photography is highly subjective
 
Ahhh yeah! I was looking at it the wrong way... I thought they would have used a black bg with a light to create the effect, but could well be a vignette :)
 
A[L]C;3961154 said:
Ahhh yeah! I was looking at it the wrong way... I thought they would have used a black bg with a light to create the effect, but could well be a vignette :)
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Yep, white background and a vignette.

A focusing spotlight wouldn't create that shape and the transition from light to dark would be much smoother. Of course, there's nothing wrong with using a vignette but it's easier and much quicker to get it right in camera - but unfortunately a lot of people now seem to believe that everything can be done well in PP, in fact they would be much better learning how to light well and investing in the light shaping tools that they need, rather than spend all that time on PP.

As a pro, I just don't have the time to do more than very quick work in PS, and most of that gets farmed out to specialist firms, they do an excellent job at reasonable rates. I view PS as a tool for turning good shots into outstanding shots, not as a replacement for getting it right in camera.
 
Looks to me like the vignette was done in camera and not 'shopped. There's obviously been some post processing smoothing the face (too much) but the vignette looks natural around the hair and the wrap on the skin, or lack of it, is consistent with a dark background.
 
HoppyUK said:
Looks to me like the vignette was done in camera and not 'shopped. There's obviously been some post processing smoothing the face (too much) but the vignette looks natural around the hair and the wrap on the skin, or lack of it, is consistent with a dark background.
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Well, it doesn't matter anyway, but it doesn't look natural to me. Apart from the area bottom right, the top is more like an inverted V than the circle that a focusing spot would form.

The lack of wrap is probably just a matter of having enough distance between subject and background.
 
Why does it have to be circular? Barn doors, rectangular gobo, whatever. As you say, why bother with photoshop when the guy clearly has the gear and knows how to use it.
 
Taking off topic for a sec but does anyone else think the fingers on the body look very strange?
 
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