So often someone will take the time to light the talent to look great but forget to light the background and give the image some depth:

Plain without Cucoloris

One method is to use a Cucoloris. Some will refer to it as a cookie cutter:

CookieCutter Cucoloris
Sharp2 Cucoloris

As you can see in the above image the light source with a standard 7″ reflector never changes in size. It is about 6′ away from the Cucoloris. Looking at the image below you can see it creates a defined shadowed texture onto the seamless:

Sharp Cucoloris

Now I’ll bring the light source closer to the Cucoloris. The light is now about 3′ away:

Medium2 Cucoloris

Look at the photo below, and you will see the shadowed texture is beginning to soften:

Medium

Now I’ll move the light source about 1′ from the Cucoloris:

soft

Look at the image below, and see how soft the shadow texture is now.

soft2 Cucoloris

Did you notice that I never moved the Cucoloris closer to the seamless? I did; however, raise or lower and rotate the Cucoloris to control the placement of the shadowed texture onto the seamless. This is all subjective to how you like the look. When you don’t have a Cucoloris, you can always use other items to create a shadowed texture onto your seamless or wall. I have actually used branches in the past. Think outside the box. Apply some lighting theory, and go create some shadowed textures to enhance your images.

Thank you for your time and reading my post.

That’s a wrap, fade to black.

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