Monsters

Quite often it is the job of the studio photographer to flatter the subject as much as possible.  Women most often are lit and photographed in a way to make them look flawless and ageless.  It is not everyday that a real live monster steps into your studio and it is your job to glorify all of the gory details.  What fun!!!!  Here are 2 Zombies that I shot for the poster art for the film "Cabin in The Woods".  To transform these performers into Zombies it takes hours of laborious work from an amazing special effects team and a lot of patience from the ones being transformed.  My first inclination when photographing the undead would be to throw most of the creature into shadow and let the viewer's imagination take over.  However, upon looking at the incredible details of the make up and costume, I realized that I had light it is such a way that the details could be seen and still maintain a mysterious feeling with shadow.
I chose rim lighting from behind the subject on both the left and right side with strip boxes which outlines the silhouette. A hard key light from a high angle far to the right side creates dark pools under the eyes and a strong shadow on the left of the subject.  A grid on the key light reflector keeps the light from spreading.  Additionally I flagged some light off of the body to bring attention to the scary faces.  Some great performance from my zombies and light in the right place and the effect is pretty horrifying.