Exercise: Multi Layer Lighting

For the last 3 weeks, I've been contemplating on a setup shot showing a hit man and a body laying in the forest where the job took place. The most difficult challenge I thought of was how to light a forest. This shoot was an exercise on how to light on multiple layers.

I started at around 7:40pm. I scouted out a location, selected my trees, and arranged them in my frame. Setup my flashes to light each of the 4 trees in my frame. I then turned on one flash at a time to see how they were being lit individually. While I was taking shots, a man with a dog stopped to ask me what I was doing and I gladly explained the exercise. I also managed to convince him and his pet to stand in as my subjects just so I can see what it would look like.

Lessons I've learned:

Four flashes wasn't enough. Sure it was enough to light up four trees, but I still needed a separate light for the subject. I would aslo need another light pointing up towards the leaves on top of the trees so it's not completely dark. I also think that I would need a big soft light source to perhaps give a little bit of broad wash to the overall space. I've included a diagram below to show the lighting setup.

Overall I'm pretty happy with my experiment and real excited to start planning the "Hit Man" series.