Which light modifier for this?

[Jessestr]

Credits go to Richard Avedon. Which light modifier did he most likely use here? I want the same hard light.

Thanks

 

[Soeren]

Picture 3 octabox camera left and some rectangular box or reflektor camera right. both seen to be quite "frontish" on subject.
Picture 1 seems to be one softbox in front of and above her. maybe a second light in front and a little lower..
Picture 4 looks like either bare flash or very small softbox camera left in a classic position.

 

[Jessestr]

Picture 3 octabox camera left and some rectangular box or reflektor camera right. both seen to be quite "frontish" on subject.
Picture 1 seems to be one large softbokse straight in front of her.
Picture 4 looks like either bare flash or very small softbox camera left in a classic position.

I seem to have read that Avedon only used beauty dishes and umbrellas. So it was either one of those ... I think

 

[Soeren]

Yes could be an reflective umbrella in picture 3. Explains the wierd shadow in that catchlight. so picture one would be a beauty dish.

 

[M Carter]

I wouldn't call that light "hard" at all. Shadows are fairly soft and undefined. I think of these looks as semi-hard, in that there's a softness to the light, yet the contrast is enhanced.

Beauty dishes and beauty dishes with grids can get these sorts of looks. If the model has great skin, one of my favorites has been the Speedotron 11" reflector with a grid, sometimes without the grid but a mylar diffuser, sometimes the diffuser behind the grid. Usually pretty close to the face with things like strip lights handling the body if it's in the frame.

Another look you may already own - small softbox, remove the front baffle and just use the inner baffle. That can get a little punchy yet not harsh.

Thing is, you can get similar looks with all kinds of gear; trying to out-and-out copy someone's setup by guessing can be hit and miss (though you'll likely learn a lot about how you translate the gear on hand into the image you see in your head). Certainly researching someone's specific gear can give you a head start on things to rent or buy, but someone with big talent can often get similar looks with a wide range of stuff. Some people have a similar look or lighting style across years of shooting, and it's often because that's how they like light to look, regardless of how they got there.

 

[CropDusterMan]

The most important thing in lighting is understanding the layers of light...by this I mean the graduation
in ratios from key-light to shadow. Key light is your most powerful light on set, and the shadows can be
controlled by using a less powerful secondary and even lower powered tertiary light source to soften those shadows. For instance, the image of Isabella Rossellini or as someone said "#3" (jeez!), appears to have perhaps an umbrella or B.Dish as the key light, and it appears from the catch lights in here eyes, her elbows are resting on a white fill card, which bounces light up to softly to fill in some shadows...notice under the chin...There may even be another fill source behind camera such as a few flash heads bounced into a white seamless, often referred to as a "fill wall". Backlights can be added for rim-lighting effect, or even the sun.

Avedon had a wonderful studio apparently, with skylights that had years of haze on them that filtered light
beautifully...but he knew how to light no matter where the subject was. He also shot a lot of 8x10...a friend of mine used to assist him, and often, he'd have an assistant compose for him on the ground glass as he stood next to the subject, studying them and gesturing to the assistant where he wanted the framing to be...
no yelling or loud voices...just calm peaceful direction.

 

[Soeren]

Sorry for the #3. didn't know her name.