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Hair Blowing - Fan Images - What Success Factors?
Hi, What are some of your key "success factors" in getting "Great Hair Blowing in the Breeze" kind of images? I have a Vornado portable fan... and it has some good velocity to it...but I keep getting hair that is is straight out... or has lots of gaps between strands. My blowing hair shots are only below average it feels like. I might be missing just some little element! What are some of your success factors? Is there something special that makes it work better for you? - The diameter of the fan - Big or little blades - Slow, medium or high air velocity - A certain air flow amount - Some kind of deflection or diffusion - Some kind of thoughtful placement - Some kind of magical distance - Some kind of hair spray or product of hair washing directions for the model - The length of the hair (the weight of the hair) - Obviously shooting 25 poor images... for just one keeper! So what are some tricks we can learn from eachother?? Any images you can show? Can you be descriptive in your experimenting efforts - what are you learning? Thanks Jun 09 15 11:27 am Link The hair and its treatment are definitely factors. There are times when the single gust from a reflector being wafted around gives me a better effect than my powerful 'made for the job' fan. Jun 09 15 11:35 am Link http://danhowellphotography.com/STYLE/11 I have had the best results from fans/wind machines that have the ability to focus a chanel of air from at least a distance of 8-10'. Normal fans like a house box fan are generally not powerful enough. Those that are tend to have indirect beams of air which don't focus on hair and flatten garments to the model's body. Fans that are purpose-built for photography can easily be mounted on light stands and adjusted to the proper height. I have found good results directing the fan into the models faces at just below jaw line. Lower angles tend to have to much up direction to the air. Higher angles tend to flatten the hair. The cheapest effective fan I have used is: http://www.amazon.com/Vornado-Full-Size … GGFRRC9WQW It needs to positioned close the model which can sometimes interfere with the crop. The best I have used in the Studio EFX ReFan II that has a burst button (going from zero to full-speed) than can be pulsed to lift even heavy hair without blowing garments which is about $1200 but can be rented at Set Shop by the day. http://www.reelefx.com/index.php?c=prod … w&id=2 I personally own this fan: http://www.cowboystudio.com/product_p/sf-01.htm It is useful for the majority of my fashion shoots, but I occasionally rent the ReFan II for larger shoots and have considered buying one. The SF-01 has the power but is not as focused as the ReFan, but it gets the job done. I have it on a C-Stand turtle base and also have a 20" column to use with it to get it to the right height. I have seen a hairstylist use a battery powered leaf blower on set to blow hair. It is effective by requires a constant hand to maintain the direction. http://www.amazon.com/Black-Decker-NSW1 … eaf+blower Jun 09 15 12:19 pm Link TMA Photo and Retouch wrote: Success factors? Knowing how to direct a talent to do an elegant hair toss... photoimager wrote: +1 QFT Concur completely here... oft the hair stylist on the session and my go-to products are KENRA Silkening Mist and/or CHI Silk Infusion... be certain to work these into the root shaft area (not the ends least the tresses become heavy and unresponsive). Jun 09 15 01:36 pm Link I found out that using a homo sapien and decent size reflector and keep fan at the model works the best. It is much faster to get the effect you want unless you are looking for a hurricane wind effect.  Jun 09 15 01:43 pm Link  I have used everything from an exhaust fan that I bought at an electrical supply store to those Vornados. The exhaust fan is good because it's small width concentrated airflow. But the Vornado is just too strong. The fan I used for this shot was a normal table fan from Costco. There is a lot of experimenting with the distance and the power settings. But usually about 4 ft away at medium speed. The fan is almost at a right angle to the camera. I got this within a few shots. And I also use the same fan in front to blow the hair away on both sides. Unless the models hair is really heavy or has a lot of hairspray you should only need medium power a few feet away for a headshot. Jun 09 15 02:01 pm Link Mike DeRosa Photography wrote: Doesn't putting a fan 3-4' away from model interfere with cropping for anything wider than a headshot? Jun 09 15 02:05 pm Link I was just describing the technique I use for headshots. I usually don't use a fan for full length studio shots. Jun 09 15 02:12 pm Link There is no magic fan or speed. Every models hair is different in length and weight. Simply have hair person/assistant (whomever) randomly switch fan on and off. It's then up to you and your timing to catch "that" moment/look you desire. Jun 09 15 05:36 pm Link Here I had the MUA simply flailing a piece of cardboard we had laying around. Though I do have a fan in the studio.....  Jun 09 15 06:45 pm Link Peter House wrote: This. I know a lot of girls that hate big fans. Very irritating to the eyes. Jun 09 15 07:29 pm Link Fans aren't just for hair!!:-))  You should see some of the out-takes!!;-) Jun 09 15 07:42 pm Link This is the OP. Thanks ALL for your contributions so far ! ! ! Please keep the best ideas and factors coming ! ! Yes, I think my Vornado is powerful and maybe too strong...it gets the hair going too crazy and out of control too much it seems. My Vorndo is only about 16 inches in diameter...and it produces a blast that can be felt across the room. I wonder if a wider, larger in diameter fan would hit more surface area on the model and give a fuller more unified look to the hair up-throw?? Models with longer hair... may have more weight to the hair... so maybe thats an important factor. But ive seen an abundance of great long hair photographs. If the hair is recently washed and clean... that should keep the hairs from clumping together maybe?? Is there any kind of conditioner or additive that is readily available that should be used? I wonder if conditioned or flyaway hair is better to get nice looks. Does hairspray ruin it all by making everything clump together? At some point... we may be able to pin down some of the "Best Factors" that lead to some of the "Best Practices" in blowing hair around for photography!! Thanks all... for some great pieces of this Science and Art! Jun 09 15 10:03 pm Link If you think of air the same way you think of light, you can modify it to get the effect you want. If it is too intense, move the source farther back, too spread out put a snoot on it, want it more gentle and wider, bounce it off another surface, have an assistant use a screen to create intermittent puffs, etc. There is no reason to irritate a model's eyes with constant flow or hard direct blasts if you use a little creativity. Jun 09 15 10:44 pm Link You want a fan that will move a lot of air but not terrible fast. Then it's all about angling the fan so it provides lift to the hair as opposed to blowing it. Jun 09 15 10:46 pm Link Shei P wrote: Extremely Jun 09 15 10:54 pm Link OP Here: Love the Ideas... Eye of the world: Great idea of treating Airflow like Light... and using lighting principles... and modifiers... and bounce... to control the airflow characteristics. Thats so helpful!! John Allen: Great new idea for me... of looking to create Lift in the hair... instead of just fully Blowing the hair and over shooting...praying for the best results. I know its still going to involve the law of averages...and getting that "Lucky Shot"... but what are some other ways of upping the averages up front... smartly... to getting those great commercial quality looking blowing hair shots? Jun 14 15 10:46 am Link OP Here: Thomas VanDyke: There are any number of looks which can be easily attained with a hair toss.. Thomas: I just tried your "hair toss idea"... in the place of a big blowing fan...and after practicing a little bit with the model... we got some nice shots. This might be a fun and relatively easy way to raise up some hair! Jun 22 15 08:56 am Link OP Here: I did another image this weekend...and it was in the theme of "Blowing Hair". Again, I was able to get a nice kind of Blowing Hair shot...without even using a fan again. So much for my "Fan Hair Blowing" thread! I guess im seeing that a fan is a great idea when you are able to use it...but you dont have to ONLY use a fan to get some great alternative hair looks too! I still need practice at using the fan... for when I need it in the concept. However, when you have a Hammer...the whole world Doesnt have to be a Nail! There are other options to get great hair looks besides a large office fan. Heres another different kind of flowing hair look. Instead of a fan...you use a small comb...dont even need to plug it in! Keep Going on things we need to know about Fan Hair ! ! What about the best fan positions? Does everybody Photoshop out the fan? What can we do better to get an EVEN distribution of hair spread? Why are the pro's hair blowing shots always better than mine...they get really flowing hair...I just get a few strands mis-behaving. What can you tell us about using a fan better!  Click image to Link to the original Mayhem image. Jun 22 15 09:22 am Link The choice of hair is far more important than the choice of fan. If the hair isn't right for the shot, a fan isn't going to fix it. That being said, I've had good luck with a Stanley 655704 Multi Purpose Pivoting Utility Fan      The choice of fan is not as critical as how the fan is positioned and the fan speed. Generally, I like to have an assistant holding the fan just outside of the frame. You should experiment with different fan heights. Holding the fan low, and blowing up will give a different result, than having the fan at head height. I do know some photographers who refuse to use a fan. They use an assistant with a large piece of foam core. the assistant generates a single puff of air just as the shot is taken. There are many different ways of getting the effect you want. Find one that works for you. Jun 23 15 07:41 am Link |
