Portrait advice - DPChallenge Forums

Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM

11/16/2007 10:07:35 PM · #1

My brother-in-law asked me to take some portraits of him within the next year, and I could use some advice on set-ups. I'm looking for lighting advice, perhaps backgrounds, some posing, and probably other areas I don't know to ask about. Here's the situation. For over half his life, he's been physically fit. He's never gone more than three consecutive days without a workout of some sort, whether it's running, biking, free weights, etc. He's raced mountain and road bikes competitively, and has been in numerous marathons. He's getting to a point in his life, between family obligations (wife and 3 kids), work obligations, and age, where he feels he soon won't be able to continue training the way he wants. He's given himself one (and one only) shot to train for and compete in a triathlon before he changes focus. After his training is completed, he would like photographic records of his physique. I don't have anything in the way of lighting equipment at present, but I'm looking to accumulate some here and there, and some steering towards the right direction would be appreciated.

This became really long! Sorry. I guess I just could have asked "What are some portrait techniques for accentuating and defining muscles?"
Anyway, that's what I need help with.

violinist123

Canon EOS-6D

11/16/2007 10:17:17 PM · #2

There's a whole thread on portraiture going right now with lots of tips and tricks. Check it out.

dwterry

Canon EOS-1D Mark III

Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM

11/16/2007 10:20:00 PM · #3

Originally posted by twilson944:

"What are some portrait techniques for accentuating and defining muscles?"

The way we see 3D objects in a two dimensional space, is through the use of light and shadow. If there are no shadows, then it's hard to determine the shape of the objects in the images. So the best way to highlight musculature is by using hard light and hard angles giving heavy doses of contrast in the areas of light and shadow across the muscles.

11/16/2007 10:24:57 PM · #4

Originally posted by routerguy666:

There's a whole thread on portraiture going right now with lots of tips and tricks. Check it out.

I have been. It's on my watch list, and I posted on page 5. I thought about asking in that thread, and perhaps I should have, but I figured this situation was so specific, it might be better served having a space of its own. In retrospect, I should have named it more appropriately to better facilitate possible future searches on the subject. Perhaps SC could help there?

Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM

11/16/2007 10:53:12 PM · #5

Originally posted by dwterry:

Originally posted by twilson944:
"What are some portrait techniques for accentuating and defining muscles?"

The way we see 3D objects in a two dimensional space, is through the use of light and shadow. If there are no shadows, then it's hard to determine the shape of the objects in the images. So the best way to highlight musculature is by using hard light and hard angles giving heavy doses of contrast in the areas of light and shadow across the muscles.

Makes sense. So to get a bit more specific, would I want something like one light almost directly overhead with maybe a small reflector to fill the shadows on his face?
Would a dark background blend too much with dark shadows and make the portraits look funny?

dwterry

Canon EOS-1D Mark III

11/16/2007 11:23:05 PM · #6

Hmmm... I'm thinking examples are probably better than words. So I went searching through the DPC archives to find some images that might be useful to examine. Pay attention to the light and shadow and see if you can figure out how the subject was lighted:

Also, here's a thread I found.

surfdabbler

Canon EOS-5D

Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 II

11/16/2007 11:47:44 PM · #7

Yes, hard dramatic lighting, raking across the muscles. If you want the sweaty look, use cooking oil, not water. Water will dry up pretty quick, but oil will stay glistening wet. If you want to, you can flick water on top, and it will stay beaded and sweaty looking on top of the oil. He probably knows how to pump up his muscles already. And make sure the room is plenty warm. It's hard to look muscly when you're shivering and covered in goosebumps. :)

11/16/2007 11:52:50 PM · #8

Seems a definitive answer to the background question. :) I didn't appear to be too far off with the light position. A little simplistic perhaps, but the first two thumbs appear overhead. The first one looks to be directly overhead, and the second looks between 1 and 2 o'clock. Thanks

dwterry for the examples and link. Any more help (from anyone) is much appreciated. I will continue to research (just hope the wife doesn't catch me!) in the meantime.