portrait 101 mentorship thread - DPChallenge Forums

Sony SAL-50F14 Normal 50mm f/1.4 Autofocus Lens for the Sony

04/30/2007 06:30:58 PM · #51

I think now that we've got people under open shade... we should turn them to one side or the other (at about a 45 degree angle) and take a look at where the light is falling. This will suddenly give us "modeling light" which will allow us to see the person in 3-D. Shadows, as much as some like to talk bad about them, are important! You need shadows in order to be able to tell the shape of the face.

So... use what you've learned, and try shooting again. This time with the person turned at an angle. The side of the face closest to the open area of light will be lightest. Experiment with the angle of the face for the most pleasing look.

ladyhawk22

Sony DSLR-A700

04/30/2007 07:05:57 PM · #52

Well, as far as moving ahead, I'm sure people are anxious to get a new lesson....but I might prefer a couple days to get assignments done. My work schedule is kinda hectic, and I feel like I'm already falling behind! I won't be able to attempt assignment one until tomorrow most likely :-(

But I don't want to hold people back either! Just maybe ask for a little leniency if I'm posting some of my shots a little bit later than others.......stupid work schedule!

BTW, everyone's shots are looking great!! I'm totally excited to try this technique out, and really hoping I can get my hubby to pose with me for some nice shots :-)

04/30/2007 07:17:51 PM · #53

Originally posted by dwterry:

I think we will cover this a little later, in a poseing exercise. lets just stick to lighting for now

04/30/2007 08:00:30 PM · #54

Originally posted by gi_joe05:

I think we will cover this a little later, in a poseing exercise. lets just stick to lighting for now

Hmmm... I wasn't even thinking about posing yet. I was still thinking about looking at how the light hits them. Posing gets a lot trickier, but if you can start seeing the shadows it'll help.

04/30/2007 08:43:07 PM · #55

just as a side note here. I have what is the start of my graduating portfolio in my portfolio here. take same time to really check it out, feel free to ask questions.

04/30/2007 08:45:57 PM · #56

in the spirit of this I was wanting to have a little q and a action betwen lessons. that will solve the problem of us who can do the assignments quickly and us who can't. I will post a new lesson about every week or so and part of the assigment each weak is going to be post a picture that either you wish you would have taken or one that you just like and we will try to disect it both technically and quess at what makes it so good.

this should livin things up around here while keeping us on track

Olympus 50mm f/2.0 Macro ED Zuiko Digital

05/01/2007 09:06:13 AM · #57

just wanted to bump the new info for the day crowd

Tlemetry

Olympus E-300 EVOLT

05/01/2007 10:21:39 AM · #58

I would like to join. I sent a pm.
I like the idea of the one lesson a week. It gives people enough time to get the assignments. Yet not to long to get stale.
However, I am feeling the crunch of a wedding in one month from tomorrow. I was wondering will we be hitting on posing by then?
(just curious)

TCGuru

Canon EOS-40D

05/01/2007 12:26:22 PM · #59

I would love to do something like this... I hope you can all bear with me, I work a LOT but I DO have 5 willing models at my disposal :)

Let me know if it is too late...

Carl Zeiss 35mm ZF f/2.0 Distagon T

05/01/2007 01:14:26 PM · #60

Originally posted by Tlemetry:

to be honest...I'm just not sure. I really think lighting needs to come before posing. you can search all the great wedding photog's sites for pose ideas but if you don't know how to light you can get that just by looking at others work.

virtuamike

Nikon D2X

05/01/2007 03:52:56 PM · #61

Originally posted by gi_joe05:

Originally posted by Tlemetry:
I would like to join. I sent a pm.
I like the idea of the one lesson a week. It gives people enough time to get the assignments. Yet not to long to get stale.
However, I am feeling the crunch of a wedding in one month from tomorrow. I was wondering will we be hitting on posing by then?
(just curious)

to be honest...I'm just not sure. I really think lighting needs to come before posing. you can search all the great wedding photog's sites for pose ideas but if you don't know how to light you can get that just by looking at others work.

Agreed. Though if we're talking about light, then I think it extends further back than just finding easy to work with light sources. Understanding how light behaves to create the shadows and highlights we like or dislike will give people far more to work with.

Tlemetry

Olympus E-300 EVOLT

Olympus 50mm f/2.0 Macro ED Zuiko Digital

05/01/2007 04:11:11 PM · #62

Originally posted by gi_joe05:

I'm not saying it shouldn't be. And believe me I have been doing a lot of searching for poses. I was just wondering if it would be soon? no hurries or worries.

angelfire

Canon EOS-350D Rebel XT

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

05/01/2007 04:40:44 PM · #63

for ideas on wedding poses, my friend sits with her clients and goes through wedding magazines to get ideas with the bride. That way they have a plan set out and have an idea of how long it'll take to do it. Just an idea.

05/01/2007 09:52:29 PM · #64

Originally posted by virtuamike:

Originally posted by gi_joe05:

Originally posted by Tlemetry:
I would like to join. I sent a pm.
I like the idea of the one lesson a week. It gives people enough time to get the assignments. Yet not to long to get stale.
However, I am feeling the crunch of a wedding in one month from tomorrow. I was wondering will we be hitting on posing by then?
(just curious)

to be honest...I'm just not sure. I really think lighting needs to come before posing. you can search all the great wedding photog's sites for pose ideas but if you don't know how to light you can get that just by looking at others work.

Agreed. Though if we're talking about light, then I think it extends further back than just finding easy to work with light sources. Understanding how light behaves to create the shadows and highlights we like or dislike will give people far more to work with.

ohh don't worry ;) we starting easy, getting everyone on the same page, then we are going to dive into some pretty hard stuff. I allready have the next lecture written and ready to post, just waiting about a week betwen posts.

seriously though guys, I really think posting pictures that you like and letting us all talk about them is going to be helpful

05/01/2007 10:44:25 PM · #65

I'm just going through a couple of portfolios here on DPC and picked out a few where I thought lighting was really good and that it was probably natural lighting (no flash). See what you all think of these:

There were some others that I saw just recently that I really liked. Unfortunately, I must not have flagged them as favorites as I can't seem to find them now.

Nikon AF Nikkor 50mm f/1.8D

05/01/2007 11:11:09 PM · #66

Here are some of my own "natural light" portraits:

wavelength

Nikon D300

05/01/2007 11:36:15 PM · #67

Thought Joey might be a good one to look through, though I can't be exactly sure about all of these.

Lesley

Goodman

Trying to stick with shaded natural light here....

Message edited by author 2007-05-01 23:39:26.

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

05/02/2007 09:49:56 AM · #68

this one caught my eye, so I'm going to talk about this one.

feel free to discuss, agree, or disagree. I really love this image, it just really does something great for me. The lighting is great using the wall to create a shadow side and the light to create a highlight side. her eyes are where your eyes go in the image and they seems so warm and inviting. I think this is a case where the expression makes an average pose and compostion great. there is something to be said about expression, as portrait photographers we really are paid to capture moments, at the end of the day it's all about the emotion of an image. We need to have good lighting and technicals to enhance that emotion, but it's the emotion that is priceless to the little girls mom, or the brides father. The more you understand the reason why people value photography the better your going to be at it.

angelfire

Canon EOS-350D Rebel XT

05/02/2007 10:32:02 AM · #69

This is an older one that I had. There were pieces of culvert in a field so we went out to it. I used a piece of scrap metal to reflect light onto her since I didn't have a reflector at the time.