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DPChallenge Forums >> Photography Discussion >> portrait 101 mentorship thread
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Showing posts 101 - 123 of 123, (reverse)
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 05/09/2007 02:38:36 PM · #101
Originally posted by tcmartin:
Originally posted by gi_joe05:
Originally posted by tcmartin:
Lesson 2: window light

Looking forward to comments.


this is a great start, I think you missed it a little bit, there is great light on one side of her face but the shadows are a touch to dark. you need to use something to reflect light back into her face. Also, did you use a tripod? there looks to be a bit of motion blur in the image. The catch lights are right though, and the poseing as far as postion to the window looks great. you are almost there, keep it up


Thanks very much for commenting. I did use a reflector. In the last lesson I was too dark so on this one I used gold instead of white to get more light reflected - in fact you can see a small indication of that on the dark cheek. I am either afraid to use more light or I am just drawn to darker images - this I must explore so thanks. I did use a tripod and normally would sharpen a little, but the model is very concerned about wrinkles and I must take care of her or I will have to shoot myself in the rest of the lessons.

This workshop is great and I really appreciate the feedback. Thanks!


If you want more light, then move the reflector closer. Brightness is determined by distance, not color (well, unless you're using black I guess).

Message edited by author 2007-05-09 14:39:38.
 05/09/2007 03:00:52 PM · #102
Originally posted by tcmartin:
Originally posted by gi_joe05:
Originally posted by tcmartin:
Lesson 2: window light

Looking forward to comments.


this is a great start, I think you missed it a little bit, there is great light on one side of her face but the shadows are a touch to dark. you need to use something to reflect light back into her face. Also, did you use a tripod? there looks to be a bit of motion blur in the image. The catch lights are right though, and the poseing as far as postion to the window looks great. you are almost there, keep it up


Thanks very much for commenting. I did use a reflector. In the last lesson I was too dark so on this one I used gold instead of white to get more light reflected - in fact you can see a small indication of that on the dark cheek. I am either afraid to use more light or I am just drawn to darker images - this I must explore so thanks. I did use a tripod and normally would sharpen a little, but the model is very concerned about wrinkles and I must take care of her or I will have to shoot myself in the rest of the lessons.

This workshop is great and I really appreciate the feedback. Thanks!


hmm then you need to move the reflector foward, I would disagree with the color comment though. Gold will reflect more light, not much more but it will reflect more. it will also change the quality of the light, white is going to give you a soft light (that would match the window) gold is going to give you a harder light.
 05/11/2007 10:24:41 AM · #103
ok guys, geeze this has been a fast week. it comes time to write up another lesson, what are you looking for. we still need to hit on prime lighting/golden lighting, we also need to revisit our first lesson and take it a step farther. We could also transition into to studio light, but I was expecting some drop off at that point as not everyone has studio lights.
speaking of that, I think that when it comes time to do studio lighting, I am going to be doing two lessons at one time. one lesson for the how to's of the studio and one lesson taking natural lighting a step farther, that way all can participate and this whole mentorship wont just fizzle and die.

so what is it guys, I'll teach what you want.
 05/11/2007 10:45:02 AM · #104


Like this? I wasnt quite sure where the camera was supposed to be on your diagram.
 05/13/2007 11:20:30 AM · #105
Originally posted by emorgan49:


Like this? I wasnt quite sure where the camera was supposed to be on your diagram.


yep, thats it allright. good job, very nice lighting. I didn't put the camera postion on the diagram b/c it could be alot of different places, I just showed where the light should be that way I didn't hurt anyone's creative efforts.
 05/13/2007 11:33:24 AM · #106
hi!
I'd love some comments on a headshot i took for someone. ;) Here's Sue.


Thanks!
 05/15/2007 11:21:47 AM · #107
Originally posted by gi_joe05:
ok guys, geeze this has been a fast week. it comes time to write up another lesson, what are you looking for. we still need to hit on prime lighting/golden lighting, we also need to revisit our first lesson and take it a step farther. We could also transition into to studio light, but I was expecting some drop off at that point as not everyone has studio lights.
speaking of that, I think that when it comes time to do studio lighting, I am going to be doing two lessons at one time. one lesson for the how to's of the studio and one lesson taking natural lighting a step farther, that way all can participate and this whole mentorship wont just fizzle and die.

so what is it guys, I'll teach what you want.


I like the idea of keeping the natural lighting alive for the ones that don't have studio lighting however, you can also show how to create studio lighting with house lamps. I used directional lamps before I was able to buy a light kit and most of the time they worked okay.
 05/16/2007 01:14:25 PM · #108
sorry no lesson this week guys, I'll post it asap we took our puppy in to get fixed and there have been some *minor* complications. like you can't leave him alone for longer then five minutes.
 05/21/2007 03:39:30 PM · #109
Can't wait to see more lessons. I hope the puppy is doing okay.
05/31/2007 02:38:24 PM · #110
Wow, it̢۪s been a while

Sorry abou that guys, with a sick puppy and then cassie̢۪s birthday I have gotten a little behind. Fear not though, I̢۪m back and hopefully we can bring some life back into this thread.

For our next lesion I think we need some words on seeing light, this is such a simple idea but it’s so hard to really master, so if you don’t start to see it at firstâ€Â¦your not alone.

Light is easy right?....wrong! The basics are pretty easy though. Highlights protrude, shadows recede. It̢۪s about as easy as that. Go look at some pictures around the site, anything bright your eyes go straight to, where anything dark your eyes almost miss. There are some acceptions to this rule, but not many.

Now how to apply thatâ€Â¦hmmm. This is where it gets a little tough. We are going to start for this week with our basic subtractive lighting techniques. As tought before you have to block all the bad light from above and behind, and put the subject more or less I shade. So to add dimension to the person’s face and body now, all you have got to do is turn them! We aren’t talking about turning profile, and it doesn’t mean that they should or shouldn’t be making eye contact with the camera but for a head and shoulder shot, just have them turn at the waist a little to their left or right. What you are looking for is for there to be a highlight side and shadow side to their face. You don’t want the shadows to be too dark, or the highlights to be too light though, you will just have to play until you can see what is enough and what is to much. For full length shots you want to do the same but have them move their feet with their hips.

General rules of thumb when it comes to posing;
1. if it can bend, bend it!
We are talking about wrists, elbows, and the like here. We are trying to avoid any straight line that we can.
2. NO STRIGHT LINES!!!!
No really, straight lines are boring visually, slants and curves create movement. You want to move the body so that the shoulders and the head are tilted, wrists and elbows are bent, and that they are turned in regards to the lighting so that there is a shadow side and light side to the lighting on their face, thus creating direction and depth in your image.

It sounds so easy, but I would argue that it̢۪s the hardest thing to overcome in every sitting I have ever had!

That̢۪s it for now guys, treat this like a sort of free study homework, all I want you to do is play with these new set of guides and see what you come up with, use either subtractive or window lighting to do so. Just post your pictures here.


05/31/2007 11:54:57 PM · #111
If it can bend, bend it! I like that!
 06/01/2007 01:52:40 AM · #112
Is there any way to get an example? It may be that it's almost 1am and that's why I'm having an issue understanding, but it would really be great to get a visual of what we are trying to achieve.
06/01/2007 02:31:45 PM · #113
I short..no sorry. what we are working for here is for you to just play with the whole posing idea. move the models chin left and right move them at the waste, move their feet, just play.

I didn't give a visual example on this one because I don't want everyone to do the same thing

all you need is a highlight and shadow side to the face, here are some examples I have found around here that show what I mean.

this has a well defined shadow and highlight side of the face, where the shadows are a little darker for mood. see how the light on the shadow side is still there, so you can see the details of her face.


here is one where the shadows aren't as dark, see how it changes the mood of the whole thing. there is still shadow and highlight to the face. his shoulders are square, which is a no no but with the extreme head tilt I think it still works for effect


here is an awesome example, this is done with the window light, you guys know how to do this.


this one has some pretty sweet pp on it but the light is still what makes the image powerful. this is a little bit flatter light on the face, but you still can tell what side of her the light was coming from.


all of these break some rule of poseing too. I did that on purpose to show you that as long as you know the rules, and have a reason to break them then it can still work.

Message edited by author 2007-06-03 09:06:18.
 06/05/2007 03:50:35 PM · #114
so, I begining to think that this thread is dieing.

i'm not too sure what else to do about that though.
 06/05/2007 04:21:10 PM · #115
Originally posted by gi_joe05:
so, I begining to think that this thread is dieing.

i'm not too sure what else to do about that though.

Well I just discovered this and find it very interesting. Just read all your posts and am ready to shoot. I'll try some subtractive and window lighting and attempt some poseing. Pictures to come soon.
 06/05/2007 07:24:28 PM · #116
My go at Subtractive Lighting...

06/05/2007 08:21:44 PM · #117
Originally posted by gi_joe05:
so, I begining to think that this thread is dieing.


Kipp -- I'm going to go ahead and join too, if that's ok. Maybe if enough people are participating it will draw others to be interested. DPL has everyone distracted, me thinks :)

Personally, this is perfect timing because I'm taking a go at part-time family photography.

I'll try to take a new subtractive light photo in the next few days to get started.
 06/06/2007 11:38:18 AM · #118
Originally posted by KelvinC:
My go at Subtractive Lighting...



wow, great job. I think this would even bridge to this weeks lesson. the head tilt and use of placement in respect to the light created the shadow and the highlight side. there is detail everywhere. there are no stright lines, making the movment in the image nice. and it's in focus

good job!
 06/06/2007 11:39:15 AM · #119
Originally posted by Sting11165:
Originally posted by gi_joe05:
so, I begining to think that this thread is dieing.


Kipp -- I'm going to go ahead and join too, if that's ok. Maybe if enough people are participating it will draw others to be interested. DPL has everyone distracted, me thinks :)

Personally, this is perfect timing because I'm taking a go at part-time family photography.

I'll try to take a new subtractive light photo in the next few days to get started.


please do, the more we have the more post we will have! bring your friends along too!
 06/06/2007 12:06:59 PM · #120
I hope this thread keeps going. Even though I'm not participating, I've learnt a ton of stuff by following along.
 06/10/2007 09:46:05 PM · #121
Originally posted by JulieG:
I hope this thread keeps going. Even though I'm not participating, I've learnt a ton of stuff by following along.


you really should participate, you will learn a ton more that way!
 06/10/2007 11:35:43 PM · #122
Window lighting assignment

Tiffany has a window to her right and the one behind that you can see here. I was surprised how well it turned out.

06/11/2007 12:03:18 AM · #123
Originally posted by gi_joe05:
so, I begining to think that this thread is dieing.

i'm not too sure what else to do about that though.


Please keep it up!! Life is calling me away at the moment but I will be participating again soon!!!!
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