| Author | Thread |
|
|
08/02/2006 09:13:00 AM · #226 |
I just came across the following link, which allows you to compare various lighting types (and in the case of umbrellas, etc., various colors). I thought some on this thread might find it useful. (Clicking on the side-by-side photos to enlarge them will help you see the differences more clearly.)
//www.bron.ch/vt_pd_lg_sc_en/index.php
I hope this is useful. |
|
|
|
08/02/2006 10:04:37 AM · #227 |
Light Shaper Comparison
Great link, Dale. Made it clickable, we like clickable :)
|
|
|
|
08/02/2006 03:35:20 PM · #228 |
These are looking nice, Charles! Now that you have a pretty good grasp on lighting, you should try playing with composition a bit. Try off-centered, angled, etc. Also, look at magazines and pull out pictures of poses that you like and try those, its a great way to learn posing.
|
|
|
|
08/02/2006 07:27:59 PM · #229 |
This thread was meant for lighting discussions, but has wandered off topic a bit as much needed discussions about posing are integral to the end result. So, to that end, I would love to share some posing basics that I have discovered via book and online research and trial & error:
I mentioned this earlier, but really, rip magazine pages of portraits you like and keep them in a binder. You can use the shots to help you figure out lighting and posing. You can also hand the book to a model and say "show me some poses you would like to try" - that's a great way to get a model to loosen up and feel like she's doing what SHE/HE wants.
Most subjects expect you to properly pose them.
Posing is a powerful psychological tool for a photographer. Along with expression, it plays a big part in conveying the photographer’s message, since the position and relationship to the camera of a subject’s body can reveal much about the subject’s character. The pose should not only complement the subject, but should also suit the type of portrait and its intended use.
A judge in a formal portrait, for example, is often posed regally (think of a statue of a monarch) clearly demonstrating his or her authority and the dignity of the office. Frivolity is not the message. The same judge, photographed at home in a family setting, would be posed to look less severe and more inclined to warmth among family members, but no less dignified.
SUBJECTS RELY UPON YOUR POSING SKILLS
The portrait photographer, whether a top professional or a beginner, is expected by his or her subjects to have in-depth knowledge of the skills of posing. Subjects rely upon the photographer to provide them with direction regarding posing and expression so they look their best in front of the lens. This is perhaps an unrealistic expectation of most novice photographers, but it is the way it is. Therefore photographers must learn a good deal about posing if they wish to make good portraits. Fortunately for the beginning portraitist, there are many ways to acquire the knowledge.
TRIAL-AND-ERROR
The first and usual method for the novice photographer is trial-and-error. After having taken someone’s picture for your first attempt at a portrait, you look at it and realize it could be improved if the subject didn’t, say, look so unexpressive. The person may be just standing there. So you have another go at it, and take another picture, asking the same subject to perhaps lean against a tree and tilt his or her head, and the resulting picture is improved.
LEARN FROM THE WORK OF OTHERS
The second method also involves self-teaching and therefore goes hand-in-hand with the trial-and-error approach. It involves emulation - the effort or desire to equal or excel others. Since there are few posing situations that have not been successfully done countless times before, the beginning photographer needs only to look at the work of other photographers to see how they dealt with a given type of portrait. Then, you try to match it and even to improve upon it. When you find out that the new pose works, it becomes part of your posing repertoire for all future, similar situations. Where do you find examples of good posing? Just about anywhere that photography and portrait art can be seen - fashion, art and photography magazines, museums, galleries...
UNDERSTAND COMPOSITION
Another method of improving your posing skills is one that is less direct than the foregoing methods, but equally as beneficial, and works well in conjunction with them. That is the improvement of your image composition technique. As you gain an understanding of how objects in an image inter-relate for good composition, you will begin to intrinsically know when a pose is a good one or unsuitable for the overall image. Having good compositional skills is invaluable in improving any picture, and will trigger an alarm in your head when a pose does not suit the other elements in your composition.
much of above was pasted from other sources because I'm not this brilliant!
|
|
|
|
08/02/2006 10:40:44 PM · #230 |
| I'm off to go find magazines around the house...... |
|
|
|
08/03/2006 12:52:57 AM · #231 |
I've been hiding in my studio for almost a year now. They're all tools - posing, lighting, backgrounds, expression, etc. Ultimately you want everything to serve a purpose. Don't just light because it looks good. Light because you're trying to get a mood across. Pose to get your subject to fit with your message. Work the lines and angles and perspective. There's more than one way to say dramatic, so figure them all out. Just some food for thought.
Some of my work.
Oh and a tip. When positioning your lights, every face is different. As guides, I move my lights up and down based on how much light I'm getting into their eyes, and left or right depending on how I want the nose shadow to fall. Then it goes closer or farther back or I use modifiers depending on how harsh I want the shadows. If I need fill I'll take out a reflector first. If it's not enough then I'll bring in a 2nd light. Experiment and use your eyes. There's no cut in stone technique for doing any of this.
Message edited by author 2006-08-03 00:57:46.
|
|
|
|
08/03/2006 01:55:35 AM · #232 |
Originally posted by idnic:
much of above was pasted from other sources because I'm not this brilliant! |
Sure you are... |
|
|
|
08/03/2006 08:47:11 AM · #233 |
Ok, I have been reading keeping up with reading through this thread and would love to post a couple of my photos. I have only been into photography for a few months now and I am totally hooked on using our home studio. Our Studio . Here are a couple of photos I took today of my sister and my daughter just for a bit of fun..
And here are a couple of others I have taken over the last week or two.
The white backdrop is my fave as you can all surely see :).. It's the back of a curtain drop(lining)..It's a real pain to put up and alot of the time it falls down while I am shooting, but it works. Other backdrops we use is just seamless paper.
I still have alot to learn I know, and it's all still alot of trial and error for me at the moment..
Bec
Message edited by author 2006-08-03 09:02:54.
|
|
|
|
08/03/2006 10:21:25 AM · #234 |
Originally posted by virtuamike:
I've been hiding in my studio for almost a year now. They're all tools - posing, lighting, backgrounds, expression, etc. Ultimately you want everything to serve a purpose. Don't just light because it looks good. Light because you're trying to get a mood across. Pose to get your subject to fit with your message. Work the lines and angles and perspective. There's more than one way to say dramatic, so figure them all out. Just some food for thought.
Some of my work.
Oh and a tip. When positioning your lights, every face is different. As guides, I move my lights up and down based on how much light I'm getting into their eyes, and left or right depending on how I want the nose shadow to fall. Then it goes closer or farther back or I use modifiers depending on how harsh I want the shadows. If I need fill I'll take out a reflector first. If it's not enough then I'll bring in a 2nd light. Experiment and use your eyes. There's no cut in stone technique for doing any of this. |
Thanks for your contribution, Mike. Some good advice here and some great shots to show your mastery of your studio. Lovely work.
|
|
|
|
08/03/2006 10:39:46 AM · #235 |
Rebecca - Wow, not bad at all for a noobie, huh? These really do look nice and will get better and better with time and practice / experience. I think you're getting a little too much light on the backdrop causing light spill onto your models (especially the first two). A fix for this would be to move them a bit farther away from the backdrop and either turn the bg light down a bit or diffuse it a bit more (or both). Overall, still impressive studio work. Keep it up! :)
|
|
|
|
08/04/2006 09:47:02 AM · #236 |
The official "OH HELL YEAH, ITS FRIDAY!!!" bump. :)
Shoot lots this weekend, guys!
|
|
|
|
08/04/2006 10:22:20 AM · #237 |
Originally posted by virtuamike:
I've been hiding in my studio for almost a year now. [...]
Some of my work. |
I just gotta say it: WOW! :-)
|
|
|
|
08/04/2006 10:28:52 AM · #238 |
i have not been active in this thread or anything, but I did do some studio work yesterday. Maybe in a day or two I can post a few of the results and let everyone chime in if you all don't mind...Is that cool? Studio is the next big unconquered frontier for me. And very excited.
|
|
|
|
08/04/2006 11:09:01 AM · #239 |
Hiya Beau. Welcome to the thread and of course we would love to see and hopefully help with your studio portrait work. I love my studio and would work in there every day if I could -- I hope you find it as exciting as you begin to master yours.
|
|
|
|
08/05/2006 11:46:43 PM · #240 |
The 'late on Saturday and I just got back from an off-site portrait shoot for 14 families and have way too much editing to do' bump... :)
|
|
|
|
08/06/2006 12:14:58 AM · #241 |
Originally posted by idnic:
The 'late on Saturday and I just got back from an off-site portrait shoot for 14 families and have way too much editing to do' bump... :) |
14 FAMILIES?!?! I hope you got paid reallyyyyy well hahaha
|
|
|
|
08/06/2006 12:21:10 AM · #242 |
Originally posted by cfischl:
Originally posted by idnic:
The 'late on Saturday and I just got back from an off-site portrait shoot for 14 families and have way too much editing to do' bump... :) |
14 FAMILIES?!?! I hope you got paid reallyyyyy well hahaha |
LOL Hardly at all for the event - but will make a killing on print sales - I HOPE (that's why I'm editing late tonight so I can get em up for purchase by morning!) Was a banquet night for a softball team and for a treat they hired me to do formal portraits of all the girls, their families, their boyfriends, whatever...." I don't care, I just make as many lovely portraits as I can in 3 hours and give every single person a pricelist with weblink. For many of the families, tonight was the first family portait they've had done, or done in a LONG time. It was sweet. :) I'll post a few once I get through them.. The set-up was hillarious. Portable muslin on bg stand, one AB800 with softbox and my 430ex Speedlight with GFong diffuser. That's it! :P Oh... tripod! :)
Edit to mention... in a 6X6 space with people walking through it! And everytime I walked away for a second, someone would dash up and stand in front of my backdrop and have aunt bessie grab a few shots. lol
Message edited by author 2006-08-06 00:23:04.
|
|
|
|
08/06/2006 12:44:38 PM · #243 |
Okay so here is my first attempt at portraits. It's actually a self portrait taken while trying to test the lighting in my makeshift studio. Besides comments I have a couple of general questions.
1) What type of shutter speeds and ISO do you generally use for indoor portraits?
2) The main light in this portrait was a 500Watt work light, should i consider getting the 1000Watt instead?
 |
|
|
|
08/06/2006 01:15:29 PM · #244 |
Here are few, I have lots more from the session, but here the first 4:
 
 
|
|
|
|
08/06/2006 01:26:55 PM · #245 |
Originally posted by albc28:
Okay so here is my first attempt at portraits. It's actually a self portrait taken while trying to test the lighting in my makeshift studio. Besides comments I have a couple of general questions.
1) What type of shutter speeds and ISO do you generally use for indoor portraits?
2) The main light in this portrait was a 500Watt work light, should i consider getting the 1000Watt instead?
|
Thoughts (and don't take them harshly, because i have a lot to learn too):
Use the lowest ISO possible. Let the lighting, flashes, natural ambience do give you the extra punch in the lighting department. Shutter speed should be fast enough to minimize hand shake and camera blur, my personal opinion is no slower than 1/100 of a second. I use 1/150 as a minimum. In my opinion, aperture should be higher on your list of technical musts. Stick with f/5.6 or smaller (higher number) for complete facial focus. Unless you are coming from an oblique angle and want a shallow DOF...
In terms of lighting, I am less of an expert. Since you don't have the "works" in terms of portrait lighting, really try to use natural lighting by putting yourself, or you model next to a window or even out of doors, as long as the light isn't harsh.
Thoughts on photograph:
It is a little blurry. Probably do to shutter speed and small aperture, but more shutter. Try standing farther away from wall to minimize shadowing. If you are gonna use work light, put that on opposite side of face as the window to fill in shadows. Overall the tone is a little dark/reddish, again probably from light, so keep playing around. Hope that helps!
|
|
|
|
08/06/2006 02:43:53 PM · #246 |
Cutter, Thanks for the comments. You actually made me realize a few other mistakes I had. I had a plant light coming from the ground up, plus a couple of 65 Watt lights in front on the same side as the window, which prolly only added to the shadows. I should have had at least one coming from the back.
I think I do need more light because I was shooting at 1/30 which is a very slow. I was so worried about light, that i didn't realize how small my aperture was so high.
edit: Just went to home depot and found something better. Two transportable 500Watt work lights. I'll put one on each side to eliminate shadows. I'll be experimenting next weekend.
Message edited by author 2006-08-06 16:46:43. |
|
|
|
08/06/2006 06:34:48 PM · #247 |
Originally posted by albc28:
Okay so here is my first attempt at portraits. It's actually a self portrait taken while trying to test the lighting in my makeshift studio. Besides comments I have a couple of general questions.
1) What type of shutter speeds and ISO do you generally use for indoor portraits?
2) The main light in this portrait was a 500Watt work light, should i consider getting the 1000Watt instead?
|
Well, you're shooting with work lights so it's a little different. With strobes you have the advantage of quick flash durations to freeze action (and consequently it'll free you up from shutter speed rules). Hot lights you have to treat just like any other light. If you're reasonably steady then go with the standard rule of thumb: minimum shutter speed = 1 / focal length. A tripod would definitely help.
Going up to 1000W isn't that much more light. If you're really considering buying equipment and don't mind moving away from hot lights, then look into strobes.
|
|
|
|
08/06/2006 06:46:28 PM · #248 |
We held a mini workshop this weekend so some more food for thought while all the material is fresh in my mind.
Don't think of lighting as lighting. Think of lighting as shadow control. Shadows are what give objects depth and form, so see them and use them. The main purpose of modeling lamps is to show where the shadows fall, so kill your ambient lighting and swivel your strobes back and forth so you can see what your shadows are doing. Personally I like using modeling lamps full blast (I don't use tracking/relative output). Recognize how modifiers affect the harshness/softness of the shadows. Utilize light falloff in your shots. There are nuances to positioning and output so adjust and watch with your eyes.
|
|
|
|
08/06/2006 07:25:32 PM · #249 |
Originally posted by virtuamike:
Don't think of lighting as lighting. Think of lighting as shadow control. Shadows are what give objects depth and form, so see them and use them. The main purpose of modeling lamps is to show where the shadows fall, so kill your ambient lighting and swivel your strobes back and forth so you can see what your shadows are doing. Personally I like using modeling lamps full blast (I don't use tracking/relative output). Recognize how modifiers affect the harshness/softness of the shadows. Utilize light falloff in your shots. There are nuances to positioning and output so adjust and watch with your eyes. |
Hey Mike, I respect your stuff so I will gently amend some of your points for his sake. The only problem with killing all your ambient/natural light, (BIG NOTE HERE) when working with sub-standard lighting, is the fact that you can't achieve the correct balance, exposure and shadowing. The reason and main point of natural light inspiration would be Librodo. He uses a ton of natural lighting and he achieves magnificent results. So if albc28 wanted to go with some more dramatic lighting for indoors in conjuction with his "work" lights, then to boost some light, the window could significantly help.
But you bring up a great point about shadow control. But if you don't mind, I will still think of lighting as lighting as well.
(edit to use one of your photos as shadow control/lighting example. To me, this photo couldn't be improved upon. I think it is awesome.)
Message edited by author 2006-08-06 19:27:31.
|
|
|
|
08/06/2006 08:20:16 PM · #250 |
Dude, these are fantastic! I love that you pulled them all together with similar processing and colors. Great stock set!
Thanks too for contributing your good advice above. :)
|
|
