Lighting for Under Baseball Caps

[sc21]

Met my cousin, a fisherman, on the pier today, and he was all

showered up and in nice, clean clothes, and I thought, geesh, this is

the time to get a good portrait of him.

 

The afternoon sun was behind the trees, so we had a huge sky of open

shade, but I didn't get out my camera 'cause I didn't know what to do

with his always-present baseball cap.

 

It shaded his eyes so much I didn't know how to set it up.

 

I guess the best way would be to have the light coming in low from

the side, with him turning his head towards it, as in a window light

portrait, but there wasn't any shaded place there to get under so

that the light reaching his chin was the same as that reaching his

eyes.

 

Fill-flash would've worked, I guess, but I wanted to get the grizzly

character of his face.

 

Any suggestions on what to do in such a case?

[jitterbugboy]

if you are doing head and shoulders portraits, it might work to just have him hold a white card to reflect some of the light back up. It would probably look more natural than fill flash.

[melisa]

Slight fill flash, like -1 2/3 to -2 would give you just enough, IMHO.

[twmeyer]

tell him to set it back a little on his head, or shoot it like it is, since that's the way he looks all the time anyway (at least you'll have an honest portrait)... t

[lacey_smith4]

baseball caps and sunglasses should be banned. But, since they are not, fill light is the only alternative to the darkness (which may be ok).

 

If not on-camera fill flash, the white card above should be translated to anything light-ish placed under the face frame -- for a fisherman, that might be your tan fishing vest or bright orange life preserver, your handkerchief, a newspaper, etc. You can also shoot one with a flashlight pointing at his face, though balancing exposure might be a touch difficult. Didn't sound as though you had a full studio setup at your disposal, so use anything that is there.

 

And, depending on your film or digtial sensitivity (not equivalent ASA, but Dmax, range of captureable light), expose to get the eye area right, and tone down your highlights later by contrast adjustment.

 

finally, and not the usual fix, if you are shooting B&W, a blue filter will help a little. Shade, lit entirely by reflected light, is more blue-ish than red, and blue-filter darkens it relatively less (a little). You might lighten up shade by 1/2 to 1 stop compared to the rest of the frame. A blue filter might also accentuate the craggy lines of his grizzled face, and the red in the lines and structures will darken / standout even more. It will, however, wash-out the clouds and sky.

 

Whatever, this takes some work, unless you are deliberate, the results will be less than you hoped. Overall, sophisticated fill-flash is the easiest (and predictable, but not on every camera), reflectors are traditional.

[jim_gifford]

Call me crazy, but I'd ask him to take the cap off for a minute or two.

[twmeyer]

a white sand beach makes a great reflector, especially next to a white building late in the day/early in the AM... t

[sc21]

Thanks, all. I did look for something reflective, but the pier was dark, the shore was mud, and my shirt was dark green.

 

What I said about having low light actually worked for me today in this grab-shot of a family friend. He was looking out this window and, as you can see, the light falls evenly on his face because the cap isn't shading it at all. They say using porch decks for this also works well.

 

And as for my cousin taking his hat off - well, he would've have been happy to obligue. Plus, being a fisherman, his forehead's probably two stops brighter than his face.

 

Thanks again.

[craig_gillette]

Hats with brims and bills are designed to keep light off the face and eyes, so you'd need to add light from below - either fill or reflection. That's one reason a lot of the old western pictures look so odd with hats (and/or heads) tilted back, lighting and flash technology wasn't all that well developed or practiced. You might need to carry one of the collapsing reflectors, a large piece of card stock, foam core, etc., and maybe even draft an onlooker. Not easy to do.