texxter

February 27, 2017

I haven't posted here in a long time, so it's time to get active with the community again. This image is not memorable, as it's just the face of a man, but I like the expression and the simplicity of it.

https://www.photo.net/photo/18357976/near-hampi-india

November 1, 2010

I'd be very interested in reverse engineering photo #2 - how many strobes and where are placed?

October 27, 2010

John, you can use a single light to create a different exposure on the subject and the background. I would use a bare bulb Alien Bee above the subject - this will hit the background as well. Now use two light modifiers. One is a diffusing surface (you may need to stack two) between the light and the subject, pretty close to the subject. Let the raw light from the bare bulb flash hit the background. Measure for the subject. This should give you at least 1 f-stop more on the background than the subject and soft diffused light on the baby. See diagram below.

The difussing surface can be one of those 5-in-1 reflectors/diffusor thingies, the diffusor part, perhaps two, one on top of the other that Mom can hold.

October 27, 2010

I agree that the first image is lit with a hard light positioning in front of the model and creating the shadows on the floor and wall. The shadow on her neck is produced by another light, the fill, also a hard light, positioned to the right of the camera. Either light could be the sun, and the other a strobe.

The second image seems to be just the sun as key light and a fill reflector redirecting some of the sunlight back to the model. There is quite a bit of specular reflections on her chest, which may indicate a high contrast silver reflector, not sure. It could also be oiled skin. Just a guess!

October 20, 2010

Lastolite 7' x 8' collapsible background. It's a b*tch to fold back.

http://www.amazon.com/Lastolite-Standing-Collapsible-Translucent-Background/dp/B001HO122S

October 20, 2010

it's really surprising and amazing that you submerged the flash and it continued to work. I don't think my Nikon flashes would survive this experience, but I will certainly try not to find out!

October 19, 2010

There are no rules. If you like your portfolio the way it is and you don't need to meet the expectations of an art director, why worry about it? Do what feels right to you.

October 17, 2010

Some thoughts:

<ul>

<li>Shoot int he shade - it's going to be hard to control lighting in the middle of the day with just an SB600. If you eliminate direct sunlight you'll be better off.</li>

<li>If you're shooting in a park, I am not sure a background is need, just use some nice grass and trees as background. I'd avoid paper for sure, as wind will make a mess of it and you'll be sorry you got a roll of paper on location.</li>

<li>You'll need an extra battery just in case, not a grip.</li>

<li>You dont need another lens, the one you have is fine for this type of work.</li>

<li>Avoid having the subject receiving less light than tbe background, unless you're going for a high key look - for example placing the subjects in the shade, but having the background in full sun will give you an overexposed background unless you use the flash as the main light. This will slow you down and consume batteries. </li>

<li>The important thing is to relax your subjects and get natural expressions. The simpler the setup, the easier it'll be to focus on the interaction and not the equipment.</li>

<li>Scout the place and practice so that you know exactly how you're going to work it.</li>

<li>May want to shoot in RAW format so that you can change exposure and whitebalance in post. If not, make sure your white balance is right - in a park outside color temperature may be high.</li>

</ul>

Good luck and share your results!

October 17, 2010

Using a polarizing filter does a couple of things - first, it chews up light, 1.5 f-stops, and this can be an issue if you're photographing using low light and high iso - the AF system will have more trouble focusing if you cut light going into the lens. The second thing it does is that it removes or reduces (polarized) specular reflections from certain surfaces. Skin generally produces diffused, not direct reflections, hence a polarizer will have minimal effect on the skin. If the skin has areas of high specularity, then a polarizer filter may make a visible difference.

If you want to bring up more saturation into your background by eliminating the polarized reflections from the sky, the polarizer will do that with minimal impact on your subjects. Just be aware that you're losing light.

October 13, 2010

I am a big fan of paper backgrounds. Gray seamless paper is great for business portraits. You can put a light on it to create a gradient, or shift its color with a gelled flash. They are inexpensive, except perhaps for shipping. I buy seamless paper locally.

Here is a business portrait done against a gray paper.

October 12, 2010

Steve, I would definitely discuss with the family what their expectations are. As mentioned before, perhaps they picked the home out of convenience and they expect the photographer to set up a portable studio and create an formal studio-like environment that looks nothing like their home. Or perhaps they want a more casual family portrait that incorporates the home as background and prop. This is a really core question before you plan the shoot - what are the parameters of the commission? They may not be sure what they want - in which case you may offer to visit the home to help you decide on the best approach for them. I love environmental portraiture, where the environment is as important as the people. I enjoyed reading a book by the same people behind "A day in...", Rick Smolan and Jennifer Erwitt, titled "America at Home" - great ideas on photographing people in their home. I must add that I have never heard one photographer advise another photographer to co-ordinate what the subjects wear with the fabrics used in carpets. Never. But, I guess it is true that if you hang around forums long enough, eventually, you will have heard everything. Just kidding, Robert. That was some funny advice.

October 11, 2010

Max, sounds to me like you are going for a high key look. With strong light coming in from the windows, it should be fairly simple to get a clean white background by placing the subject in front of the windows then exposing for the subject. This will almost certainly blow out the background without the need for rolls of paper, muslin or complex lighting setups. If you can post a link to what sort of effect you're trying to achieve, that would help a lot too.

This advice above is not quite right. Assuming for a moment that both the subject and the background are receiving the same amount of light, a correct exposure on the subject will also product a correct exposure on the background. The original post didn't say that the the background was white, otherwise we wouldn't be discussing paper vs. muslin. So if the background is not white, a proper exposure will render it in its true tonality. This is certainly not going to be blown out.

Even if the background were white, a correct exposure would render it white with detail. If the expectation is that the background will be white without detail, it needs to be overexposed. Normally 1 f-stop over the subject exposure will suffice without creating much spilled light back on the subject. So... a white background needs to receive about 1 f-stop more light than the subject in order for it to be blown out. Now, if the background is not white, say a black wall, you can still make it white by pumping enought light onto it. I can turn a black wall white by overexposing it by 3 or 4 f-stops.

Strong light coming from the window will certainly not blow out the background and keep the subject exposed properly.

October 10, 2010

I have been using a <a href="http://www1.godox.com/_d270068598.htm">Godox EX600</a> since late June. I am very pleased with this unit. It's plenty powerful and well built - and it has the portability that I sometimes need. The only thing I dont like about it is that the f-stop range is fairly limited, about 3 at best - so I cannot turn the power down to 15-20 wattsec when I just need a kiss of light. It's powerful even at level 1. Here is a quick review: I spent some time comparing its power to other lights I use, and so far, I am very pleased. Here are some very unscientific test using the following method, and comparing four lights, a Nikon SB800 flash (120ws or so?), an Alien Bee B800 (320ws), a White Lighting X3200 (1200ws) and the new EX600 (600ws)

<ul>

<li>All measurements taken 14 ft from the light, ISO100 set on the light meter.</li>

<li>Used 7 in reflectors on the AB and WL lights, and different zooms for the SB800.</li>

<li>Used the same white shoot-thru umbrella as a modifier with all the lights.</li>

</ul>

Nikon SB800 - at 14ft I get between 2.8 3/10 and 2.8 7/10 with zoom ranging from 35mm to 105mm - obviously at a high zoom the light is not going to be as diffused as with a wide zoom. Alien Bee B800 - At full power the B800 gives me 4.0 7/10 thru the umbrella with the 7 in reflector, which is one f-stop more light, or twice the power as the SB800 EX600 - My new toy, with a 7in reflector gives me 5.6 7/10, another f-stop of light over the AB B800, consistent with the 600 ws. WL X3200 - This is very large and heavy 1200 ws monolight, which gave me 8.0 9/10 at full power, again consistent with a 1200 ws punch. So the EX600 does give me twice as much power as the AB B800 and is battery operated. This is very nice, indeed, when I want to shoot on location without having to carry the X3200, or when I need both. There are a few things I really like and a few things I don't:

<ul>

<li>I like to 20W LED modeling light, which I dont have with the SB800 speedlights</li>

<li>I like the power pack/battery system, which is supposed to give me close to 200 full power flashes. Very portable and convenient.</li>

<li>I also like the Bowens-compatible mounting system - I mounted an 11in Bowens reflector with grids, and it works great. I have a Bowens speedring and will be shooting with the Photoflex softboxes, which is hard to do with the SB800.</li>

<li>I like the price - $275 in China - but it cost a lot to go pick it up <img title="Smile" src="http://www.TexasPhotoForum.com/forum/images/smilies/smile.gif" border="0" alt="" /></li>

<li>I don't like the range of flash power - with the 7in reflector and no umbrella, at 14 ft, ISO 100, I get a range from f/11 (power=9) to 4.0 8/10 (power=1) - this is not even three stops. The other lights have a wider range. This means I cannot use this light for just a weak kiss of flash, as it packs a punch even a the lowest power. That's a disappointment.</li>

<li>Color temperature varation will be significant, and it takes two pops for the digital control to change power settings. I can deal with this.</li>

</ul>

Overall I am quite happy with the kit, and it fits perfectly when the SB800 cant do the job, but portability is still pretty important. I dont need to carry the super heavy WL X3200 + Vagabond, only this small suitcase with the head and power pack, and I can charge it in the car too. Sweet.

The first image was done with this unit, the second is a picture of the setup, and the rest are iPhone picture of the EX600so that you can see its size relative to a portable flash.

#1. Trying to get a sunny feel in a room inside the house, using flash and not ambient.. This was done with the EX600 unit outside the house, with the 5' Photoflex octobox mounted on it, shooting thru the window. There is piece of white foam core board to camera right as fill. Worked exactly as I expected.

#2 You can see the EX600 mounted on a light stand with a 5ft softbox hanging from it, outside the house and shooting thru the window to emulate window light.

October 9, 2010

Max, it's great that you have a clear vision for what you want to achieve - the rest is just visual problem solving. > how do i get the background to be really white, since I don't have extra lights to lit it up? The way to do this is to let more light hit the background than the subject. Or to let the subject get less light than the background. One way to achieve this without flash is to place a diffusion panel between the subject and the window, but let the window light hit the background directly. Also, to achieve a consistent tone across the the background it would be best to have the background parallel to the window - but this may not be possible. You'll have to do some postprocessing to get it white. Let's say that the light coming from the window gives you f.5.6 at ISO800 on both the subject and the background. In order to overexpose the background place a diffusing material, like rip stop nylon or a light bed sheet between the window and the subject - this may eat up one f-stop of light - now you have f/4 on your subject and f/5.6 on your background for a whiter overexposure. Make sure that the diffusion panel is not blocking light from hitting the background. > Do I need reflectors, even when the natural light is not direct sun light? If your goal is to have a high contrast portrait you probably can do away without a reflector fill. The reflector on the darker side of the side will open up shadows and reduce contrast. I use reflector fill with window light whenever I want to reduce the ratio between the highlights and the shadows.

> Is it better the subject is very near the windows or several yards away from them? If your goal is to create high contrast, the closer to the light the faster the falloff - this means you'll get the shadow side of the face to be pretty dark pretty quickly. If you move your subject farther from the window you'll get less contrast, as the light fall off will be less dramatic. The contrast will be less, especially if you place your subject so that the light wraps around in front of them. > What I am asking is if you can see any particular issues I will be facing, or suggestions to make this idea happen. You can make this work, but you may end up with low light - this means tripod, iso 800 and a static pose. Please post your results.

Best, Paco

October 6, 2010

I dont think this is HDR. It seems to be a combination of (1) huge depth of field, (2) underexposing ambient, (3) using high contrast flash, i.e., barebulb, and (4) processing, likely using a preset and selective burning of clouds, etc.

October 1, 2010

The modifiers are more critical than the lights - I assume these are hot lights and not flashes? I would put a large umbrella on the most powerful light, and in front of the subject, 45 degrees is fine. You can use the ambient light as fill, underexpose ambient by 1 f-stop or so. You can optionally use the other two reflectors on each side behind the subject as rim lights. Given that there are full length portrait, you'll need a modifier in the key light to cover as much as you can.

There are many ways to get these portraits done, but keep it simple with one light on a large diffusor and you should be ok.

Good luck and post your results!

September 30, 2010

Haim, Id need more information to give you some suggestions. For example, number of people you're shooting, what the images are for and other requirements for the job, like whether you are doing headshots or full length portraits. Is this done outdoors because the location is important, or does the location not matter?

September 27, 2010

In addition to posing, there are a couple of things about photographing a male that may be helpful. First, it's ok to use more contrast with a male face, as the need to present a very soft and smooth skin is probably not there. Second, consider engaging the model in conversation and try to get some naturally occuring body language and expressions - this may fit well a "lifestyle" style of image. Here are three images of males I've done in the past. The first one is business oriented - wanted the man to present a confident and relaxed demeanor. The second one is more fashion/lifestyle headshot - I have used strong contrast in this one. The third one is more "out there" and appropriate for a musician or artistic type. Lighting defines for mood for each.

#1

#2

#3

September 26, 2010

This is a very open ended question. I'd use studio strobes - perhaps emulating a large window with an octabox and/or panels. I may use a ring flash for fill. It really depends on the mood and the specs for the job.

September 16, 2010

Paul, beauty shots have nothing to do with studio or ambient light, they have all to do with a single focus of attention - the female face. Normally done in closeup, they have flawless skin and perfect lighting, although perfect can be defined in different ways. My suggestion would be to work on a headshot with diffused, non-directional light against a neutral color background. In order to create a glow and eliminate shadows under the eyes you may want to use a white or silver reflector under the chin. This image below was done in a parking garage, the background is a gray concrete pillar, and the light is diffused sunlight. I asked her to hold a curved piece o sheet metal close to her chest to create the curved catchlights. It's not a magazine-cover or makeup beauty shot, but it's a pretty headshot. http://pacoromerophoto.com/galleries/priannahs/090927_PriannaHS_067_8x10_name_sp_web.jpg

September 10, 2010

My training is that of a studio photographer and my favorite background is white. I can turn a white background into gray or even black by controlling how much lighting it receives. Images shot against a pure background have a clean, contemporary, commercial feel to them. In this session I did a <a href="http://pacoromerophoto.com/galleries/annaberman/091018_AnnaBerman_201_web.jpg">high key image</a> on a lit white background, followed by a <a href="http://pacoromerophoto.com/galleries/annaberman/091018_AnnaBerman_419_web.jpg">low key image </a>using the same white background. What is different is that I had no light hitting the background and I made the light on the model dramatic - her dark outfit also helped create a low key image. My point is that with a white background you have lots of versatility.

Having said that, in the last year or so I have been shooting on location. One reason for this is that studio work tends to be fairly two-dimensional, as normally only two planes are used, the plane occupied by the subject, and the flat background. On location I get to add a foreground and I can have multiple layers of background. This sometimes adds more interest to a portrait, depending on the type of portrait. This <a href="http://pacoromerophoto.com/galleries/steph/100808_Steph_294_9x12_web.jpg">image here</a> is an example of a "studio portrait" done on location - used umbrella, hair light, but the fill was ambient light and there was no background. Just something to think about.

September 10, 2010

Another approach is to build a strobist-style lighting kit for little money (see strobist.com for details) and then use the world instead of the bedroom as your studio. You can create great images anywhere with a couple of portable flashes of camera, a softbox or umbrella and a grid or snoot. Of course, sometimes you don't even need flash, you can simply use available light. Here is a link to an image I created in a cafe, by the window, with no flash and no modifiers: <a href="http://pacoromerophoto.com/galleries/priannalegacy/090816_Prianna_033_beauty_web.jpg">(link)</a> Here is one created with an octabox and two portable flashes combined with ambient light: <a href="http://pacoromerophoto.com/galleries/dagmar/100829_Dagmar_000_web.jpg">(link)</a> A small studio is very limiting - get inexpensive portable lights and learn to use them on location. A whole new world of opportunities will become available to you to grow your portfolio.

September 10, 2010

I have no experience shooting seniors or military people, so I am probably not even qualified to offer an opinion here - but assuming someone came to me with this request, I would immediately think of using light and location to create interest and help tell a story. For example:

<ul>

<li>Shoot a background of dust, or purchase one from a stock site (<a href="http://www.istockphoto.com/stock-photo-1650448-dusty-street-scene.php">http://www.istockphoto.com/stock-photo-1650448-dusty-street-scene.php</a>) and then photograph him against a white background with dramatic light and past him over the dusty background. This would tell a story of working in hard conditions and overcoming difficulties</li>

<li>Photograph him with fatigues and helmet, frontally, with rim lights on each side, camouflage paint on his face and a grid spot on the face. The story is taking risks at nigh defending the nation</li>

<li>Photograph him leaning against a military vehicle, in a casual pose, showing him confident and fearless</li>

<li>Consider showing him with his fatigues and a military sack, in front of his house, walking, with his parents blurred in the background. The idea is to signify the transition from being at home as a youngster to becoming a soldier. Or something like that.</li>

</ul>

This is an opportunity to create a unique image, not one that simply has him posing with his fatigues, but one that has meaning and will inspire for years to come.

September 9, 2010

Dennis, with all due respect, I am not sure your posting helps answer the question posed by Mr. Rana, and it's condescending. Just because you don't seem to find any value in the photograph or the techniques used to achieve it doesn't mean the question is without merit. Mr. Rana wants to learn how to abstract a face so that the eyes dominate, as in the example. The answer is, as others have stated, a combination of: focal length to create a reduce perspective of the nose, shallow depth of field, lighting, makeup and postprocessing.

Focal length - use 100mm or longer to create distorted compressed perpective

Depth of field - use 1.4 or 1.8 and focus on the eyes

Lighting - use flat lighting as in the example, I prefer catchlights above and below the pupil. A good way to accomplish this is to use "clam shell" lighting with a curved reflector as fill. May want to overexpose slightly, or do it later in post.

Makeup - emphasize the eyes and apply pancake type of makeup to eliminate texture - can all be done in postprocessing as well.

Post - do selective surface blurring of facial surfaces, increase value on the face, increase size of the eyes, selective contrast, etc.

I find the intensity of the portrait compelling.

September 8, 2010

I bought this book used from an Amazon reseller for a couple of dollars. It's a good book if you are interested in classic ways to light the human face - it has some really good diagrams of light placement and many examples of variations on how to light the face. It's definitely a good read.

There are copies available from Amazon and your friends can buy their own copies that way:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B001PMHBEA/ref=dp_olp_used?ie=UTF8&qid=1283964236&sr=8-4&condition=used

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Posts posted by texxter