Stock camera club

Here are the shots of Lisa and John from the night with the guys and girls of Stock camera club. Thanks to Lisa for stepping in at the last minute, I am sure your daughter enjoyed the lost prophets!

The first three shots show a main light only, note the contrast and shadows, the second has a fill light added at the same power as the main light to give a much softer, less contrast image. The last shot is with the power of the fill light turned down which I think gives a nice balance of lighting. It is the type of lighting I use for a lot of my studio portraits.

Next up a shot of John, very strong side lighting gives drama to the shot and hides a few imperfections!!!! But still a catch light in each eye to give a little sparkle.

Two shots of Lisa to demonstrate “Rembrandt” style lighting, but also how just adding a reflector to bounce a bit of light back in to the shot softens it all down and reduces contrast.

Same lighting, different effect, just by moving Lisa’s head into the light and changing the pose slightly.

Finally, moving the head back a little still gives a beautiful classical style of lighting but as the bottom shot shows us, moving the head to far round and back to camera and we loose all the quality of light and produce something very unflattering.

Tiny, tiny baby

Last weekend I shot the loveliest tiny little baby I think I have ever photographed. Just 5lbs in weight at three weeks old, she really was a little miracle.

Deepings camera club

Two nights on the trot I was out giving lectures to camera clubs. Wednesday I was at Deepings near Market Harborough photographing Ellie for the members.

These first three shots from the top are with a single light, giving quite a hard edge to the portrait and not really that flattering. The second is much softer as a second (fill) light was added to soften the shadows and produce a nice soft even light. The third (my fav) just had the fill light giving a little less power to add a bit of shadow and depth back in – but not as harsh as the first portrait.

The next two show the subtle difference a reflector can make, both shots were taken with classic short lighting, where the narrow side of the face is lit as opposed to the broad side of the face. Both look lovely but to add a bit more detail to the tattoo on the shoulder a small reflector was used too bounce a bit more light back in to the portrait.

If you can not move your lights, change yours or your models position to get a completely different look with the minimum of effort. My favourite shot of the night.

Light from above to create a moody rim light effect, eyes closed add to the mood.

A classic look in black and white. Ellie’s body turned away from the camera and her head back in to the light. Be sure to make sure the head is turned enough or you run the risk of large shadows across the face and eyes on the left side as you view the portrait.

Ongar Camera Club

Thanks to all the great people at Ongar Camera Club for inviting me to do a talk on portrait lighting, and to Steve for modelling all night. Below are the piccies and a few notes to act as a reminder

Above, single softbox, a bit too much contrast and shadow.

Two lights evenly spaced giving exactly the same amount of light – 1:1 ratio gives a much softer more pleasing effect. This style of lighting is very forgiving and great for a variety of uses.

Between the top two, this lighting has the fill light on a lower power at about 3:1 ratio and gives a bit more depth to the subject.

The last two images are designed to show how little you need to move the subject to either have good or bad lighting. In the first example, although dramatic there is a lack of quality light in the eyes, but a simple turn of the head into the light opens up the whole face and creates a very classic “short” lighting set up.

It is always worth remembering that if you are short on space and can not move the lights around you can move the subject in relation to the lights or the camera angle in relation to the lights and subject.

The best bit of advice I can give is to keep trying different things, seeing what works for you and to “look” carefully at what you are doing!

Welwyn Garden City Camera Club

A big thank you to all the members of the club who came to my portrait demo on Tuesday evening, it was fantastic speaking to such a large and enthusiastic crowd. Also to Sian and Dave for modelling so brilliantly and patiently. The pictures and notes below will hopefully be a bit of a reminder.

The first shot to demonstrate using a single softbox, this leaves quite a large shadow and has too much contrast which does not suit the soft features of the subject.

To soften things up a fill light has been added on the opposite side, lots of soft light is now filling in the shadows, lowering the contrast and adding a bit more light to the background to give a much softer, more pleasing portrait.

Same soft lighting set up, but as our model is now sitting on the floor the lights have been lowered, as a general rule of thumb have your lights just above the eye line of your sitter.

Three shots one after another to show even with one light the subtle differences that can be achieved. The first is one softbox to the side, the second has a reflector bouncing some light back in, the third is the same as the second but the reflector has been moved in closer to the subject – bouncing more light into the shadows.

Similar lighting to our very first shot, but I now think the shadows and higher contrast really suit this subject.

As I always try to explain, when shooting portraits it is up to us as photographers to almost design the image and set up the lighting, pose, props etc… to best suit our subject rather than a “standard” set of lighting set ups.

 

A simple turn of the head and although we have not moved any lights we now have a different look. If space is tight and you can not move your lights around remember you can always move the subject( in relation to the lights).

Again a simple turn of the head, this time straight into the light and a different feel again, note with no light falling on the background, the background is now black.

A really strong moody look, by just moving our single softbox slightly behind the subject we have created classic short or Rembrandt style lighting. Again with no light on the background, the grey material is now black. Exposure as always has been for the highlight side of the face.

Finally back to the beginning with soft even light. A perfectly nice, technically correct portrait, but lacking the mood of some of the previous shots.

If any one has any questions about the night please feel free to give me a call or drop me an email and I will do my best to help.

Lighting and Posing Masterclass

The first of my new series of one of training days is now ready to go. Details below.

Jack and Becky

Easter Weekend saw me shooting of Jack and Becky at Blakes Golf Club in North Weald. This was an extra special wedding for me as Jack worked for me for five years before moving to pastures new. Becky his wife looked stunning and the whole wedding day was great.