Fstop f/20 for portrait - ? I watched his several videos, he is very creative portrait photographer, i think. In this video he is using f/20. I’ve never seen anybody using f/20 for...

dandi Loc: near Seattle, WA

I watched his several videos, he is very creative portrait photographer, i think. In this video he is using f/20. I’ve never seen anybody using f/20 for head shot portrait. I am not questioning his skills, he is very good, I just want to know what some portraits photographers here think about it. Thank you.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uy_e6x4teIA

Leitz Loc: Solms

dandi wrote:

I watched his several videos, he is very creative portrait photographer, i think. In this video he is using f/20. I’ve never seen anybody using f/20 for head shot portrait. I am not questioning his skills, he is very good, I just want to know what some portraits photographers here think about it. Thank you.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uy_e6x4teIA

My thoughts are that Admin may move this to Links and Resources.

dandi Loc: near Seattle, WA

Leitz wrote:

My thoughts are that Admin may move this to Links and Resources.

I don't understand why and how do get my question into Main Section?

international architect Loc: Venice FL

Gee, Lietz, one for YOUR side!

Leitz Loc: Solms

dandi wrote:

I don't understand why and how do get my question into Main Section?

Do you not understand the Forum Rules? They are posted at the head of each section. I was merely trying to help you avoid the disappointment of having your post moved. Since it concerns portraiture, Admin may have moved it to the People Photography section even if you had left off the link.
I did not open the link, but will say that I do not hesitate to stop down to f/20 or more, especially with bright studio lights. The last thing I want is any part of the person's features out of focus.

dandi Loc: near Seattle, WA

Leitz wrote:

Do you not understand the Forum Rules? They are posted at the head of each section. I was merely trying to help you avoid the disappointment of having your post moved. Since it concerns portraiture, Admin may have moved it to the People Photography section even if you had left off the link.
I did not open the link, but will say that I do not hesitate to stop down to f/20 or more, especially with bright studio lights. The last thing I want is any part of the person's features out of focus.

Thank you for responding. You are right, I didn't take time to read the rules. Watch the video, it's only about 3 min. His name is Damien Lovegrove, he is from UK, maybe you even know him. I think he has his own approach, very artistic and creative. The way he uses flash is also very interesting. I rarely go over f/13 and that's for some landscapes or interesting buildings, that's why I wanted to hear some opinions about what he was doing in this video.
I'm not too worried about it, this is just a hobby for me. I used to be a passionate hobbyist, now just a "normal" hobbyist

.Thanks again.

Leitz Loc: Solms

dandi wrote:

Thank you for responding. You are right, I didn't ... (show quote)

Excellent! I had not heard of Damien. With that type of background, having the model close and using on-camera flash with a small aperture works very well. Thanks for posting.

waltchilds Loc: Central Florida

jaymatt Loc: Alexandria, Indiana

Just an idle thought (I'm having a lot of them today), without opening the article, who is "he"?

Interesting technique, by the way.

kymarto Loc: Portland OR and Milan Italy

He had to shoot f20 because he could not shoot at a higher speed due to highest synchro speed with a focal plane shutter. The Nikon D300 has a lowest normal ISO of 200. And he wanted an effect that needed the flash to override the natural light in the scene so that the edges of his metal background were dark.

He obviously also wanted the background to be in focus, as opposed to soft as in many portraits. Clearly a creative choice, not your standard portrait setup. Of course shooting at 36mm equivalent he could certainly have shot at f11 and had everything in focus, but as I say, I think that the high base ISO and the need for a relatively powerful flash constrained him to using a very small aperture, which is not ideal in terms of diffraction limiting.

dandi Loc: near Seattle, WA

kymarto wrote:

He had to shoot f20 because he could not shoot at ... (show quote)

I didn't think about that, highest sync speed - it makes sense now. Thank you, Kymarto, I am glad you showed up.

RRS Loc: Not sure

dandi wrote:

I didn't think about that, highest sync speed - it makes sense now. Thank you, Kymarto, I am glad you showed up.

We're all glad he shows up, always good reading!

camerapapi Loc: Miami, Fl.

Interesting technique for bright surfaces used as a background. Did someone say that after f11 there is a degradation of the image because of diffraction? This photographer does not seem to mind it.
With the flash so close to the model, or so I think, the light is going to be softer and instead I see lots of brightness on the model face in some of the shots.
This is kind of an unusual technique. I do not like bright surfaces behind my subject when I do portraits and try to avoid them. I prefer to cut the light by a couple of stops compared to ambient light unless I am using an umbrella or a soft box. I like f8-f11 for my portraits depending on the subject but can go to f2.8-4 if blurring the background is a priority.
I guess the portraits technique depends on the photographer's style.

dandi Loc: near Seattle, WA

I am glad that you all like him and find him not typical, creative photographer. He is fast, confident and simple yet results are very good. Definitely knows what he is doing. I saw a few of his videos, in each photo shoot he foresees the result, knows what he wants and knows how to get there.

jimmya Loc: Phoenix

dandi wrote:

I watched his several videos, he is very creative portrait photographer, i think. In this video he is using f/20. I’ve never seen anybody using f/20 for head shot portrait. I am not questioning his skills, he is very good, I just want to know what some portraits photographers here think about it. Thank you.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uy_e6x4teIA

The only thing I would say, as in his apparent situation, you'd need a lot of light and a model who knows how not to move.