A10 Loc: Southern Indiana

We were asked as part of our community college photography course to take portraits of some of the staff. Here are a couple of the portraits I took. Lighting consisted of one soft box or beauty dish, a reflector to camera right, and a strobe with grid on the grey seamless paper. The camera is a Pentax K-1 with a Rokinon 85mm lens.

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JD750 Loc: SoCal

Nice job. I suspect the recipients will be pleased. Your title says “working on my lighting”. So does that mean you would like critique or are you are just saying “look what good work I did” ?

I am sure other people will give you critique reagardless, but I thought it worth asking what you were looking for. Is there something you don’t like that you want help with?

CO

I think they're very good. Having catchlights in the 10 o'clock to 2 o'clock position is recommended. It looks like the model in the upper photo has catchlights in the 10 o'clock position. The model in the lower photo seems to have catchlights almost in the center of her eyes.

A10 Loc: Southern Indiana

JD750, thanks for the question. Yes I would like to have critique of the images so I can improve my lighting, posing, etc.

A10 Loc: Southern Indiana

Thanks CO, the catch lights in the second photo are from the beauty dish being almost in front of her. The beauty dish creates harsher shadows, so I brought it around to the front a little more.

d3200prime

IMO, the second shot is textbook. The catch lights are spot on as well as focus and the hair highlights are wonderful along with the backlighting. The face is fully and well lit and as a whole, the shot shows vibrancy and wholesomeness. A shot any pro would be glad to achieve. However, I cannot say my opinion is the same about the first shot. The lack of backlighting makes the subject look flat with no separation from the backdrop. The face has shadows and the glasses interfere with the eyes. The watch and whatever that item in her hand are also detracting the eye. These are just my subjective observations. Good shooting to you.

A10 Loc: Southern Indiana

Thanks d3200, the first shot I positioned the backdrop grid to act as a hair light so I could get some separation that way. The softbox was playing hell with her glasses when I had her look up too much, but was aware they were too close to her right eye. I cropped for the final portrait that will be shown to her. Thanks again for the gentle critique.

JD750 Loc: SoCal

Well UHH will provide that! You came to the right place.

My impression looking at the images, is the shadows on the first image are a bit harsh. The 2nd image is I don’t see any shadows on her face. Very nice even lighting good job. But consider that subtle shadows can add depth. And I notice a dark area to the right which is a little distracting.

But these are minor things, you subjects will not notice them.

Thomas902 Loc: Washington DC

A10 have you consider using a hair light to separate the talent from the background?
Hands and accessory watch are beautifully done in the first image...
Albeit she appears to be holding something which is a distraction...

Warm radiant smiles create an feeling of connection with the photographer here...
You apparently bonded with with your sitters here...
Which is absolutely paramount in portraiture...

Thank you for sharing...

A10 Loc: Southern Indiana

Thanks Thomas, the studio is the school's and there were only two lights. On the first photo I did use one of the lights for a hair light, so the background is darker.

E.L.. Shapiro Loc: Ottawa, Ontario Canada

Firstly, thanks to the OP for posting theses images and participating in this section.

Before reading my remarks on theses portraits, if any of y'all have not had a chance, please read the “announcement” which is “stuck” to the top of the opening page of the section. It gives you the criteria on which I base my critiques and suggestions.

Theses are planned sessions so it is important to prepare your subjects for best results. Both subject have dark hair and eyes and medium to darker complexions so the are good subjects for a low key portraits. You already have a dark enough background so the next issue of preparation is clothing choices. In a classic low key portrait, the background is dark and so should be the clothing thereby making the skin tone the brightest element in the image and immediately leading the viewers' eyes to the subject's face and expression. The tonal harmony in the 2nd image is therefore superior to the #1 image where the white dress is the brightest element in the image and distracts form the subject's face.

Eyeglasses: Subjects who normally wear eyeglasses look more natural and recognizable with their eye-ware in place but this can become problematic, as the OP mentioned. A large main light source, such as a soft-box, can bring on inordinately large reflections and raising the main light high enough to negate them can cause poor facial lighting. There are a few remedial actions to contend with this issue. In a full dace portrait where you do not see the temples of the eyeglasses, you can tilt the glasses slightly downward to change the angle of incidence at which the main light strikes the lenses. Raising the main light slightly also helps as long as this action does not adversely affect the desired lighting form. Some eyeglasses are extremely strong and may cause extreme magnification or the opposite effect where the eyes seem disproportionately smaller. There can also be an effect of refraction where part of the orbital area of the face seem indented. Nowadays many prescription eyeglasses are very sophisticated, there are traditional bi-foals, trifocals and progressive lenses, special tints and coatings, all of which can be troublesome. So...in a planned session, I have client arrange with their optician, to have a blank set of frames the same or very similar to their own. From the frame-less styles, a frame of the thin metallic type works nicely. Doing this allows complete flexibility of lighting and perfect rendering of the eyes with no distortion or troublesome reflections. I usually do a pre-sitting consultation well in advance of the session so I can asses theses issues, make clothing suggestions and address the eyewear issues.

In both of theses portraits the subjects are in the “similar” pose this means the head and body are facing the camera in the same direction. This is also called the “masculine pose” although it is not necessarily confined to portrait of men. With female subjects,
oftentimes the “contra” pose, also called the “feminine” pose is more graceful. This means the body and head are directed in different directions. In further articles (soon) I will supply images and diagrams. Theses basic poses are not “carved in stone” and there are many variation that depends on the subject and there body types. Sometimes, the similar pose works better with an older or heavy-set female subject and sometimes the contra pose work well with a male subject for a more dynamic line, however the tilt of the head is modified.

In both theses portraits the subject is posed in a very streetlight or almost stagnant manner. A bit of “tilt” or a more of a diagonal line in the shoulders would look more dynamic and a bit more animated. If you ask a subject tilt themselves, lean excessively or wrench themselves into some position, the results are unnatural uncomfortable to hold. Even in a ¾, head and shoulders or head-shot portrait, we need to build the pose form the bottom up. I don't know how to put this delicately but the subject shroud not sit squarely on a posing stool. OK- excuse the language but I call this my “half-assed” method. The need to sit on one cheek,.extend the foot nearest the camera to get a comfortable balance, assume an erect posture and the should line will fall into place- it will be easy for the to pivot in any direction and you will get a more dynamic composition. Please do not repeat my “terminology” to you clients! If they don't “get it” pull up a stool and show them how to sit! An adjustable posing table helps. Do not show utilitarian posing stools or posting tables in your compositions.

Lighting: The lightning in theses portraitist is not bad but it is not “sculpting” the faces of the subjects. As it is, it tends to widen the faces and accentuate the chin-jaw lines and in the second portrait it begins the create a slight heaviness- a kind of slight jowl that is formed by tissue in the lower cheek and jaw areas. Here's the thing- one of my best teachers ones philosophized that “everyone wants to look like an egg”, that is- they want to have a perfectly oval face. I know that sounds silly and we don't want everyone to look like an egg but aesthetically speaking, we want to minimize certain issues that our subject may dislike in the portraits. In theses particular cases, moving the main light to a greater angle from the camera subject axis, thereby creation more shading can help. Sometimes including the hands in the composition- around the chin-jaw line in a graceful manner can work well and also exploring some 2/3 face views as well as the full face treatment.

Hair and kicker (accent lights) should come in from the same direction as the main light, otherwise you create a disunity of lighting. Theses lights should appear to be a continuation of the main light to glamorize the hair, accent certain facial features and provide more separation from the background. Background lighting shroud be very subtle and not appear as a halo or spot light kinda effect behind the subject. Sometimes there is enough spill form the main light to illuminate the background sufficiently. If additional background lighting is required it should be just enough to provide tonal or color mass in the background for separation and dimensionality. .

If the subject is wearing a white garment in a low key portrait like a bride, a traditional nu rising (old fashioned) or a military uniform (dress whites) etc., the use of contra pose can be helpful whereby the main light is not striking the front on the garment head on where the angle of incidence is such that it will be difficult to retain subtle detail in the whites. If the subject's body is turned away from the light and the head is turned into the light, the bean form the main light will skim across the clothing, retain texture and detail detail and there is less potential for blowing out the highlights as long as the exposure is correct.

OK, I know some of this sounds crazy, like that ½ A***** sitting position and the “egg” thing but it makes some of theses concepts easy to remember and keep in mind when you are posing and lighting your portraits.

Please do not misconstrue this a a scathing review of the images in this thread. This is how we go from OK portraits to great ones.

In the following weeks, I am going to be shooting some new and updated examples for my next live workshop along with some new diagrams.. I will be posting this material here in this section to help illustrate many of theses points.

A10 Loc: Southern Indiana

E.L. I appreciate the time and the in-depth of your comments. I am trying and enjoying doing portraiture and would like to graduate from OK to wow. Finding subjects willing to pose for an hour or even an 1/2 hour has been a challenge. I will be rereading your comment several times to get all the gems.

E.L.. Shapiro Loc: Ottawa, Ontario Canada

A10!

You should have little trouble in finding willing subjects. There are lots of folks who need good portraits and perhaps can not afford the service of an established studio or well known photographer. There are fledgling actors and theatrical groups where folks need good headshots, folks attending modeling schools, high school grads, people needing nice images for resumes and and new online businesses or even just a personalized gift for their significant other. So... do trade offs. The give you an hour or two of their time and uys supply some prints or screen images for their purposes.

I used to joke that I was gonna torture them for an hour and most of them were pleasantly surprised on how much fun their session turned out to be. I don't encourage photographers to work for free forever but look at it this way- modeling fees are expensive, it's a good way to get the practice in and to build your portfolio. Try you hand a different subjects- age groups, genders, singles, couples groups and pets.

There are alot of people who have never had a good portrait made for themselves because nobody took the time to do things up right.

A10 Loc: Southern Indiana

E.L. I am retired and not that money is not nice but working for free or for trading their time for prints or file would be fine. I think I wore out my welcome with friends and family. I will try your suggestions for my future victims, LOL.

19104 Loc: Philadelphia

I found this tutorial a great explanation and a simple way to avoid reflections. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AeVbJepHXlk

HTH