Where to position a pair of ring lights for portrait headshots?
Jan 20, 2024 13:21:10 #
BigOldArt
Loc: Seminole, FL
What hints and or links can you give me?
I have access to a pair of ring lights on stands and a dark backdrop. I'll be taking amateur photos of residents in their 80s and 90s. The main purpose is for residents recognize each other. But I do not want to emphasize wrinkles. I would like to eliminate having reflections of the ring lights on eyeglasses.
I have a Nikon P900 on a tripod set to "portrait" with the flash off. It is about 15 feet from the backdrop to allow backing wheelchairs and scooters room to get in front of the backdrop.
When a resident is seated I raise the camera vertically on the tripod until it is level with the face. I then zoom so that the middle of the face is in the center of the 9 squares. I then take several shots from which one is later chosen.
Should I have people with reflections on their glasses lower their chins or what?
After the photos are on my PC, I have the best shot selected. In Photoshop, I rotate the image so the eyes are level and crop to a square format that fits in the handout of pictures. Sometimes I auto adjust the contrast.
I have access to a pair of ring lights on stands and a dark backdrop. I'll be taking amateur photos of residents in their 80s and 90s. The main purpose is for residents recognize each other. But I do not want to emphasize wrinkles. I would like to eliminate having reflections of the ring lights on eyeglasses.
I have a Nikon P900 on a tripod set to "portrait" with the flash off. It is about 15 feet from the backdrop to allow backing wheelchairs and scooters room to get in front of the backdrop.
When a resident is seated I raise the camera vertically on the tripod until it is level with the face. I then zoom so that the middle of the face is in the center of the 9 squares. I then take several shots from which one is later chosen.
Should I have people with reflections on their glasses lower their chins or what?
After the photos are on my PC, I have the best shot selected. In Photoshop, I rotate the image so the eyes are level and crop to a square format that fits in the handout of pictures. Sometimes I auto adjust the contrast.
Jan 20, 2024 22:30:58 #
Ring lights are not a great choice but if that is what you have... Position them above and below the subject. Do a practice shot on someone wearing glasses and adjust the lights higher and lower to get them out of the family of angles that will reflect the light onto the glass's lenses. Another way of using them is to aim them away from the subject and use a white reflector to aim the reflected light onto your subject (yes a rather awkward setup). If they are typical ring lights, they are not putting out a lot of light, so they need to be rather close, or you need to adjust your shutter speed/aperture to let in more light. Alternatively, adjust the ISO to 1500 or more. Yes, they will start to get grainy, but you are not producing art photos here, just ID's. Alternatively use both lights high and about 45 degrees to each side and use a white reflector under them to brighten up the lower face and neck area. Sounds like a good project, wish I coud get involved. Good luck and let us know how you worked it out.
Jan 22, 2024 18:52:50 #
RING lights woud not be my choice.
If your subject is wearing eyeglasses will be difficult to use a ring light as a fill source in its basic intended position whereby it is an encircling lens. You will get very distracting donut-shaped reflections in the glasses. Off camer, as the main lig, it is still problematic- it will like show you eyeglasses eyeglasses and if you place it hig enough to avoid the reflection, you will probably not sufficiently illuminantehth eyes and the eye sockets.
I do know what other gear you have access to. If all you need is a simple and pleasant likeness of each person, you may be better off with a simple bounced Speedlight setup. If you can access such a unt, I can suggest a few simple methods.
If your subject is wearing eyeglasses will be difficult to use a ring light as a fill source in its basic intended position whereby it is an encircling lens. You will get very distracting donut-shaped reflections in the glasses. Off camer, as the main lig, it is still problematic- it will like show you eyeglasses eyeglasses and if you place it hig enough to avoid the reflection, you will probably not sufficiently illuminantehth eyes and the eye sockets.
I do know what other gear you have access to. If all you need is a simple and pleasant likeness of each person, you may be better off with a simple bounced Speedlight setup. If you can access such a unt, I can suggest a few simple methods.
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