Monika Epsefass , Apr 06, 2009; 08:40 a.m.
If they need to have a halo, you’d need a strong backlight. In addition, you could add some lighting in PS later, which you direct on their faces and calculate in ’soft light’ mode. Don’t forget to soften their skin a bit, too, to give them that candlelight look. You might also use a (turned down low) snoot light on their faces, to prevent overexposing but give them a gentle glow, maybe together with a gelled bulb…. be imaginative!
Reading: Photographing Dancers April 30, 2009
Posted by Leonard Low in Dance, Influence, Reading.Tags: Dance, dancers, dancing, photocritic, photography, technique
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There’s a good article on photographing dancers on the Photocritic site! It’s good to know that even the pros find it damn hard to do:
“Ballroom dancing is the hardest photographic challenge I have personally come across. It seems everything is set up to make it hard, and nothing makes it easy. Everyone moves too fast, the lighting is horrible, and getting a spot to stand can be a challenge in itself.” –Laurie Young
Practice: Light Writing April 26, 2009
Posted by Leonard Low in Available Light, Contains Images, Night, Outdoor, Practice.Tags: experimental, LED, light, light writing, long exposure, Night, photography, writing
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It was cold and rainy in Canberra tonight, and instead of heading out into the city to take some nightclub/crazy party people shots like I was thinking of doing, I tried something else so that I could keep my lovely camera dry and safe. “Light writing” is the art of taking a long exposure shot while “writing” in the frame using a bright light source. In these shots I’m using coloured micro-LEDs I got sent from Hong Kong for this very purpose. 
These are my first attempts to do light writing, and I’m sure I’ll get better at it with a little more practice.
Practice: “Tapestry” April 25, 2009
Posted by Leonard Low in Available Light, Contains Images, Indoor, Night, Portraiture, Practice.Tags: band, Dance, music, Night, photography, portrait, singer, singing, tapestry
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One of my many hobbies apart from photography is dancing. Every Friday night my friends from dance go out to a different club in our area – many of which put on live bands on Friday and Saturday nights – and dance the night away. Last night a duo called “Tapestry” was playing; the guitarist was trying to get a video of them playing together with his digital compact and I volunteered to take some photos and get some video of them.
I tried doing some flash shots early in the session but I hated them – they looked lifeless, as if they were practising in a well-lit room rather than performing on stage… so I switched the flash off and used available light. This posed some of its own problems: the flashing, changing, multicoloured stage lights made it impossible to “set up” any shots properly as the light was always changing (and of course the performers were always moving). I basically had to try to find good angles, make sure I had my subject in focus, and just wait for the lighting and pose to come together every now and then, to capture those fleeting moments! A challenging session, but I quite like the moody, atmospheric results…
Gearing Up… April 24, 2009
Posted by Leonard Low in Contains Images, Gear.Tags: backpack, bag, Gear, vest, vestpack
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So um, I’ve heard that photography is a bit of an expensive hobby to get into seriously, and it certainly looks like turning out that way. I keep finding cool stuff and thinking “oh wow I just have to get that, it would be so great for photography”. Sigh. Case in point: my new Vestpack.
This product includes a standard pocket-vest with lots of front pockets where I can put filters, spare memory cards, and batteries for fast and easy access; and also comes with a nice-looking urban-design backpack.
The front panels of the vest detach and can be clipped to the straps of the backpack so that they’re a single unit, with heavier items in the bag section (tripod, lenses, speedlite, and camera body) and fast-access items on the front. The backpack section is spacious enough for me to just drop my existing camera bag into it for some extra padding and protection.
I’ve had a chance to try it out on a climb up a local hill to take pictures for a friend’s website project, and the backpack makes it so much easier to carry and use my gear.
More Images from Photo Shoot 1 April 16, 2009
Posted by Leonard Low in Assignment, Contains Images, Indoor, Portraiture, Strobist, Studio, Studio Lights.Tags: assignment 2, depth-of-field, earth hour, lighting, Portraiture, Shedding Illumination, soft box, Studio
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I did shots of each model without light bulbs (in their hands) to test light, get my models more relaxed before doing the “real” shots, and so I could give them each a nice photo of themselves as a “thank you” later.
You can click the photos to go to my Flickr gallery where there are additional comments on each photo.
“Light bulb” shots:
Positive feedback! April 13, 2009
Posted by Leonard Low in General Comments, Portraiture, Strobist.Tags: advice, butterfly, discussion, forum, hollywood, lighting, on-axis, photo.net
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I posted my first few images to my Photo.net discussion thread and it elicited this response:
Mark Chartrand
, Apr 12, 2009; 12:40 p.m.
Leonard,
I think your lighting is very nice on these subjects.
FYI: Direct lighting (just above the nose – or “on the axis”) has often been referred to “Hollywood” or “Butterfly” lighting as it was quite popular with “stars” in the 40’s and creates a “butterfly” shaped shadow just under the nose. It is really quite a flattering lighting setup, especially when used with soft focus on females.
Mark
Yaay!
PHOTO SHOOT! April 11, 2009
Posted by Leonard Low in Assignment, Contains Images, Indoor, Portraiture, Strobist, Studio, Studio Lights.Tags: chocolate, lighting, modelling, Portraiture, posing, Studio
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It was the last class before term break last night, and our teacher allowed those of us who wanted to, to use the studio. By sheer chance I happened to have a bag full of delicious Lindt chocolate Easter bunnies (my favourite kind btw) in class, and I had a few classmates offer to help me with the shoot – for payment in chocolate.
Lighting and props had a few issues. Because this session was impromptu, I hadn’t brought any of my light bulbs with me… but fortunately, our teacher found me an incandescent pearl bulb somewhere to use as a prop. No CFLs, unfortunately – which I would have preferred… 
Lighting was more problematic. I wanted to “set” my portrait photos in urban or home settings, in case I get time to Photoshop those incongruous natural elements into the background (flowers, plants… maybe even the odd critter). The studio has a “kitchen” set, which happens to be a working kitchenette but is filled with props. In the middle of the setup there is a non-movable “island” bench area, and I had to place my models between this bench and the benches around the wall.
This left no room for any of the lights we had in the studio, to do the backlighting for the “halos” that I wanted. The best I could do was to put a snoot to the right of my models and try to get some of the light on their hair. This helped a little but was nowhere near the effect I was hoping to achieve. Nevertheless, the session was relatively successful, and I certainly have a better idea of lighting setup. For example, the snoot was good on the hair… but if a model brought their head too far back into the light, it cast shadows across their face – not big ones, but enough to spoil the image a bit.
So perhaps even more importantly, I’ve learned the importance of posing the models and paying attention to detail! In some of the photos the modelling was almost perfect, but a few wisps of hair cast shadows across their face and spoiled the photo. In some others, the angle of the head or its position relative to the key light was just a little off, and again there were undesirable shadows. Oh well – I wasn’t expecting to have *anything* at this point, so this was a bonus shoot and certainly helped me learn some important lessons.
Refining my lighting April 8, 2009
Posted by Leonard Low in Assignment, Portraiture, Strobist.Tags: advice, discussion, forum, lighting, photo.net
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It was definitely helpful to get some ideas from the pros at Photo.net… I’ve been able to refine what I’ll need to do to capture the images I want for my assignment.
- Charles from Photo.net and our portraiture notes concur that on-axis lighting is the way to go for the portraits to make them look more attractive. So that will be my main light in the setup: a diffuse soft-box from above the camera.
- I’ll need a strong backlight behind my subjects to light up their hair for a “halo” effect.
- I’ll want a gold reflector on hand to warm up the images and fine-tune and shadows that might be cast.
What I think I need most of all is some studio time to have a go… it’s hard to figure out if you’re designing things the right way if you haven’t had a chance to try things out and see what works and what doesn’t!
Some responses already! April 7, 2009
Posted by Leonard Low in Assignment, Portraiture, Strobist.Tags: advice, community, discussion, forum, lighting, photo.net, Portraiture
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I have responses on Photo.net!!!
Monika Epsefass , Apr 06, 2009; 08:40 a.m.
Jennifer Spencer , Apr 06, 2009; 05:42 p.m.
I assume you’ll be using some sort of flourescent lighting for the “ugly” shots? Nobody looks good in that light!
Charles Heckel
, Apr 06, 2009; 07:27 p.m.
Don’t use people–hire angels.
Post to Photo.net April 6, 2009
Posted by Leonard Low in Assignment, Portraiture, Strobist.Tags: advice, community, discussion, forum, lighting, photo.net, Portraiture
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I just posted the following on the Photo.net “Portraits and Fashion/Portrait Lighting” forum. I’m hoping to get some advice from the many professionals and enthusiasts in this awesome online community:
Making a Subject Glow
I’m working on a set of photos for a photography assignment, where the brief is to promote Earth Hour. I’ve decided I’d like to take some portrait shots of people holding unlit light bulbs, but make it look like they themselves are sources of “illumination” through posing and lighting. I’d either like to shoot these subjects as if they’re glowing themselves, or as if they have a halo, and make them look attractive. I’m going to contrast these with photos of people holding lit light bulbs, and make them harshly/unflatteringly lit.
Does anyone have any ideas or advice I could try to make the most of my limited studio time and achieve the difficult halo/illumination shots? I’ll probably only get a few hours in the studio to try to get the “look” I’m after, so I guess I’m doing as much research as I can *before* getting in there.
The college studio is fully equipped with professional studio flashes, modelling lights, snoots, barn doors, gels, soft boxes backdrops, etc. and I’ll be shooting on a Canon EOS 5D Mk II equipped with a 50mm f/1.4 USM prime.
Thanks for your suggestions!
L.
