Studio Silhouette Portraits

When shooting people most of us are so preoccupied with getting good facial expressions that we overlook or forget how graphically powerful the silhouette can be. But who hasn’t seen those amazing pictures that Apple did of the silhouetted people dancing to advertise the IPhone.  Or the diamond that magically lights up on the silhouetted hand. Or that great picture you took at sunset with trees or people silhouetted against the sky. This week I was hired to shoot for a health spa in Palm Springs that specializes in, among other things, laser hair removal (I guess it’s less painful than waxing). The art director was looking for something that would illustrate that concept and so we decided to try something a little experimental. The model was photographed on a 12 foot roll of seamless white background paper illuminated with 2 soft boxes positioned on either side at 45 degree angles.  You can also see where I place black cards in order to prevent unwanted light hitting the model. I captured the image in a completely dark room and a 10 second exposure which gave my assistant barely enough time to “paint” the model with a laser pointer. The ISO was set to 800 and at the very end of the exposure I fired the strobes to illuminate the background. The next image is not a true silhouette but we liked the effect of some light spilling onto the model when we took the black cards away.

The shot below was actually a test shot of the art director but it is a good example of the power of the silhouette portrait. I “light painted” his name for a personal touch.

New Products – Shooting Reflective Objects

Here is a job that seemed simple enough – shoot 2 cans of coconut water on a clean background to be used in a trade show. Well not exactly simple. Because beverage cans are shiny and metallic they reflect just about everything in the room, more or less. Ok, I can deal with that – I would typically start with a large diffusion panel of soft light positioned on the side and one or more reflector cards to bounce light back into the subject. However, I had another problem; because one of the cans was ribbed it produced all kinds of very distracting highlights as shown by the first example. There was no way that was going to work and after talking it over with the client I decided to try another lighting approach using a portable tent, example 2 and 3. By surrounding the subject with a soft white diffusion I was able to eliminate the unwanted highlights. But because the light was coming evenly from all directions there was no contrast or shape to the can. This is what is known as flat light. So the final step was to build contrast into the shot by adding panels of grey and black inside the tent. This gave me the reflected tones I needed to give shape to the cans. Once I had my image in Photoshop I adjusted the color of the tall can to match the color of the small can. Figure 4 shows the finished shot.

Example 1 Can using a large light panel and catch light

Example 2 Using a portable light tent with 2 soft boxes

Example 3 shows the black and grey panels placed inside tent to add reflected tones on cans.

I also hung a sheet of white fabric (not pictured) between the opening of the light tent and the camera and cut a hole in the fabric just large enough to stick my camera lens through. This completed the soft white wrap around reflection on the can. If I hadn’t of done this I would have picked up reflections on the can including my camera, tripood and me. Example 4 (below) show the final image.

Example 4 Final Image

San Diego Beach & Bluffs

A young Torrey Pine overlooks a tranquil Pacific Ocean at sunset

Scenes like this remind me of why I chose to move here from the east coast 30 years ago. Torrey Pines State Park is a small jewell on the San Diego  coastline and is a welcome relief from the frenetic pace of life many of us endure in our daily lives. I have been coming here for many years and include it in my must do list for all photographers and nature enthusiasts. I included this location as well as Seaside Beach in Encinitas to give a 3 hour photo lesson to. My two students had just stepped off the plane from Atlanta and asked me to choose a spot where we could shoot nature photos. Because we have western facing beaches the best light is in the late afternoon from 3pm until just after sunset in the wintertime. We had an assortment of wide angle and zoom lenses and used them all. We also used tripods as the sun got lower and the light faded. Part of my lesson included using cropping cards in order to compose with. I use 8.5 x 11″ cardboard cards that have an opening cut out that is similar to what one sees when looking through the camera. This simple tools helps you compose your shots and also helps you determine what lens to use before you set up your camera. Ansel Adams used cropping cards and had one for each one of the lenses he carried. I used to joke with him about how much he relied on these simple tools but I figured if they were good enough for Ansel they were worth using.

Seaside Beach at low tide. We waited for the surfers to add a point of interest in the photo

The afternoon sun really brought out the colors of the sandstone cliffs. In the above shot we used the rule of thirds to position the horizon – in this case two-thirds sky and one third sand. And waited until the two surfers got into position (right on cue) and then proceeded to click away. The golden tones of the cliffs compliment the cool colors of the water and sky. For this image (above) we used our wide angle lenses, 17-24mm in order to include the entire bluff and seascape. The string of homes also add interest to the photo.

We waited for the train to add interest to the composition. This image was captured 30 minutes before sunset.

 

The image above was taken approximately 30 minuted before sunset. This is commonly called the “Golden Hour” and is when most of the best photography happens along the coast. We were using tripods and were amazed at how rich the colors had become from only 10 minutes earlier. With only 30 minutes of good light left we worked fast and mindfully. This photo is actually a series of 3 that we combined into one high dynamic range (HDR) image. This technique has become popular with many landscape and architectural photographers with the advent of digital and easy to use software like Photomatix and even Photoshop.

 

 

Flower Photography in the Shade of Red

Happy New Year 2012

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Flowers rank among the top 5 subjects people like to photograph, no surprise there.  Paul Ecke is responsible for establishing the poinsettia as the traditional Christmas holiday plant worldwide and are responsible for developing most of the worlds poinsettias.  I have been fortunate to do all of their photography the past  13 years, not only shooting poinsettias but a wide variety of annuals also. Shooting flowers, especially for a big commercial grower requires a lot of work and planning to do it right. Accurate color reproduction is essential so i am careful to white balance before i start shooting. Most flowers photograph better in soft diffused light rather than direct contrasty light. This is why I always carry a portable diffuser with me – actually several diffusers of different sizes. The poinsettia that was used as my new year’s greeting was positioned next to a large west facing window in the morning  just outside of view. I also placed a large white foam board in front and slightly to the left to fill in the shadows. I knew from experience that side lighting would give me the mood I was looking for and the detail on the poinsettia leaves or bracts as they are called. The other poinsettia photos were taken in a greenhouse, also in the morning so the light still had some direction. When I talk about directional light I am referring to where the primary light source is coming from. The direction of light is what determines where your shadows will fall and how much or how little texture you will see on your subject. If the light has no direction such as a very overcast day you will have minimal shadows – what I call soft light or flat light, it has very little contrast. Whether you go with flat light or directional light depends on your subject and the mood and message you want to convey.

I will be talking more about flower photography in upcoming blogs so stay tuned. And please leave me a comment, ask a question or make a suggestion. Happy shooting and Happy 2012.

High Key Photography

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Last Sunday I had the opportunity to photograph Rached Maalouf in his yoga studio. The studio is called Sattva Fitness and is located in Escondido, Ca. I shot against a 12 foot wide roll of white seamless background paper so that I could easily clip and composite multiple images on a single picture which was to be made into a large print in his lobby. To insure that the background was pure white I positioned a light at a 45 degree angle from either side of the paper and set the light for f-16. I used 3 other lights in soft boxes to illuminate my subject and set those lights at f-11 which is what I set my camera at. Because the light on the background was 1 stop brighter than the light on my subject I was assured that it would give me a pure white with no shadows. This type of lighting is called high key lighting and  is popular with many portrait photographers. The important thing to remember is that the light falling on the background is at least 1/2 to 1 1/2 full stops brighter than the light falling on your subject.

Note : The photo below with me in the shot was made with lights only on the subject. You can see that the background is not pure white and therefore is not a true high key portrait.

Rached warms up while the photographer gets snapped by his assistant

Rached was attempting an "impossible" pose for the camera. The woman on the left is ready to give Rached a 50 lb kettle bell.

I retouched the floor around my subjects in photoshop in order to match the pure white on the background. I did this by selecting the white and using a combination of the levels adjustment and the cloning tool. Below is another example of using high key lighting for a family portrait. You can see that even though I am shooting white against white there is still good separation between the shirts and the background paper. In reality the shirts are very light grey although our perception is that they are white.

High Key Family Portrait

Flower and Still Life Photography On-Line Class

We are just finishing our final class of my on-line still life course and thought I would share some student work. The class is called “Flower and Still Life Photography” and is 4 weeks long. The cool thing is that it is on-line. Here is how it works: Each week is a new lesson, complete with illustrations, tips and short-cuts and one exercise. At the end of each week you submit 3 photos for me to critique, comment on and make suggestions . Other class members have an opportunity to comment on photos as well, so it is very interactive in that way. Students learn from each other as well as from me, the instructor.

This is an example of a wide range of tones, strong geometric shapes and dramatic side light .

This still life was photographed in diffused late afternoon sun coming in through windows. The warm colors and round shapes give it a distinctly feminine quality

This photographer created a traditional still life and then in Photoshop converted it to black and white. The flowers were then colored back into the scene.

This was the photographers final version of a vase and flower series. Here again, the photograph was converted to black and white and the colors of the branch were painted back in using Photoshop Elements. Lastly a vintage effect was achieved using Silver Effects Pro software.

Another great example of a strong still life arrangement with spot coloring added with Photoshop Elements.

Great composition, great lighting and bold complimentary colors went into the recipe of this image. And a touch of whimsey!

 

Still Life and Product Photography

Still life is an art form that can depict virtually any subject matter. When we think of still life we often picture A bowl of fruit or a vase of flowers. A good subject can be almost anything, from fruit to flowers, pottery, personal items such as a pair of glasses or a jewelry box, an old lamp, fabric, kitchen utensils- to name just a few, all make good subjects. My advice is to find 3 to 5 objects that compliment each other. Table top product photography is often just another form of still life. I suggest you look for objects that have character, things that tell a story . It could be an old scrap book, a dried flower or perhaps a pair of reading glasses. If your subject is floral, try a simple arrangement and give equal attention to the vase. If you go with fruit, hand pick each one. Look for interesting or unusual shapes and colors. If there is a farmers market in your area, this can be an ideal place to find great subjects. Most often, you will find produce that has more character than what you are likely to find in the grocery store, especially if they have been picked with the leaves intact (stems and leaves add a nice touch to fruits and veggies). And you have the added benefit of talking face to face with the grower, so if you let them know specifically what you are looking for, they may be able to Get it.

Hand selected berries make a great subject

A more traditional Still life Image

Another Common Still Life Theme. A large Window on the left Illuminates the Scene

Great photography starts with great light. I have a large north facing window in the living room that I often use to illuminate my still life shots. If you are using a window as your primary light source, it is generally best to keep the light soft. If you have direct sun streaming in, you can soften the light by hanging a sheer piece of white fabric over the window. If you already own a portable light diffuser, by all means, use it ! There are times when I prefer direct light with no diffusion. A good example might be when you are photographing objects with strong primary colors and you are looking for strong black shadows to add drama to the composition. Another use of direct light might be when shooting glassware. in this case, position your subject so that low angled direct sunlight hits the glass from the side or slightly behind. This technique will illuminate not only the glass but will often throw lovely splashes of light and color on the set. One large window is often all you need. If you are shooting in mixed lighting, observe the effect each light has on the subject. Don’t be afraid to experiment by moving room lights around the set or by clicking some of the lights on or off.  

If you enjoy this type of photography consider signing up for my Flower and Still Life Photography course. It is a 4 week interactive on-line class full of great information, exercises and critiques. Contact me at bob@2ndstphoto.com or leave a comment on this blog.