1) Turn your sitters back to the sun
Now the temptation is to have the sitter face the sun, so they are well lit, but this tends to lead to hard shadows and squinty eyes. Much better to have their back to the sun and their eyes wide open.
2) Understand high-key and low-key
A high key image has largely lighter tones in the picture, a low-key image is predominantly dark tones. But the subject is always correctly exposed. An over-exposed image is not high-key, its just over exposed.
3) Ditch the light stand, …
I’ve just seen yet another article about PPI (and DPI) and how it relates to resolution that yet again completes misunderstands what PPI is about.
PPI & DPI stands for Pixels Per Inch and Dots Per Inch.
So, let’s get this absolutely clear.
PPI HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH RESOLUTION
When I say resolution I mean how much detail an image has. That is determined entirely by the number of pixels in the image (ok there is a slightly more complicated version to do with file formats but I’m going to ignore …
One of the beauties of my studio space is that it has a very large coved area where dance movement and action have lots of room to flow.
Lighting Diagram
Lit from very side-on to produce shadow and contrast for form. The main light is left, the fill is right.
There is an almost “bat” like quality to the model on this image.
And I have montaged to seperate shots together. When creating this kind of montage sometimes the limbs need to cross to join the two figures together.
In this case, …
1) Think purpose before portrait
What is the picture being taken for? Is it for the sitters wall or the sitters facebook, or the sitters corporate brochure. Is it for the sitter, or their partner, or their parents. Is it for you, the model, the magazine, for stock. Now most shoots are often a mix of all the above, so make sure you cover all the bases.
2) Get a model release
Really, a proper signed release. If you think a shoot is going to lead to images that could be published …
Moving water can allow you to create a number of moods, from artistic to very glamourous and sexy.
Lighting Diagram
Obviously the main concern is safety – mains-powered strobes and water do not mix. The strobes were positioned far enough away that if they fell they could not reach the water. They were also weighted down. They are also of course on full RCD trips.
The principal light is the honeycombed strobe on the left, the softbox on the right provides a little fill at a very low level.
My studio …
