There are so many techniques used in portraits. Some are simple and some require a load of setting up with expensive lighting and backdrops etc. I don’t have any of that.
Allyce Portrait
OBJECTIVE:
To use alternative lighting to create some light/shadow effects.
OBSERVATIONS:
It was late afternoon so the light was just beginning to fade. We were outside in the backyard with Allyce lying on a towel with a couple of props, a feather scarf thing and a soft toy snake.
COMPOSITION:
I wanted to be in close so I could feature at least one eye. My focus was centered squarely on her leading eye. Seeing as Allyce wanted the props in, I at least needed to include some aspect of those as well. Sometimes it’s as much about what the ‘client’ wants as it is what you want.
In this shot I went for a diagonal composition in terms of her face.
SETUP & SETTINGS:
1/200th – f3.5 – ISO 200. 70mm focal length. No filters on the lens. Hand held. Spot metering.
I used an external flash on the camera but angled it up and used the pull out card to deflect the flash at the subject. However, this was not the main light source as I dialed it back so it only created some highlights in the hair. Shooting flash straight at your subject tends to flatten the subjects textures. Lighting from other directions tends to lift those textures.
My main lighting was a 3x 3watt LED setup I use for night riding on my mountain bike or road bike. It’s very bright. However, a very bright torch with a white (rather than yellow) light will work as well.
POST PROCESSING:
A slight sharpening, curves/levels adjustment.
END RESULT:
The LED lighting was off to the right side as we look at this photo and has created a spot light effect which through the outer part of the photo into shadow. The light was bright enough to light up Allyce’s hair from her cheek outwards creating that brown/auburn colour.
The wide aperture of f3.5 created a narrow depth of field (area in focus) around her eye and hair creating a feature of those by blurring out the rest of the shot. This lessened the likelihood of the props becoming distractions also. She was deep in thought when I took this and it shows I think.
Thanks for coming.
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“My main lighting was a 3x 3watt LED setup I use for night riding on my mountain bike or road bike. It’s very bright. However, a very bright torch with a white (rather than yellow) light will work as well.”
So does and LED flashlight/torch(which tends to cast a bluish toned white light) work better than a regular lightbulb flashlight/torch (which casts a bit of a yellow toned white light)? Is there a preference? And what about adjusting white balance settings if using one or the other…do you have to and what would be the setting used for an LED light?
Good to know one does not need expensive lighting set-ups to do this type of photography….I think that alone intimidates people!
Good question! My LED lights are using LED’s with a colour temperature that is not as blue/purple as most imagine. It’s nowhere near the yellow cast you get off halogen or incandescent lights either. Mine are way closer to while. I should mention these lights aren’t that cheap though. A single light is around AU$300 but yes, not as expensive as studio lighting.
I shoot in RAW for these sort of shots and if I need to will adjust the white balance later in post. In editing programs like Photoshop etc you can use the Colour Balance tool to correct casts quite well also.