HOW I GOT THE SHOT

I love the look of a softbox, don't you. Any one can do it and it looks great for males and females alike. This was done with a 2 light system but it can be modified for 1 light and softbox. You will need to replace the white v-cards with a silver bounce panel.

I placed the subject about 6-8 feet infront of the blackout cloth to make sure I do not have any light spills because of the v-card panels. Oh by the way, I am using the term v-card panels for the bounce panels because everyone knows what they are. What I really used was a couple of $1 cardboard presentation boards made by Elmer Glue. They really work pretty good and if you lose one no problems I got a case of them around here somewhere.

Anyway, after placing the subject where I wanted him, I metered the shot that I want. I was shooting ISO 100 and the metere said I should go for 1/250 at f/10. Because of his complection I opened up a little and started at 1/125. I had a medium softbox pointed directly 90 degrees to the side.

For the second light here I put up 2 v-card panels diectly to his other side that could wrap around him from front side to back side. For this one I aimed the small strobe directly at the board instead of him. This would pick up some soft spill wrap around light that would create the mood I was looking for here.

Here is the lighting diagram I used for this one.



Play around with this set up. You will be amazed at the range you can get from it. Turn the small light toward him to create the butterfly lighting effect. Turn off the small light and get that mean, don't mess with me look.

MODIFYING LIGHTS WITH UMBRELLAS

Modifying lights are fun. It takes very little to change the mood of a scene by adding or taking away umbrella’s, reflectors, white panels or any number of things you can get your hands on.

Take this shot below. Each shot was taken f/10, 1/125 at ISO 100.



The first was taken with one light with the silver dish that came with the unit. As it should, it comes across as a wide spot; throwing dramatic shadows. This can be used to show a number of things but I mainly think about evil, sadistic, terror or meanness. This lighting technique really requires the subject not to smile because of the shadows it cuts, throws or creates. It closes down the rear lighting for that extra touch. If I were to shoot a burglar outside before he breaks into your house this is the light I would choose to cast the character.

However, this could also be a good use to outline the body. Showing the curves of women or muscles of a man highlighting the form. The light will cut in and allow you to paint with it to really create a piece of beauty and art. if your going to do this please use a solid background.

Let’s add a second light in #2 (middle). The same settings were used, just metered for the two instead of one. Now lets look at this one. It has a more friendly lightings but still hard. Notice both shadows on each side of the nose. It does though still give texture to the image by hiding the folds and the curves. The same metered light is given to this shot but even the background has picked up some light to give it a snapshot look.

For the last shot, the lights did not change an inch, not one thing on the settings. What we did is put on a 60 inch umbrella for each (2) head. Look at how much more the spread of the light is compared to the second one. We can see everything behind me easily even the photos on the mantel looked metered right. It gave me more depth and a longer range into the image. This light would be good for almost any type of portraiture and will give you a large enough spread to capture the backgrounds a make them apart of the image. It works well for the backdrop portraits because it cuts down on the shadows and delivers a good even light. It will also work on things like weddings, clubs and social events where you want to get the location in it as well.

Play around with it and see what you can get, keeping the setting the same.

THIS CRACKED ME UP

I found this clip while browsing today. It made me laugh and thought that you may enjoy it. It is not for the kids and not for the workplace. So email yourself to check it at home. It is a complete satire on being a professional photographer.



Enjoy

HOW TO RESIZE AND CROP FOR THE SHOT YOU WANT

Original Image and Finished 8 x 10


From time to time I have been asked about this process. Also when I sell a CD from a photo shoot the images are often un edited for size. The process is an easy one but if you are not familiar with Photoshop or photo editing software it can be overwhelming. For this reason I put together a tutorial on how it is done (about 7 minutes long).

This video was done in Photoshop CS2 however any editing software that supports layers can do the same thing. The free programs that are available like Paint.net, Photofiltre and Gimp can all do the job but will have some limitations on controls. Others such as Photoshop Essentials, Lightroom, Painter etc. will be paid license programs but will generally have more control.

For a larger view you can find the Tutorial that will load in your browser at http://wcandersons.com/ButterflyTest.swf . It will take about 30 seconds to load the first time or if you clear your cache after every session each time providing you are using more than Dail-up, but it is larger and you can view it comfortably.



For more visual samples and text describing the process as well as some other tidbits of information on finishing a photo you can go to my CD Information page about Crop Factor at http://wcandersons.com/Crop%20Factor.html. The right grey panel will open to a full size when clicked on.

The video was made with BB Flashback Express. A great write up on ScreenCasting software can be found at DonationCoder.com. If you sign up and donate any amount to the site you get BB Flashback Express for less than $20 (save 50). This is a good buy for a really nice piecs of software. It is not strong enough to capture full length video such as TV or Movies to transfer to your hand held toys or desktop. For that I use ScreenVirtuoso Pro, which is an awsome software but to bulky (file size vs compression) for tutorial use.

HOW I GOT THE SHOT

This is one of the easiest shots to produce and it is also one that can create a very dramatic effect.

First, I was challenged by the harsh afternoon sun. We were at a school so I took him to the breeze way to cut the direct overhead light. I positioned the subject were I saw color behind him. Noting that the final image will look better when: the color behind the subject enhances the clothes, skin and feel of the shot.

I could position the camera with-in 6 feet of the subject, which I did. However, the bright sun I needed to kick into the shot was 12-15 feet away. I had a assistant walk out to the heavy sun and position the 36 inch circle reflector back at the subject. Be careful and understand that the sun is bright and it is uncomfortable for the model. Try to angle it so that the model does not have to squint. Still, keeping in mind the areas you need to fill.

I like to work with the reflectors because:

1. You see what you are getting.

2. For me it makes a more pleasing and contrasty background, allowing all the colors to come through.

3. It is easy to place, easy to handle, it’s light and requires no portable lights, cords or battery packs.

4. Anyone can help you - Friends, Family, Bystanders, Anyone – no experience required.

5. You can bounce the light in or if no shade is available you can hold it above them and have a shoot through diffuser.




Now the shot: I liked the background but wanted to keep the focus on the subject because that is what this shot is all about, right. In AV mode I set the f/stop to 2.8. I was about 6-8 feet away which would give me a long enough depth of field for him. I let the camera set the shutter speed which on this one was 1/3200 seconds. (Note: Don’t ever worry about the high Shutter Speed).

If I had wanted more detail in the background, I personally would have gone with f/8. But I knew the sidewalk was going to blow out (white) on this shot. He was a long way from the reflector so I chose the silver side for distance and because of his skin tone he could take the more direct light. I always shoot in groups of 3’s with the focus being on the eye closest to me.

Give a reflector a try, it only cost about $40 and it has endless possibilities.

BUSY, BUSY, BUSY

Sorry for not updating I have been working with Nash Farm Battlefield and my friend Mark Pollard on getting a new website built. Last year the County bought 204 acres of the rare endangered property that was part of the battle of Lovejoy.

Check out the site and see what we are doing

http://www.henrycountybattlefield.com/

we are still in the text stage even after about 60 hours work with layouts, text and maps. It won't be long now (about another week or two) for the text (history and stories) are done and then we can pretty it up with photos with-in the stories and pages.

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