I tried to create a rain storm in the studio

[inTempus]

So I tried something a little different this time... trying to do a rainy night shoot in the studio vs. outside. Here's the result. Thoughts?

 

[musicaleCA]

Curious...My first thought is that you've got too many catchlights going on. Two or three in her eyes? I think cloning-out the red-tinted one would help matters.

How did you get the water in the frame? It looks like it's going up, which throws me a little.

 

[Photog]

I don't know much about portraits, but to me the female model just looks way too posed and pristine for this shot to be believable.

 

[spudgunr]

He probably used normal flash mode giving the water the apearance of going up? Rear sync would have helped here (assuming there WAS ambient lighting and not just flashes). Thats my (amatuer) guess anyway.

 

[DavesPPC]

The man looks natural, as if actually out in the rain.
The woman looks very out of place, almost if she wasn't there at all but "placed" there by other means (from lighting and pose).

 

[inTempus]

Curious...My first thought is that you've got too many catchlights going on. Two or three in her eyes? I think cloning-out the red-tinted one would help matters.

How did you get the water in the frame? It looks like it's going up, which throws me a little.

There are 3 lights;

One over head to light water/umbrella.

One camera left to light him, without it he would be mostly a shadow given she's standing in front of the 3rd light.

One camera right lighting her.

There aren't any red gels or anything like that.

It's a fashion/beauty type shot, not a real attempt at totally faking rain outside. I didn't want a bunch of water covering her face. The focus is supposed to be on her, the guy is a prop.

 

[inTempus]

The man looks natural, as if actually out in the rain.
The woman looks very out of place, almost if she wasn't there at all but "placed" there by other means (from lighting and pose).

That's the point. But she's not been placed there through artificial means, only though lighting.

 

[AlexColeman]

Like always, a good shot Tharmsen. Great model, btw.

 

[Baaaark]

Well since all you asked about is the rain, that's all I'll comment about.

The only thing that doesn't make sense is how there's lots of rain at the top, a little at the bottom, and NONE in front of her. I know it would be distracting, but I find myself when I first look at the photo thinking "where is the rain in front of her?"

 

[c.cloudwalker]

Well since all you asked about is the rain, that's all I'll comment about.

The only thing that doesn't make sense is how there's lots of rain at the top, a little at the bottom, and NONE in front of her. I know it would be distracting, but I find myself when I first look at the photo thinking "where is the rain in front of her?"

Actually, if you look at the black stripes of the dress, you can see the rain there. But I still agree with you that it does look a bit like there is no rain in front of her.

What bothers me more is that, as someone else mentioned, the rain seems to be going up instead of down. :scratch: Unfortunately, no advice to give as I've never tried to do anything like this myself. I can't even think of why it looks that way. Sorry.


Edit = A faster shutter speed would have frozen the rain but who knows what else it would have done.

Another thing that bothers me is the highlights on your male model's nose which make him look wet and that doesn't make sense. I think you should have powdered the nose to lessen the highlights.

 

[Baaaark]

Well since all you asked about is the rain, that's all I'll comment about.

The only thing that doesn't make sense is how there's lots of rain at the top, a little at the bottom, and NONE in front of her. I know it would be distracting, but I find myself when I first look at the photo thinking "where is the rain in front of her?"

Actually, if you look at the black stripes of the dress, you can see the rain there. But I still agree with you that it does look a bit like there is no rain in front of her.

What bothers me more is that, as someone else mentioned, the rain seems to be going up instead of down. :scratch: Unfortunately, no advice to give as I've never tried to do anything like this myself. I can't even think of why it looks that way. Sorry.

Yeah, I see it on the dress, but none in front of any part of her that's skin. And to risk being overly critical, I'll say that the flow of rain should match at the top as it would the bottom. lots of rain at the top, almost none at the bottom (even with an umbrella). This will make the rain look like its coming from a hose, unfortunately. My only suggestion is to put it on a finer spray setting, or set the hose even farther away to let the water dissipate more.

But the idea is AWESOME. Whatever you do, arm, DO NOT give up on the idea. I like it.

Edited to add. I finally got it. It looks like (to me) you're almost underneath the umbrella. But yet not. Like there's almost no rain in front of her (like you're under the umbrella too), but yet you can still see the top of the umbrella. I don't know. You're so much better than me I don't know how to describe it. I guess, just read the first sentence.

 

[Kerplunq]

Well after reading what you were trying to achieve, I think it was success. The first thing that draws the eye is the female model. I will also agree that the rain looks like its going up, but stil a cool shot for an indoor studio.

Also the "guy is a prop" line made me burst out laughing....and I'm at work

 

[inTempus]

I agree with the rain appearing to be going upwards. That's something I didn't notice on my cameras screen... sometimes 3" just isn't big enough no matter how good the resolution is. I will have to experiment with a solution.

As for the "prop", trust me... he was VERY willing to be the prop. All he talked about for 2 hours afterward was "she's the most beautiful girl I've ever seen in person".

I agreed.

 

[inTempus]

Here's another shot of her, a simple portrait before the rain shot was setup completely.

 

[musicaleCA]

Curious...My first thought is that you've got too many catchlights going on. Two or three in her eyes? I think cloning-out the red-tinted one would help matters.

How did you get the water in the frame? It looks like it's going up, which throws me a little.

There are 3 lights;

One over head to light water/umbrella.

One camera left to light him, without it he would be mostly a shadow given she's standing in front of the 3rd light.

One camera right lighting her.

There aren't any red gels or anything like that.

It's a fashion/beauty type shot, not a real attempt at totally faking rain outside. I didn't want a bunch of water covering her face. The focus is supposed to be on her, the guy is a prop.

Is that leftmost catchlight not a little red around the edges? My eyes deceiveth me. I totally get what you were going for, and like others, yeah, in that case it's pretty much a success. I still maintain my right to dislike multiple catchlights though.