A test shot of my assistant that turned better than expected

[DanOstergren]

Troy is my good friend who has been volunteering as my assistant for the last few months in order to learn more about photographing people. He also tends to be my stand-in model when I'm testing lighting conditions and settings, but most of the time he is super awkward in front of the camera, and even when I think we got a good shot of him, he's too insecure of his looks in order to feel good about any of them, so they usually get deleted. Today, after several months of assisting me and having several test shots taken, I finally got one of him that made his jaw drop and made him feel good about himself when he saw it. I think he's finally feeling comfortable with having his own picture taken. It's certainly not a technically perfect shot, but I'm happy to give him a portrait that he loves after all of the help and work that he has contributed to my photo shoots.

To me the crop is awkward where it cuts off at the bottom, and any other crop that I tried seemed to throw things off, so I just accepted it as a flaw. I also wish that I had positioned the stool differently, because as it is it looks like he's sitting on a weird hovering disc. Also, I think for the next shoot that I do with this light setup, I'll rent a fog machine.

Canon 5D Classic with a Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 lens attached, set to f/5.6, 1/160th sec, ISO 100.
There was a single strobe in a giant octabox as the main light to camera right set to a power level of 6, a big white V-flat to camera left for fill, and as you can see the big antique constant light behind him creating the back lighting. That thing was so damn bright and put out so much heat!

 

[smoke665]

To me the crop is awkward where

I was always taught to not crop at the joints, so I'd come up just a tad on the bottom. However I can see your concerns.

The stool is a no win situation. Leave it and he's floating on a disc, take it out and he's floating on air. In the end it is what it is, a note for the future.

Overall I like the image. The inclusion of the hot light, gives it a old time studio look. Excellent job balancing light and temperature.

 

[zulu42]

Love the shot.

Not what I expected when I saw this:

 

[DanOstergren]

To me the crop is awkward where

I was always taught to not crop at the joints, so I'd come up just a tad on the bottom. However I can see your concerns.

The stool is a no win situation. Leave it and he's floating on a disc, take it out and he's floating on air. In the end it is what it is, a note for the future.

Overall I like the image. The inclusion of the hot light, gives it a old time studio look. Excellent job balancing light and temperature.

Thank you. I agree completely about the cropping rule you bring up.

 

[DanOstergren]

Love the shot.

Not what I expected when I saw this:

View attachment 169036

Well to be fair, in my world I don't think that would be an uncommon photo subject.

 

[smoke665]

Also, I think for the next shoot that I do with this light setup, I'll rent a fog machine.

Not sure how much the rental is but I bought one of these from Walmart to play with. https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&sou...FjAAegQIBBAB&usg=AOvVaw0BV6ThIhZDIMjr_vR553QK they also sell the liquid. You can make your own but supposedly the glycerin in the homemade version creates a mold hazard if used inside. I found the unit more then adequate as it will fill an oversize double garage in minutes.

One tip when using, the fog is warm when it first come out and will rise rapidly. If that's what you want then you're good. If you want it to lie closer to the floor you need to cool it down some. There's a lot of info on the internet for making coolers, but I found that the hose to my shop vac was just the right size to fit over the output of the machine. A couple of handfuls of ice in the hose was more then sufficient to cool the fog.

 

[DanOstergren]

Also, I think for the next shoot that I do with this light setup, I'll rent a fog machine.

Not sure how much the rental is but I bought one of these from Walmart to play with. https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&sou...FjAAegQIBBAB&usg=AOvVaw0BV6ThIhZDIMjr_vR553QK they also sell the liquid. You can make your own but supposedly the glycerin in the homemade version creates a mold hazard if used inside. I found the unit more then adequate as it will fill an oversize double garage in minutes.

One tip when using, the fog is warm when it first come out and will rise rapidly. If that's what you want then you're good. If you want it to lie closer to the floor you need to cool it down some. There's a lot of info on the internet for making coolers, but I found that the hose to my shop vac was just the right size to fit over the output of the machine. A couple of handfuls of ice in the hose was more then sufficient to cool the fog.

Thank you! I might buy one once I get settled into Los Angeles. In the meantime I have o keep my belongings to a minimum. That being said, I just assumed it's possible to rent fog machines, I don't even know for sure if I can.