Another Veteran's Portrait Project session (w/ Bonus extra images!)

[ronlane]

Sorry @tirediron for the slight highjack. Hey @Big Mike, it's been a while since I've noticed a post from you. (I know that I have been lurking and not in as much) Good to hear from you.

 

[tirediron]

Solid work, as we've come to expect from you.

Did you try any with short lighting, rather than the broad lighting that we see here?

I would usually default to short lighting, especially if the subject is on the heavier side....unless there is a reason to switch to broad, like glasses causing a reflection etc.

I did these all broad lighting as that's how I do my Veteran's Portraits; it tends to work better when someone shows up with a chest full of medals, and since the image is part of that series and I want a common style... The others, you're right, I could/should have moved the key light. Really just laziness on my part.

 

[jcdeboever]

Nice set & setup

 

[annamaria]

Nice set, my favorite is number three. Thank you for sharing the setup. Nice studio btw.


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[tirediron]

Nice set, my favorite is number three. Thank you for sharing the setup. Nice studio btw.


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Thanks!

 

[Big Mike]

Solid work, as we've come to expect from you.

Did you try any with short lighting, rather than the broad lighting that we see here?

I would usually default to short lighting, especially if the subject is on the heavier side....unless there is a reason to switch to broad, like glasses causing a reflection etc.

I did these all broad lighting as that's how I do my Veteran's Portraits; it tends to work better when someone shows up with a chest full of medals, and since the image is part of that series and I want a common style... The others, you're right, I could/should have moved the key light. Really just laziness on my part.

I figured you had a reason.

 

[Hermes1]

Very nice set and an excellent project, #1 is my favorite.

 

[tirediron]

Very nice set and an excellent project, #1 is my favorite.

Thank-you!

 

[smoke665]

As always solid set. I prefer the hands in #1, but not a fan of the lack of separation on the hair and the background.. #2 is really good, maybe a little tight on the crop at the top. #3 I really like the back lighting on the hair, think it adds so much to the beauty of the young lady. Not really a fan of the hands and the same comment on the top crop.

As others have said posting pictures of your setup is appreciated so much. It really helps those of us not as accomplished improve. For those of us still learning, would you tell us about the modifier on the hair light and the beauty dish?

 

[tirediron]

As always solid set. I prefer the hands in #1, but not a fan of the lack of separation on the hair and the background.. #2 is really good, maybe a little tight on the crop at the top. #3 I really like the back lighting on the hair, think it adds so much to the beauty of the young lady. Not really a fan of the hands and the same comment on the top crop.

As others have said posting pictures of your setup is appreciated so much. It really helps those of us not as accomplished improve. For those of us still learning, would you tell us about the modifier on the hair light and the beauty dish?

Thanks! Appreciate the comments and valid points for sure!

With respect to the modifiers: The beauty dish is a 22" white dish that I use here with a tight grid to project a "stream" of light across the face and chest (to highlight medals when worn). In this case the client wasn't wearing any medals, but I try and keep a degree of continuity throughout the series.

The hairlight is my own creation. A few years ago I picked up a big box of Brownline odds & ends; amongst which was a snoot. Having a couple already, I decided to turn it into a hair/background light. I cut a 2" wide strip along the length, took the bottom of a soup can (Campbell's Chicken & Rice in case you're interested ) and pop-riveted that to the end of the snoot, put a wrap of gaf tape around the joint and spray-painted the inside white. I use it the way you see here as a hair light, or vertically, on a shorty stand behind the client for a background light.

 

[smoke665]

a tight grid to project a "stream" of light across the face and chest

so it is a grid and not a cloth?

The hairlight is my own creation

Hey whatever works. Just out of curiosity, I've seen something similar used to modify a speedlight. In that mod rather than an abrupt end like the cap on yours, they used a slanting baffle all the way to the end, to actually changed the direction of the light.

 

[tirediron]

a tight grid to project a "stream" of light across the face and chest

so it is a grid and not a cloth?

The hairlight is my own creation

Hey whatever works. Just out of curiosity, I've seen something similar used to modify a speedlight. In that mod rather than an abrupt end like the cap on yours, they used a slanting baffle all the way to the end, to actually changed the direction of the light.

Yes, it's a grid. If you look at the bottom set-up picture, you can see the faint glow of the modelling light, and the darker center of the deflector plate in the BD. The hairlight actually works quite well. It "costs about 1.5 stops, which generally works out well for my style of lighting.

 

[Derrel]

Your homemade rig-up looks somewhat like the standard type of "background reflector" that Photogenic and Speedotron have made for decades. Not quite the same, yet similar. Speedotron 14257 White Background Reflector

Very handy for placing behind a subject, and directing the light in only one basic direction, and keeping unwanted light from blasting out in a wide radius.

 

[tirediron]

Your homemade rig-up looks somewhat like the standard type of "background reflector" that Photogenic and Speedotron have made for decades. Not quite the same, yet similar...

Huh... who'da thunk?