Help : I have this----how to get this-

Latinheat18 · Nov 29, 2003

Hello, i am a new member here and i am pretty new into photography. I bought a Kodaq 4230 and mainly use for portrait shots for a guy i know. Anyhow, ive explored a bit using a light, but i dont really know how to get a good definsed portrait shot. Anyhow, i would like you to see two photos, here, one is of my freind using my light settings, and one of a famus pop star, anyhow, could someone give me some pointers and help on how to get a shot similar to that? What time of the day, and which direction to face the person? Many Thanks,

Photo trying to achive-

Photo achived

Dew · Nov 29, 2003

the first thing i notice is Enrique's photograph is shot outdoors, your friend's indoors. the light temperture is different. I would guess on the first one, its probably about 5500 or so, looks like he could have used reflectors. the indoor photo is probably anywhere around 3500-4500, u would need the proper light or photoshop to remove the yellow cast from his face

... for an indoor "studio" look ... i would go with a softbox and/or reflector to acheive similar results

"natural" lighting can be tricky and leave blueish - yellowish tints.

if it were me, i would photograph it during the afternoon hours, near a window and most likely use a reflector

metroshane · Nov 29, 2003

The enrique photog is also using a very shallow depth of field. Probably using a very large aperature...somewhere in the 3's. Also, I'm sure the Enrique photog used a handheld light meter to expose for his face.

Latinheat18 · Nov 29, 2003

but what is a reflector and a softbox? i have no clue where to a position it and second what it is, i have to make do with very basic things.

thanx

metroshane · Nov 29, 2003

A soft box is a light (usually around 5-600Watts) that has a hooded diffusing cloth in front of it. This diffuses the light so it's softer. A reflector is simple anything that will reflect light onto the subject. You can either buy reflectors or use a car shade.

Latinheat18 · Nov 30, 2003

so should he be back to the window facing the wall or facing the window in the sun?

Dew · Nov 30, 2003

this is a crude drawing i whipped up (very crude :lol:

) ... as u can tell, im not exactly Picasso, but u get the idea ... :roll: .. something like this is what i'd do ... perhaps variations, i may even do it without the reflector depending on what kind of mood i want to show ... knowing me, i would go for something more "moody" ... but most likely i would do some variations to acheive maximum results

i wouldnt put the subject with his/her back in front of the window, u would have to deal with spot metering issues... the subject being dark and the background/window being bright ... i wouldnt try it (that would open up another can of worms :lol:

)

take a stab at it, and show us your results .... be careful about too much light coming in from the window, you dont want to over-expose your subject .... as soon as my hubby wakes up, i'll do some test shots in this similar way, with and without reflector, with his back towards the window, etc. to view the different options

Latinheat18 · Nov 30, 2003

is i use photoshop, to adjust the color balance and contrast and saturation, i delibartly on that photo turned it up, trying to make it more orangy, but now i relise it makes it look fake.

Heres one with your advice

Latinheat18 · Nov 30, 2003

another one taken with it

Dew · Nov 30, 2003

the second one looks pretty good, his skin color looks more natural (from what i can tell on my screen ... i cant really see it all at once due to the largeness of the photo) .... the first one looks "faded" ... how did u photograph the second one?

Latinheat18 · Dec 1, 2003

camera east, subject wet, and the window to the south, it was around 2ish so the sun was kind of setting, and fill in flash, used paint shop to slightler make higher color balance, and slightly more saturation for a more natural look.

What i wanna achive though, is that photo of enrique, just need right settings and position, cant do it outside as no way to do it. And that shot looks like a summer shot, it was actually shot in santa monica i bealive, on a 3 floor building.

Latinheat18 · Dec 1, 2003

first formost, how can i reduce the size of photos with out losing the quality? also, does a better digtial camera for example nikkon 2100 mean better photo then my kodaq 4230? The color is not very good on the kodaq, but i like the sharpness , however there is no whatsoever comtrol on settings.

Latinheat18 · Dec 1, 2003

good pic of enrique, im really baffled and amazed how he can look so amazing in the photographs, gotta learn the tricks of photography

i have the subject, just need how to get pics like these!

metroshane · Dec 1, 2003

i have the subject, just need how to get pics like these!

Well, this may be an unexplainable law of photography. Some people are just photogenic and some aren't. It has nothing to do with looks sometimes. Don't forget that you've already had Enrique's sex appeal pushed down your throat since before he was born (see Dad), so when you see a pic of him it provokes an autoresponse of "hubba hubba". And why can't you take the pic outside? You aren't in jail are you?

One more thing...with a name like Latinheat, are you sure it isn't you in the pic?

Latinheat18 · Dec 2, 2003

hehe, would it be a crime if i said it was me? hehe yes i was, i just didnt want people to make a issue of it, just came here on how to take better photos really.

But under what conditions was that photo of enrique taken you think? did they use digital or normal? Could i get a similar style photo on my cam?

heres a large pic my girlfreind took, this time i got correct exposure and light settings, but how do i get that shiny look like on enriques pic?

This is a simple, no posing pic.

http://www.streamload.com/latinheat85/000_1445.jpg