How do I get this great depth to the photo?

[Gnat5680]

Can someone tell me what is going on in this image? I love this nice even tone of his face and yet still having the harshness of the light in the cave. It also have very deep blacks and very bright whites and seems to transition between them seamlessly. to be frank, its beautiful work. Is this an on camera setting or a Photoshop trick? Is there a specific name for this type of photography?

Thanks guys!

 

[Christie Photo]

Can someone tell me what is going on in this image?

Well... there's not much goin' on here.

This is a snapshot of a fellow on a overcast day. The lighting is too flat for portraiture of average-looking people. In fact, it's falling mostly from straight above, as seem by the shadow under the brow and chin. This has been minimized by tipping his head up a bit. The light is falling off as you go deeper into the cave. I see no "harsh" light here at all.

I think this is a missed opportunity. The subject's clothing works fine with the setting. Placing him a bit further back to block the overhead light and walking around to one side of the other would have produced a much better situation.

I hope this helps.

-Pete

 

[Derrel]

Can someone tell me what is going on in this image?

Well... there's not much goin' on here.

This is a snapshot of a fellow on a overcast day. The lighting is too flat for portraiture of average-looking people. In fact, it's falling mostly from straight above, as seem by the shadow under the brow and chin. This has been minimized by tipping his head up a bit. The light is falling off as you go deeper into the cave. I see no "harsh" light here at all.

I think this is a missed opportunity. The subject's clothing works fine with the setting. Placing him a bit further back to block the overhead light and walking around to one side of the other would have produced a much better situation.

I hope this helps.

-Pete

Experience talking in Pete's post above.

Look carefully at the photo and mentally file it away as "overcast skylight". Overcast light like this is very flat, and low-ratio; the secret so many young people miss about overcast lighting is that you can 1) expose and 2) post-process so,so may different ways, because the light from an overcast sky is so "flat" and low-ratio; having an inky-black cave in the background creates sort of a false impression here that the light is contrasty or "harsh". There are not too many outdoor features that are darker than a shaded cave entrance set well back into a stone overhanging enclosed chamber...if you put your hand over the entrance to the cave and then look at the man, the lighting becomes rather "blechhhh".

The next time you get an evenly overcast day, try some big exposure variations; try some +2.5 to +3.0 overexposures for pastel renderings. Try some minus 1.5 stop exposures as well, and see what you can do with the images in post-processing, being mindful that this techn ique is best done using baseline ISO values, not the higher ISO values like 640 or higher.

 

[joealcantar]

The great light was just left of the cave opening. You have to look for that light where it naturally gives the face the right kind of ratio hitting the main side of face and fill side.
Image of him leaving the cave may have given you and interesting look as well. Simple reflector would have bounced light in there to give you a different kind of ratio.
Avoid shooting up into peoples noses it does not compliment them at times. Avoid FLAT lighting as it keeps images less dramatic.
-
Shoot well, Joe

 

[Gnat5680]

I was not asking about the lighting set up... I was asking about the tones of it. The cave is very detailed and not blown out or too dark or anything, it's exposed just right. But his face seems alittle washed out. The blacks are very deep and the highlights are just barely starting to be too high. It looks like two separate exposures...

So with what I just said, I am just going to assume that they just exposed for the cave, let his face wash out alittle, then went into Photoshop and crushed the blacks and tweaked the curves to bring the whites up. Is that about it?

 

[Christie Photo]

...I am just going to assume that they just exposed for the cave, let his face wash out alittle, then went into Photoshop and crushed the blacks and tweaked the curves to bring the whites up.

I doubt that much thought went into this image. It could just be a full-auto snapshot right out of the camera.

-Pete

 

[Derrel]

...I am just going to assume that they just exposed for the cave, let his face wash out alittle, then went into Photoshop and crushed the blacks and tweaked the curves to bring the whites up.

I doubt that much thought went into this image. It could just be a full-auto snapshot right out of the camera.

-Pete

^^^^^^^^ MY thought exactly.

 

[Gnat5680]

I know thought went into it cause I have seen photos done like this everywhere from magazines to advertising...

But whatever.. I will just play around alittle bit more next time I am out and see if I can't get this effect too...

Thanks anyways!

 

[RockstarPhotography]

Can't believe nobody told you that you can't post up images that are not yours. You have to post a link to it.

 

[AUG19]

Gelegnite maybe what great depth ? It looks like an badly focussed snap using daylight at the mouth of cave.

 

[uriljack]

great post i applaud it