need some advice

rmackie · Mar 19, 2009

Hello everyone I'm new to the forum I need some help replicating a shot I really like. I am taking a college level drawing class and I will be required to bring in a photo next week to draw. I would like to take a self portrait and make it look like this picture. I have a Sony cyber-shot dsc-f828 and have played around with the settings but I guess its the lighting that's really throwing me off. Any help advice would be greatly appreciated.

Torus34 · Mar 19, 2009

There are two strong lights located above, behind and to the sides of the subject's head. There is a front fill-in light, weaker than the two side lights.

tsaraleksi · Mar 19, 2009

The reason the shot looks like this is that the face is lit from below, which is a highly unnatural and unusual way for us to look at a human face-- almost all light comes from above. So if you're lacking the gear to make a 3 light shot that replicates this one entirely, a light below the face is a good place to start.