One umbrella, one gel, one reflector, girl's portrait

[Derrel]

Here is an iPhone snap of the actual the gel...I got this gel USED, back in 1987 (!!!!) from a theatre lighting rental place...it was a "junker" back then. I cut it down and deliberately put the burned-off "white spot" off-center, and trimmed it to fit the diffuser-holder so that the white,slightly-hotter spot area would be off-center...as you might be able to see, the gel has faded from use...it's not perfectly even in density. It almost broke my heart to cut up the old warhorse, but these people needed these shots FAST, for an 8 AM departure to the beauty pageant the very next MORNING, so I wanted to create SOOC images that would be ready to go as soon as I could get home and download the card to my Mac, without me having to do ANY post work, whatsoever. It might be a bit hokey, but I learned to use gels back in the 1980's, and I am NOT a very good post-processor and fake-background-creator in PS...

As you can see, the white area is where the gel HAD been used, since 1987, on a Speedotron M-11 head, with its exposed 150-Watt, HOT quartz lamp having caused the white damage, and having faded the gel...I cut it so that the darker, less-faded periphery would give me a bit of a built-in gradient, and so that one part would allow more "white light" thru. Not much, but "enough" to make a perfect,lighter spot, which I could aim behind the girl.

 

[amolitor]

Nice work on the background gradient. Does the background light have a modeling light so you could place the white patch, or do you just know how it's going to come out?

 

[MLeeK]

I love your ingenious use of the worn out gel!

 

[Derrel]

Very cool Derrel. Thank you for posting the diagram. That is a lot of information there to learn from (and I've got a lot of learning to do). Stupid question: the background color is just from a gel rather than a colored background? Why a gray background rather than white if you are going to project a color onto it?

Well, they HAD A BIG, wall-mounted projection screen for their projection television setup right THERE, already pulled down!!! So...rather than set up my OWN backdrop stands and crossbar, I left those in the back of my vehicle and used THEIR background, and it was light gray!!! So, it was a matter of convenience, and expedience...they already had a PERFECTLY SMOOTH, LOVELY very light,almost grayish backdrop screen right there on the liviing room's back wall! DOAH!!!!! How handy is THAT!?

In close confines like this, blasting a gel onto a WHITE screen means more chance of blow-back or "wrap"; in a confined shooting area, using a white background and a lighter colored gel means a LOT MORE light is reflected, and the color of the gel looks lighter in the photos; on gray, the color will be a bit more-saturated; when aiming the same light,m same gel, same Watt-seconds of flash power at a black screen, the color of the backdrop in the photo will be darker, more-saturated pink.

Same goes with other gels: take the same gel, same light unit, same flash power, same light positioning, same camera settings, and then 1) aim it at a white seamless, 2) then a thunder gray seamless, then 3) black seamless paper, and there will be three, significantly-different densities of background color. Assuming that ALL other variables are kept constant. Speedotron Brown line lights do NOT have the power-adjustment capabilities that my Black Line power packs have--they have NO variable, dial-down power. In close-confines like this smallish living room, shooting a gel onto a pure white paper leads to a LOT of "blow-back", and can, and often does, create a colored bit of light that actually comes back and hits the subjects hair and shoulders. THis can look neat...or horrible. Less-reflective material, like black velvet or black felt, ABSORBS MOST of the light that hits it, and does NOT send gel-colored light all over the shooting area. Gray is somewhere in-between.

If you want to get a REALLY deep, saturated background using any of the "pastel gels", like yellow, or pink, or baby blue, then Brown Line lights and packs are a terrible choice when shooting onto WHITE backgrounds. The relationship between the background light's REFLECTED LIGHT reading at the subject's BACK-of-the head in relation to the INCIDENT LIGHT METER exposure of the person, determines the exact background density or "color". Brown Line packs do not allow a huge variety of flash power output, so, in a real,practical sense, I seldom EVER want to shoot colored gels at a pure-white screen if I am lighting the backdrop with a Brown Line head....I will instead use my 405 or 805 Black Line packs to give a teensie-tiny say 25 Watt-second or 50 Watt-second squirt of flash,and then have that paired up with 200 to 600 Watt-seconds of main light.

Here is an on-line page showing and talking about Chromazones, the old Dean Collins term for this use of gels, and how to precisely MEASURE,and predict the EXACT DENSITY of a background, by using a professional light meter that can read both reflected light AND incident light. TOny Corbell's book on basic studio lighting covers this subject, somewhat briefly, but well. Basic Studio Lighting: The Photographer's Complete Guide to Professional ... - Tony L. Corbell - Google Books

 

[Derrel]

Very nice, Derrel! Glad to see you posting some of your work!

Thanks Charlie. Recently, I've had a number of TPF posters implying, and/or outright stating that I don't know what I am talking about, or that I cannot shoot this or that type of subject matter, and so on. I have over 3,500 images made over a decade of my digital shooting on my pBase galleries, and have for over TEN years...and yet...a handful of TPF posters have never gone to my TPF profile to get my link to my pBase galleries--said link which has been on my TPF profile since the DAY I JOINED this forum. I have a wide variety of sports shots, portraits, pet pictures, baby pics, and family shots I've made during my "digital" era in my pBase galleries. My film archives I do not have on-line...only a veritable handful of my 1970's-2001 film-based images are on pBase.

I don't claim to be a great photographer...FAR,far,far from it. But I am better than many photographers, and I am far,far less-skilled than many photographers. My "schtick" is in helping other people learn about the CRAFT of photography...that's why I am here.

If I wanted to impress people with my photographic abilities, I tell you what..I would not have 3,500 pictures on my pBase site...I would have 50 images there. But that's not the case...

 

[Derrel]

Nice work on the background gradient. Does the background light have a modeling light so you could place the white patch, or do you just know how it's going to come out?

Yes, the Speedotron Brown Line M11 light had its standard, stock 150-Watt quartz-halogen bulb in it, and the 4-way barn doors were "trimmed" so as to create a gradient fall-off at the top and bottom, and I placed the white spot of the gel so one area would be less-dense, and used the built-in fading on the old gel PLUS the barn doors to create a gradient. For the past eight years,I have been using a Nikon D2x and a Canon 5D classic, both of which have small, craptastic LCD screens...on the D3x, I now have a fine-quality, 3-inch 920,000 pixel LCD for review, so the last two weeks have been an eye-opener...I can now SEE what I am getting, in the field, to a much better degree than I have been able to before.

 

[2WheelPhoto]

Very nice, Derrel! Glad to see you posting some of your work!

+1 me too. Its rare, but when he does the images are epic.

 

[pgriz]

So... Derrel's opinionated. As is my 90-year old mom, and I don't always agree with her ideas or opinions, but doesn't stop us from looking up to her. @ Derrel - keep posting, there's lots for amateurs like me to learn. I do appreciate the advice you've given me over the few years I've been on TPF, and I don't think you gave me too many bum pointers.

 

[tacosanchez]

Very nicely lit! I would love to do stuff like this one day, that's a great photo.

 

[nmoody]

Such great and useful information Derrel! Thanks for sharing it and posting the lighting setup. Thats really puts it all in perspective.

 

[Edsport]

Very nice, Derrel! Glad to see you posting some of your work!

Thanks Charlie. Recently, I've had a number of TPF posters implying, and/or outright stating that I don't know what I am talking about, or that I cannot shoot this or that type of subject matter, and so on. I have over 3,500 images made over a decade of my digital shooting on my pBase galleries, and have for over TEN years...and yet...a handful of TPF posters have never gone to my TPF profile to get my link to my pBase galleries--said link which has been on my TPF profile since the DAY I JOINED this forum. I have a wide variety of sports shots, portraits, pet pictures, baby pics, and family shots I've made during my "digital" era in my pBase galleries. My film archives I do not have on-line...only a veritable handful of my 1970's-2001 film-based images are on pBase.

I don't claim to be a great photographer...FAR,far,far from it. But I am better than many photographers, and I am far,far less-skilled than many photographers. My "schtick" is in helping other people learn about the CRAFT of photography...that's why I am here.

If I wanted to impress people with my photographic abilities, I tell you what..I would not have 3,500 pictures on my pBase site...I would have 50 images there. But that's not the case...

I'm glad he has that "schtick", cuz he helps me...

 

[oneoutoften]

Very nice. I really like the choice of colors you chose!

 

[AaronLLockhart]

Darrel, I know that we've shared our differences in the past. However, I do want you to know that I'm very grateful that you posted exactly what you used and how you used it in this entry. I'm new to portraits, and this will be a huge help to me.

Thanks again!

 

[Derrel]

Darrel, I know that we've shared our differences in the past. However, I do want you to know that I'm very grateful that you posted exactly what you used and how you used it in this entry. I'm new to portraits, and this will be a huge help to me.

Thanks again!

Hey sure thing Aaron...I didn't know we had had differences!!! I do know we disagree on Photoshop Elements versus Lightroom 4.1 for beginning portrait shooters without a lot of Photoshop experience, but that doesn't apply to you, since you have a lot of PS experience. Thanks for the kind words Aaron. If I AM EVER IN NASHVILLE, I will look you up, and allow you take me all around the city, show me a great time, and pay for all my food and drink and play tour guide for me! Deal????

 

[jake337]

Very nice, Derrel! Glad to see you posting some of your work!

Thanks Charlie. Recently, I've had a number of TPF posters implying, and/or outright stating that I don't know what I am talking about, or that I cannot shoot this or that type of subject matter, and so on. I have over 3,500 images made over a decade of my digital shooting on my pBase galleries, and have for over TEN years...and yet...a handful of TPF posters have never gone to my TPF profile to get my link to my pBase galleries--said link which has been on my TPF profile since the DAY I JOINED this forum. I have a wide variety of sports shots, portraits, pet pictures, baby pics, and family shots I've made during my "digital" era in my pBase galleries. My film archives I do not have on-line...only a veritable handful of my 1970's-2001 film-based images are on pBase.

I don't claim to be a great photographer...FAR,far,far from it. But I am better than many photographers, and I am far,far less-skilled than many photographers. My "schtick" is in helping other people learn about the CRAFT of photography...that's why I am here.

If I wanted to impress people with my photographic abilities, I tell you what..I would not have 3,500 pictures on my pBase site...I would have 50 images there. But that's not the case...

Looks pretty darned good to me. SOOC too. You may not be the best, but you are far from just average and you sure know what the F you are talking about!