Portrait photography advice?

[weepete]

You get what you pay for.
The friend is looking for free shots, he should also expect equivalent quality.

Not everything in this world is about getting paid neighbour.

 

[weepete]

Thanks for the help guys, I think i've found my lighting setup with a photo-R double diffused octobox as the main light, positioned front, 45° and 45° up about 1-2 feet away with a 1/4 cut CTO gel, slave flash side 1.5 stops below and bounced off a rogue flashbender for a little extra diffusion but back far enough to avoid a double catchlight in one eye acting as a shadow lift and half hair light a reflector underneath to lift the chin shadow slightly seems to me the best with some self experimentation. still quite a bit of spill but I think that's due to close walls reflecting light.

Might still change once I order a background support and some backdrops. Plus it looks like my wee sis is also wanting a couple of headshots done too now so at least it will be two birds with one stone.

One thing I have learned already is I am so not a people/portrait photographer!

 

[Frankinfuji]

Great advice in this thread. Just one extra thought on the background. I review professional cv's in my job, and the traditional Rembrant lit portrait with printed backdrop is common and so will not help him stand out.

What I really like to see is a well lit photo in an appropriate setting. For example if your friend is an engineer, then an out of focus, but still recognizable workshop in the background would be good. Or if he's in retail, set up the shoot in a shop. Even an office in the background is better, in my view, than a backdrop, which suggests 'posed' and even 'false' to some.

Place your subject close to the lighting set up and the camera (depending on your lens), have the background scene far back, and use a wide aperture to throw the background out of focus.

In other words, do the opposite of what you do for landscape!

Focus on his nearest eye, and help him to feel relaxed so you get a natural expression.

Good luck and have fun - you may really enjoy it and shift to portrait photography.

 

[Derrel]

Maybe consider moving the main light a bit farther away from the subject. Perhaps experiment a bit, and see what having the main light at 4 feet does as opposed to right on top of him. When a light is VERY close to a subject, it's so-called soft light, but it also has a very rapid rate of fall-off in its intensity over even a few in ches of distance; that can work for you, or against you. As you move the light fartyher away from the subject, the rate of fall-off in intensity slows, and the liught becomes more "steady".

Of course, keep in mind that lighting stuff is very much an in-the-moment, and on-the-spot kind of thing; rooms, floors,ceilings,walls,size and kinds and brand of the specific modifiers, types of lights, all sorts of things add up to making the light and how it plays across the subject,and there's NOBODY better than making the on-the-scene decision than the guy who's doing the photography! And that guy is you!

 

[tirediron]

Karsh used umbrellas... need one say more?

That`s cuz Karsh did not have access to the Mola catalogue
MOLA Mantti 43.5″- 110cm White Interior - MOLA Softlights

I suspect even if he had, he would have looked at the prices, muttered something about one being born every minute and gone back to adjusting his umbrella!

 

[weepete]

Here's the result of my lighting experiments. Please ignore my own ugly mug in the shot and the background, which is just my curtains. but it should let you see the lighting at least

Selfie by wee_pete, on Flickr

 

[fmw]

My advice is always the same. Posed studio shots are, frankly, boring. Photograph your friend doing what he does. The best portraits don't look like portraits.

 

[tirediron]

Here's the result of my lighting experiments. Please ignore my own ugly mug in the shot and the background, which is just my curtains. but it should let you see the lighting at least

We never criticize the models! The photographers on the other hand.... Not bad at all; a nice basic, but effective set-up; my preference is generally for broad lighting (have the key light illuminating the same side of the face as you're photographing) vice short, for men, assuming your mate is of average build, but this works just fine. My only real concern is that if he has darker hair like yours the detail will be lost in the shadow. Moving the key light so that it illuminates the hair a little more and bringing in a reflector til fill chin/neck might work if you don't have another light to dedicate as a hairlight.

 

[tirediron]

My advice is always the same. Posed studio shots are, frankly, boring. Photograph your friend doing what he does. The best portraits don't look like portraits.

Just as a point of order, that is opinion, NOT advice.

 

[pixmedic]

This is a nice umbrella box, $29.95 US for the pair. Steve Kaeser Enterprises also has an Amazon storefront. I have used a pair of these and similar Lastolite Umbrella Box units since 2007. I prefer these to the more-costly Lastolite Umbrella Box model, which is heavier, and uses a three-ziper closure as opposed to the drawstring closure these use.

Pretty hard to beat a pair of 42-inch umbrella boxes for under $30.

Softbox Umbrella Reflective 42inch

This type of modifier, a reflecting umbrella with a diffusing face on it gives what I call double diffusion; first the light hits the inner bowl and is scrambled a bit, and then that light goes through a close-in diffusing panel, softening the light additionally. This creates a softer light than either a shoot-through or a plain reflecting umbrella. One gets much of the benefit from a softbox, but without the need for a mounting ring, and with almost instant set-up, plus easy teardown and transport.

As far as umbrellas go, there are so many different sizes and types. Inner linings on reflecting umbrellas do change the light quality quite a bit: soft-silvery white-colored fabric is the norm, but there is also metalized silver, gold-and-silver or zebra, gold metalized, and also one of my favorites, the hard to find dull,matte white vinyl interior. You might find that silver-lined umbrellas make the rounded planes of the face light up a bit, which may be considered too specular in color images, but which adds a sense of dimension in B&W conversions. Also, smaller reflecting umbrellas give more contrast to the light than do big umbrellas, and that too can look good in B&W conversions. Thirty and 32-inch umbrellas have more usefulness than many people give them credit for these days, and work great with speedlights and quick setups. I like 32-inch umbrellas, and I like 40- to 43-incher's as well.

i have a pair of these in 42" and love them.
I also have a pair of 40 inch shoot through softbox umbrellas, but i prefer the reflected ones.
both are the same drawstring style. they are super fast to mount and unmount and will fit over whatever flash/trigger i am using.
I have a pair of 36" shoot through umbrellas that haven't been used in forever, and at one point i had a pair of small reflective umbrellas but i cant seem to find them now.

you can get these pretty cheap on ebay.
thats where all mine came from, and the made in china ones are built fairly decent...not much to go wrong really.

 

[pixmedic]

My advice is always the same. Posed studio shots are, frankly, boring. Photograph your friend doing what he does. The best portraits don't look like portraits.

yup. so boring. guess i should have just gotten a few snaps of him running around the yard, or in front of the fence.

DSC_1247 by pixmedic, on Flickr

its ok. I get that different people have different tastes, but it just seems counter productive to comment on a thread specifically asking about posed studio shots and tell the OP
not to do them. Its kinda like going on a thread asking about film developing and telling the OP to just shoot digital. The best portraits are ones that embrace what the client wants.

Dad specifically asked for studio shots, and this shot in particular was all his idea. Considering he paid $400 for the family set, I figured it was probably best to give him what he wanted.

 

[Frankinfuji]

.... Well it could be a 'portable studio' shoot?

I'm guessing that the lighting and backdrop will be set up at home. We're just suggesting it could br set up at work.

I like the trial shot from the OP. Nicely lit.

 

[chuasam]

Karsh used umbrellas... need one say more?

That`s cuz Karsh did not have access to the Mola catalogue
MOLA Mantti 43.5″- 110cm White Interior - MOLA Softlights

I suspect even if he had, he would have looked at the prices, muttered something about one being born every minute and gone back to adjusting his umbrella!

I thought that...till a friend rented one...and I thought: do I really need both kidneys?

 

[chuasam]

My advice is always the same. Posed studio shots are, frankly, boring. Photograph your friend doing what he does. The best portraits don't look like portraits.

yup. so boring. guess i should have just gotten a few snaps of him running around the yard, or in front of the fence.

DSC_1247 by pixmedic, on Flickr

its ok. I get that different people have different tastes, but it just seems counter productive to comment on a thread specifically asking about posed studio shots and tell the OP
not to do them. Its kinda like going on a thread asking about film developing and telling the OP to just shoot digital. The best portraits are ones that embrace what the client wants.

Dad specifically asked for studio shots, and this shot in particular was all his idea. Considering he paid $400 for the family set, I figured it was probably best to give him what he wanted.

Short lighting would have worked better for this where he is looking right into the key light.

 

[table1349]

Here's the result of my lighting experiments. Please ignore my own ugly mug in the shot and the background, which is just my curtains. but it should let you see the lighting at least

Selfie by wee_pete, on Flickr

A touch too much shadow for the pose. MOO (my opinion only) But a nice start.