Project365 - Two Strobe Portraits

Introduction

In my last installment, I refined my technique for creating a deep black background. In this shoot, I applied that technique, along with two flashes to create more interesting portraits.

 

The Setup

My thought was to set up for a black background, and then light the model from above and to her right. Then, I wanted to place another strobe below and behind her. I was hoping to create a sort of light halo effect. Unfortunately, I didn't get the halo as her hair was as dark as the background. Worse, I had remarkably dark shadows across her face.

I shot the Canon 60D handheld. In the hotshoe was one of the Cactus v5s. I was set for a black background - f/250, ISO 100 and an aperture of 16. One Canon 430EX II was mounted on a Cactus v5 atop a tripod to the kodel's right, while the other was mounted on the trigger and placed on the floor.

The Photos

I am still learning about portraiture. It's not really something I'm very good at, so I was fortunate that my daughter agreed to be my model. It is easy to have a good rapport...

In this first photo, the main light was too powerful. While I had a nice dark background, you couldn't really see any definition between the background and the kodel's hair. And the pose is funny - unnatural, even. It looks like her eyes are pointed in two different directions !

Here, the main light is better, but the secondary is still underpowered. There are very harsh shadows on the models face. Given how pale her skin is, I would've liked to have made her skin tones warmer with a bit of makeup.

 

This one is better. We see a nice cross-lit effect, haloing her cheek and chin. And there is even a hint of catch-lights in her eyes ! But her dark hair is lost in the black background, still.

This is a little bit tighter a shot. I like the effect of the cross-lighting, and the black background.

Lessons Learned

I still need to figure out how to create the halo effect around the model's hair. I suspect my life would be easier shooting at night, when the room is darker to begin with. I'd also like to try to use a reflector to cross-light the face, which would free up the flash for the halo effect !

 

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Project365 - Black Backdrop

Introduction

Today I learned much more about a technique I had attempted once before. Now that I better understood how it worked, I believe I am better able to put it to good use. You see, one of the things that most studio photographers invest in is backdrops. Often large rolls of seamless white or black paper, they allow the subject to be the true focus of the photograph. Who knew I was carrying a black backdrop around in my camera ?!?

It's truly a simple effect involving the use of flash (or sometimes called strobe) photography. Cameras have a maximum speed with which they can sync with the flash to achieve a nicely lit picture, it's usually around 1/250th of a second. Keeping that portion of the exposure triangle still, we next dial down the ISO (the sensitivity of the CCD) to 100. The only thing left that is adjustable is the aperture. All we do is close that down until a picture taken in the ambient light is completely black. Now, anything lit up by the flash will be nicely lit, while the background remains black.

The Setup

Nothing really complicated the Canon 60D, set at f/16, ISO 100, and a shutter speed of 1/250th of a second. The Cactus v5 was mounted in the hotshoe, so I could use the Canon 430EX II off-camera. I placed it on a basic tripod with the other Cactus v5, so I could move the light & the camera around freely.

The Photos

Believe it or not, this is a photo of Pat's flowers on the dining room table. I was setting the ISO, Aperture and shutter speed to get a black background. Got it !

 

Whoops ! The flash was spilling onto the background too much, so I elected to put a snoot on the flash, to more tightly focus the beam.

That's better ! Although you will notice the pen & paper on the tabletop still show up faintly. Now to play around a bit... ;-)

The first few pictures weren't as bright as I would have liked, so they came out a little dull. Time to up the power of the flash a notch, and move the light stand a little closer !

Much better ! I like the contrast created by the various petals on the flowers.

I think this is one of my favorite photographs of the shoot...

Lessons Learned

I thought I really understood this technique, but now with a little better tutorial, I think I know how to nail it whenever I need it. Certainly, implementing the snoot helped narrow the beam, and moving the light stand over to one side helped with not lighting the background. I really like this technique & see myself using it for portrait work.

 

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Project365 - Studio Shoot

Introduction

I have been doing a lot more reading about how to set up a basic photography studio. It usually involves having multiple strobes, umbrellas or big soft-boxes, as well as a host of other tools. Being on a budget, I don't have a lot of those things. So I improvised !

The Setup
My Dad had an old Kodak Brownie Junior camera amongst his keepsakes. I thought it might make an interesting shoot - taking photographs of an antique camera ! Lacking a lightbox (although I have seen a YouTube video on how to make one inexpensively), I decided that a couple of flashes and some white paper carefully arranged on the dining room table might do the trick !
I mounted the Canon 24-105mm f/4 L lens onto my Canon 60D. I also used the Cactus v5 to trigger the flashes. One flash, at 1/4 power, was fitted with my inflatable diffuser & mounted on a small tripod. The other flash at 1/2 power was set to nuke the ceiling with bright light !
The Photos
I took quite a few photos, and the shoot lasted about 45 minutes as I played with my settings to get the sort of shots I wanted. Here are three of the best.

As you can see, the Brownie is a very simple camera, with a fixed lens. There's no focus or aperture settings here !

Note the Kodak name on the hand-strap ! At the bottom of the photograph, you can make out the winding mechanism for the film.

An interior shot highlights the lack of vanes on the shutter. It is a simple procedure to slide the shutter open & then closed. Really, there's not much to this beauty !























Lessons Learned
I enjoyed this shoot. I was faced with a number of challenges, including not being able to properly diffuse the light. But by bouncing one flash off the ceiling & using a diffuser on the other, I was able to properly light the subject without creating any harsh shadows. In a future entry, I want to build the lightbox I saw in the video, and see how well it works (or doesn't) .

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