Portraiture – Location & studio
Self-portrait
Single portrait - broad lighting
Single portrait - short lighting
Group portrait - studio
Comments
I composed my self-portrait in my garden at home. In choosing a backdrop, I had to overcome high contrast of sunlight and shade. I tried various techniques, including fill flash. However, with my final selection, I opted to use backlighting with the afternoon sun filtered through a shadecloth screen and grape vine. I added dramatic effect by working with layers in Photoshop.
For the single portraits, I chose Short lighting and Broad lighting for my shots. In each, I placed the camera so that the subject was looking slightly away. The lighting kit had a cloth cover to give a more diffused effect. This kit was the only source of light in the studio. We placed the light stand to one side and angled a little forward of the subject.
For the broad shot, I positioned the camera on the same side of the subject as the light.
For the short shot, I used the reverse setup so that the camera was now on the opposite side of the subject to the light.
True to the intention of each shot, having the camera on the same side of the subject as the light source gave a spread of light across the near side and front of the subject’s face – thus making it appear a little broader. By moving the camera to the opposite side, the side of the face nearest the camera was now largely shaded. This shadow effect gave the appearance of narrowing the face.
For the group portrait, the three models were dressed in red, black and grey – creating a pop group-ish pose. For a single portrait, I probably would have used the Hollywood lighting set up (in front of and slightly above the subject). However, I thought the symmetry would be lost in shooting three subjects together. Instead, I chose to take the shot at an angle in order to add some interesting contrasts of light and shadow to the faces. The subjects’ eyes and line of sight also add to the impact of this composition.
Self-portrait
Single portrait - broad lighting
Single portrait - short lighting
Group portrait - studio
Comments
I composed my self-portrait in my garden at home. In choosing a backdrop, I had to overcome high contrast of sunlight and shade. I tried various techniques, including fill flash. However, with my final selection, I opted to use backlighting with the afternoon sun filtered through a shadecloth screen and grape vine. I added dramatic effect by working with layers in Photoshop.
For the single portraits, I chose Short lighting and Broad lighting for my shots. In each, I placed the camera so that the subject was looking slightly away. The lighting kit had a cloth cover to give a more diffused effect. This kit was the only source of light in the studio. We placed the light stand to one side and angled a little forward of the subject.
For the broad shot, I positioned the camera on the same side of the subject as the light.
For the short shot, I used the reverse setup so that the camera was now on the opposite side of the subject to the light.
True to the intention of each shot, having the camera on the same side of the subject as the light source gave a spread of light across the near side and front of the subject’s face – thus making it appear a little broader. By moving the camera to the opposite side, the side of the face nearest the camera was now largely shaded. This shadow effect gave the appearance of narrowing the face.
For the group portrait, the three models were dressed in red, black and grey – creating a pop group-ish pose. For a single portrait, I probably would have used the Hollywood lighting set up (in front of and slightly above the subject). However, I thought the symmetry would be lost in shooting three subjects together. Instead, I chose to take the shot at an angle in order to add some interesting contrasts of light and shadow to the faces. The subjects’ eyes and line of sight also add to the impact of this composition.
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