Single Light Portrait

[photophorous]

This is my first real attempt at portraiture. I got an SB-600, a light stand, and a "soft silver" umbrella for Christmas. That's all I used here. Well, that and my D70s. I know it's not particularly artistic or original, so I'm really just looking for technical tips on posing, lighting, etc...

Thanks,
Paul

[mtbbrian]

It's a fine portrait Paul.
The lighting is pretty even and everything seems to be in focus.
If anything, you might want to fill in that right side a little.
Brian

[photophorous]

Thanks for commenting, Brian. I intentionally made this with out using my reflector, because I want to make sure I'm getting the main light right before I add anything to confuse myself.

I'm not completely happy with the sharpness. It's not exactly blurry, but I think it could be better.

And, I'm not sure about the height of the light. I think maybe it should have been lower.

Paul

[Alison]

Is this an SP?
The position of the main light looks good to me.
Your focus looks perfect and I see good use of the rule of thirds. Although, the eyes are a tad higher than I would like them to be on my portraits.
Superb work IMO.

[gahspidy]

I think you did well. I agree with Brian about filling in the right side with a little more light. The exposure is good and the sharpness appears to be acceptable although not tack sharp.

[photophorous]

Hi Alison,

Thanks for commenting. I was hoping you would see this. I always like your portraits.

SP? Is that self-portrait? If so, then yes. That's me. Busted. I haven't been successful in talking anyone else into being one of my victims yet. Being in front of the lens made it difficult to frame and focus precisely, but I'll keep the height of the eyes in mind in the future.

Paul

[photophorous]

I think you did well. I agree with Brian about filling in the right side with a little more light. The exposure is good and the sharpness appears to be acceptable although not tack sharp.

Thanks for the comment, Gary. I agree about the fill and the sharpness. I'll work on fill later, but the sharpness has me stumped. I shot this at f8, so I wouldn't have thought my focus needed to be exact.

Paul

[gahspidy]

Thanks for the comment, Gary. I agree about the fill and the sharpness. I'll work on fill later, but the sharpness has me stumped. I shot this at f8, so I wouldn't have thought my focus needed to be exact.

Paul

your focus would still have to be right on the eyes, even at f8. What was your shutter speed? Did you use a tripod? Focal length? These would all be helpful in understanding why it was not as sharp as you liked.

[photophorous]

your focus would still have to be right on the eyes, even at f8. What was your shutter speed? Did you use a tripod? Focal length? These would all be helpful in understanding why it was not as sharp as you liked.

Shutter was 1/500. I used a good sturdy tripod and a wireless remote to trigger the shutter. Focal length was 70mm on my Nikon 18-70 kit lens. Since this is a self portrait, I wasn't able to be very precise with the focus. I figured f8 would provide enough DOF that a few inches either way wouldn't matter, but that must be the problem.

Thanks!

Paul

[gahspidy]

Ok, I'm sorry i did not read your comment to Alison, then I would have understood this was a self portrait. Well, that would make focusing difficult then. Using auto focus in this set up might be the best approach.

[Alison]

SP's are the hardest thing to do!!! You did a GREAT job and it's nice to finally put a face to your name.

I wasn't going to mention the fill because you had already said the point of this exercise was the position of your light :thumbsup:

Let's see it in B&W. It would probably work much better with one light.

Thank you for the compliments about my portraits Paul.

[photophorous]

Ok, I'm sorry i did not read your comment to Alison, then I would have understood this was a self portrait. Well, that would make focusing difficult then. Using auto focus in this set up might be the best approach.

No, thank you for helping clear that up. I was using AF, but I had it on center point focus, and considering the composition, I had to lean down to get it to focus on my face, then sit back up before my 2 seconds was up. I'm sure that threw things off by a few inches. I didn't think that would matter, but apparently it does.

Hopefully, I'll get to try this from behind the camera soon and we'll see if it's sharper.

Paul

[photophorous]

SP's are the hardest thing to do!!! You did a GREAT job and it's nice to finally put a face to your name.

I wasn't going to mention the fill because you had already said the point of this exercise was the position of your light :thumbsup:

Let's see it in B&W. It would probably work much better with one light.

Thank you for the compliments about my portraits Paul.

Thanks, Alison. I'll see if I can post a B&W from home tonight. I'm at "work" right now. Shhhhh... :wink5:

Paul

[Alison]

It's ok Paul, I'm not trying to hijack your thread. I just wanted to share this with you.

I like to use one light most of the time in my portraits too.
Mainly because I am using a window.
My reason for this is because my lights get far too hot which is just too dangerous with my two babies running around.
So, for me, window light or bounced flash is my safest option.

Here's one I took back in May. Window light only, no reflector.

[photophorous]

Hi Alison,

That's a very nice portrait. I think I remember seeing that one before. The light looks much softer than mine. And the shadow from her nose doesn't cross over her lip like it does in mine. I'm not sure if that's a question of style or if that's considered an error, but it's bugging me. I'm eager to see how the reflector helps that next time.

I worked on a B&W conversion of this shot, but I couldn't get it the way I wanted it. The bright side of the face was just washed out and I couldn't get the contrast to look good overall...I guess that's a good reason to post it, so I can get help...hmmm.

Thanks for your help.

Paul

[shutterman]

not too bad at all for a SP with a SB-600.

You can soften the light by moving the light setup closer. Almost right on top of you is ok.

check out this article - near the end he talks about his lighting
http://www.digitalphotopro.com/artic...sthething4.php

I like the one light approach, it adds a lot of dimension.

thanks,
wes

[MJS]

I think that you did pretty good for wireless and a single light on the SP. You might want to raise the light just a bit. I usually place my key at about 1-2 feet above the subject. Did you use the commander mode and trigger the strobe, or just a PC cable? I keep a reflector, boom stand and holder, regular stand and a small umbrella in my truck for just such a shot, a quick business portrait, etc. If I don't have time for the stands, anyone standing around will do. When shooting someone else, use one of the side focus selectors and stick it right on the bridge of the nose between the eyes to set your shot, it usually works well for me.

[Alison]

Hi Alison,

That's a very nice portrait. I think I remember seeing that one before. The light looks much softer than mine. And the shadow from her nose doesn't cross over her lip like it does in mine. I'm not sure if that's a question of style or if that's considered an error, but it's bugging me. I'm eager to see how the reflector helps that next time.



Thanks for your help.

Paul

Please remember Paul. Yours is an SP.
I could see where the shadows were falling and told my daughter to move her head a little here or a little there.

Have a mirror behind your camera next time so you can see yourself. See where your shadows are falling and adjust your position according to taste.
It's also a good way of seeing whether the look on your face is one that you are trying to acheive.

I even did that for my daughters driving license photograph the other day. Held a mirror in front of her so that she could decide whether her hair and smile were how she wanted them.

It's not you being vain. It's just you wanting the best pic of yourself.
I think you did a GREAT job of your SP considering you couldn't see yourself.
Superb work.

[photophorous]

Thanks for all the comments!

Wes,

Thanks for the link. I'm at work now, so I'll have to wait until later to read that article, but I'm looking forward to it. I'll try moving the light closer next time. I want to try a shoot through umbrella too, so I can get even closer.

Michael,

I did use commander mode for this, but I'm thinking I might need to try a cable. Last night I got to practice on my father, and the pre-flashes kept making him blink. I have a reflector too, but I wasn't using it for this shot. I may need to get a stand for it. The height of the light is one of many things I need to experiment with. I was thinking it needed to go lower to get that shadow off my lips, but I'll try raising it too.

Alison,

The mirror is a good idea. For this shot, I just kept getting up to look at it on the LCD and then making adjustments. It was a slow process, considering I took about 40 shots. The vanity issue doesn't concern me. I need a good picture of myself, so I can convince my friends to sit for me. This one was good enough to get my father to sit for me last night.

Thanks, everyone. I appreciate the help. Hopefully, I'll be posting more portraits over the next few weeks.

Paul

[MJS]

In helping figure the distance for the umbrella from the subject, I just read an article that brought up the alleged optimum working distance for umbrellas and softboxes. They said take the distance across the widest point of the face of the box/brella, add in the distance from the flash to the front of the box/brella (the depth) and then divide by 2. You should then place them umbrella/box that far away.

Example 48 inch octobox +18 inch depth equals 66, divided by 2 gives you a 33 inch working distance. I'll give it a try this weekend and see what I get.

[Ronnoco]

Good start! Your next challenge is to add a fill light to the right and a hair light at the back. After that you need to deal with his five oclock shadow, neck and other minor skin problems. A window and a reflector can help with that.

Ronnoco

[livin4lax09]

tips for lighting would just be the hair light. It really helps to set you apart from your bg. But with one light, you did exceptionally well. it's fun playing with those new umbrellas and stuff, eh?

also, for additional lights...mirrors. with two mirrors, you can turn a one light set-up into three lights.

[Alison]

This one was good enough to get my father to sit for me last night.

Paul

Cool!!! Do we get the honour of seeing this pic of your Dad? :thumbsup: