I wanted to get some images of this friend before she headed off to college and the rest of her life. I had taken grab shots of her as she was growing up, but had never taken the time to have a dedicated session. Interestingly, being a bit of a rebel, she has since changed her hair color. Does that mean another session? Ü
Tech Info:
Handheld Nikon D200, 85mm f1.4 lens, set to f2.0, at 1/400th sec., ISO 800, B/W mode, normal parameters. For this series of images, I positioned her in front of a large sliding glass door that had indirect daylight coming in. I had to watch out for the light coming too much from below (from a bright patio floor outdoors), so in most of the shots I had her leaning forward to lessen the upward angle of the light, in turn avoiding upward shadows. A large piece of foamboard was waved just in front of her to get the little blast of wind that sent her hair flying. Ü
–Eddie.
Ya know….I’m feeling like a bit of an idiot right now because I’m always worrying about where I’m going to plug in my fan for shots like this……never thought of the easy way to do it! LOL Did you set up a backdrop stand on location? Great shot.
Fabulous shot! Love the textures. Also really like the effect of the lighting…the low angle, but not TOO low, contributes to the glow she has. The expression adds a lot as well, and makes sense with the story you’ve shared behind the image.
TFS!
Eddie, Well done. I like it very much. Good lighting and composition and skin tone. Her casually posed arms and hands contrasts with her serious facial expression. The flying hair and the lighting on hair added more dramatic effect to the picture.
Hi Natalie. Regarding the fan issue, it’s amazing how much you can move the hair on a subject simply by waving a 20×30 inches board from low to high just in front of the face. Really don’t need a motorized fan. Yes, I set up a portable background stand, with my old “gothic gray” drop.
Hi MP. I think you’re right, the low light source does tend to give a glow. And if the situation is loose, slightly candid, then often times smiles have to be kept to a minimum, otherwise too many frames will be lost to unattractive facial shadows due to the folds created during smiling.
Thank you, Jeffrey. It’s always great to hear your thoughts on my images. I appreciate it.
Ü
–Eddie.
LOVE IT! I was so excited to see a new picture. I thought it was done by a fan too. I am going to try this for sure.
Love this one. It’s great to know how you put this together using natural light and manual fanning!
Thank you, Glenda. Yes, give it a try… just one slow pass of the large board in front of the face seems to give enough breeze to do the trick.
Thanks, Alison. Natural and manual… perfect complement to digital, right? Ü
–Eddie.
Eddie…Awesome photo. You really nailed the spirit of a bird flying from the nest!
I like the way you’re thinking, Lindy. Ü
–Eddie.
Eddie, this looks gorgeous!!!! thanks for the tech info…I accidentally got a shot like this bec. I let the child stand by the window and the vent was at the bottom thus giving in that wind feeling!!!! thanks so much for sharing, I think the foam board is a better idea bec. you will also have a nice reflector…I love everything about it…
Thanks, Tiffany. It’s good to remember the details of those happy accidents because they can inspire new or previously untried lighting scenarios. I appreciate your feedback.
Ü
–Eddie.
“I had her leaning forward to lessen the upward angle of the light, in turn avoiding upward shadows”
Thanks for that bit of posing advice … I took a lighting class and the instructor pointed out the “monster” lighting that can happen with the low light … It’s nice to know that a little positioning can lessen the monster look
Kasandra
That’s exactly right, Kasandra. It’s a helpful thing to make a permanent mental note of, especially for situations out on location when we run into beautiful serendipitous lighting but still need to be aware of the undesirable lighting effects.
–Eddie.
Hi Eddie, that’s a great and economical way using the board as a fan. Never thought of that. You’re a McGyver!
BTW, I’m not to sure I understand why leaning forward would lessen the upward angle of light. Wouldn’t it actually made it worse since her face would be much closer to the light? Or is this like the studio lighting principle, the closer the light to subject the broader the light; the further the light the more it becomes a point light and thus harsher shadow?
Thanks,
Leo Dj
Thanks for the McGyver reference, Leo! haha.
Because she leaned over, tipped her upper body forward, this caused the light to strike her face less from below, and more straight on. In other words, her face turned more perpendicular to the path of the light. So the “bottom-lighting” effect was minimized.
Closeness to the light source isn’t in this case what I was referring to, but yes, what you say is exactly true about shadows and relative size of the light source.
Thanks for commenting, Leo.
Ü
–Eddie.