Monthly Archives: November 2018

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AO2 Explore Ideas, AO3 Record Ideas, AO4 Present Ideas, Unit 2 Portrait

Studio Portraits

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My photography class went to the studio room to capture images of people under different lighting. We experimented with the different studio lights as well as the colour filters available. The studio had a key light which highlights the form and dimension of the subject, and a soft box light which diffuses the light into a pleasing soft, even light. When used properly, it reduces harsh shadows. The problems I faced were that some of my images were either over exposed, under exposed or completely blurry. I often had to change my camera settings to get high quality images. Although it was difficult to mange the exposure and focus on the subject I did manage to capture over 100 images. I have selected the best from the contact sheet and edited them on photoshop.

In this image you can see that I have applied the Chiaroscuro technique. Chiaroscuro is the use of strong of contrast between light and dark. It is a bold contrast affecting the entire composition. To create this affect I pulled out the black curtain to have a dark background. I told my subject to wear all black for the photo shoot so the results of the photographs would have her blended in with the black background. To create light areas in the image I used a soft box light and situated it to the right hand side so it emits a soft pleasing, even light onto one side of the subject’s face.

 

AO1 Develop Ideas, AO2 Explore Ideas, AO3 Record Ideas, AO4 Present Ideas, Unit 2 Portrait

Studio portraits – Studio light (Chiaroscuro lighting)

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Studio light

Studio lighting is artificial meaning that you can be very creative with portraiture. You can do things like changing the distance of the lights to create hard/soft lighting, Change the angle/direction of the lighting to create different effects, use directors/diffusers to manipulate the lighting and also make use of backdrops.

Chiaroscuro technique

This is a technique tat has been used in a lot of painting, most famously renaissance paintings. This technique is when there is a contrast between lighting on a subject. Usually, the  light will illuminate one side of the face leaving the other side darker.

Chiaroscuro mood board

Below are some examples of this technique used in paintings and in portraiture photography.

Images are not my own.

 

Contact sheets

Best outcomes

 

 

Analysing

 

Technical

The technical skills are what makes this image successful. To take this image I used Chiaroscuro lighting, so that half of the subject’s face was lit, and the other half was shadowed. In order to do this I placed a spot light with a cover over it in order to make the lighting softer, on the subject’s left side. I made sure that it was placed directly to the side of him so that when I stood in from on him with my camera, only half of his face would be shadowed in order to successfully use Chiaroscuro lighting.

My ISO was set to 400, as I noticed that anything under that made my image far too low key and underexposed. My shutter speed was set to 1/200, which through trial and error I realised was the best shutter speed because it wasn’t too slow that my images were blurry and over exposed, and it wasn’t too quick that my images turned out under exposed.

Visual

Visually I think this photo is very aesthetically pleasing. The subject is perfect framed in the centre, so that your eye is directly drawn to him. The powerful contrast between the lighting and the shadow also helps make the image successful as they are perfectly proportioned, as both the shadow and lighting each cover half of the face. The use of the black backdrop also makes the photo very pleasing to the eye as it doesn’t cause any distraction that would take the audience’s eye off the foreground. It makes the image successful as it blends in with the shadow on the half of the model’s face, creating an almost sort of illusion.

AO1 Develop Ideas, Unit 2 Portrait

Rankin

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John Rankin Waddell, also known under his working name Rankin, is a British portrait and fashion photographer and director. He is best known as the founder of Dazed and Confused magazine and for his photography of models including Kate Moss and Heidi Klum, and celebrities such as Madonna and David Bowie and his portrait of Elizabeth II. His work has appeared in magazines such as GQ, Vogue and Marie Claire. It was while doing an accountancy degree at Brighton Polytechnic that he picked up a camera and began to investigate and practise. When realising that this was what he really wanted to do, he abandoned the degree course and went back to A-levels to study photography. Taking a degree in photography at the London College of Printing, he met Jefferson Hack and together they founded Dazed & Confused, a ground breaking monthly style magazine which documented the Brit Pop and Britart movements of the time. Rankin describes his style as having no style. He doesn’t use a specific type of lighting and doesn’t use the same way of shooting all the time. When he is photographing a subject, whether they are models, celebrities or regular people he always talks constantly to the person in front of the lens. He does this to get a reaction so he can capture something about their personality; every person will have a different reaction. Rankin says portraiture for him is all about making a connection with his subjects.

AO2 Explore Ideas, AO4 Present Ideas, Unit 2 Portrait

Portraits using Studio Lighting

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For my experimentation into using lighting in a studio setting, I decided to also incorporate a number of camera skills into my experimentation as well, to produce the best products possible.

The lighting in the studio consisted of a key light, and a soft box light. the key light was used to illuminate the face of the subject, and to alter the overall lighting of the image, whereas the soft box light was used to manipulate shadows, softening them where necessary to alter the appearance of the image.

The following images are of contact sheets I have created including all of my studio portraits:

Key: Red F = out of focus, Red C.A = wrong camera angle, Green L = slightly off lighting , Green F = slight focus issue, Red O.E = over exposed, Red Cross = rejected, Green Box = finals for editing

The final images before the editing process can be found below:

After deciding on which images should be processed to the editing stage, I used Photo-shop to manipulate the colors and tones of the images to make them as eye-catching and effective as possible.

The aftermath of editing can be seen below:

The above 2 images are photographs are examples of me attempting to create a chiaroscuro effect, where 1/2 of the face of the subject is illuminated using studio light, and the other portion is shadowed, to create a contrast between the 2 portions of the same subject. This is very effective when trying to draw attention to the depths of the subject, and it helps to bring the image to life, giving it more of a 3D effect.

Some of the images were over saturated due to the lighting in the studio and the original position of the camera, and so I attempted to edit some of the images to reduce the saturation, and make the coloring of the images more natural. This kind of editing occurred in the above 2 images.

For some of my photographs, I experimented with using different filters in front of the lighting, to create different effects of the image. Colored filter paper was used to manipulate the overall color of the photograph, but for the above photograph, a piece of paper covered in holes was held in front of the key light. I think this created an interesting shadow effect, and helps to draw more attention to the photograph, and gives the viewer more to look at.

The above 2 examples are example of props being used in studio photography. Props are often easier to use and manipulate in a controlled environment like a studio, rather than in a natural setting.  The props in the above image can be used to create a contrast to the colors of the subject, thus breaking up the color of the image and creating more areas for the subject to have their attention drawn to, and can in certain circumstances be useful in conveying meaning and reason in an image.

Overall, I believe that experiencing the different kind of lighting that can be used in a studio setting has allowed me to understand how much having control over the lighting of an image can effect the final outcome of the photograph. Natural lighting is useful to create a natural effect in an image, however for situations where natural lighting is not possible, or when a particular angle or intensity of lighting is required, using studio lighting can be very useful.

AO1 Develop Ideas, Unit 2 Portrait

Studio Lighting

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Why do we use studio lighting?

Studio lighting offers the photographer control over the final image. Studios are simple rooms with no windows so there’s no sunlight involved. The walls are black or white so there’s no colour introduced. There’s a simple backdrop using a roll of white or black material.  There’s also lots of space for the model and equipment to move around.

What is the difference between 1-2-3 point lighting and what does each technique provide?

One of the oldest lighting technique is called three point lighting. It is vastly used in studio photography. It is also a good basis for any portrait photograph. In this technique you use three lights:

  • The first light is key light. This is usually the strongest light and this light sets the lighting of the scene.
  • The second light is called a fill light, this light helps fill the shadows that the main light casts.
  • The last light is called a backlight and it provides definition and subtle highlights around the subject’s outlines. This helps separate the subject from the background and provides a three dimensional look.

What is fill lighting?

Fill light is a form of additional light mainly used to lighten up shadows in an image. It is often used in portrait photography to create contrast between the subject and the background giving the scene a sense of depth. In this situation the use of fill lighting reduces the overall dynamic range of the scene allowing for easier selection of exposure settings required to capture an image. When fill light is correctly applied it does not impact the main light source of an image.

What is spill lighting?

Spill light is the light that illuminates the surfaces beyond the area intended to be illuminated. 

What is Chiarascuro ? 

It is a photography technique and can be referred to as extreme low key. It means strong and bold contrast between light and dark areas in photography. It is well suited for portraits and giving the illusion of being three dimensional. It adds depth and a more mysterious atmosphere as it creates contrast between highlights and shadows in a photo.

example of chiaroscuro by Ryan Berry
AO1 Develop Ideas, AO2 Explore Ideas, AO3 Record Ideas, AO4 Present Ideas, Uncategorized, Unit 2 Portrait

Studio Photography Lighting (Singular)

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STUDIO PHOTOGRAPHY ONE POINT LIGHTING

This post is focussed on our studio lighting photoshoot using a single light to capture images.

Single point lighting or “one point lighting”, is the technique of carrying out a photoshoot within a studio with only a single source of light, for example large lamps, spotlights or torches.

It enables reflective lighting techniques, and it sometimes, can be used to focus a viewers attention to a particular aspect of a photograph or subject in the photograph, or it can be used to create shadows when used correctly that add additional depth of field and conceptual features to an image.

Contact sheet of images:

 

From this contact sheet I picked out my favourite two images from the shoot and edited them in Adobe Photoshop.

My final edited images from the single point lighting shoot:

I chose to edit both of these images because of the sharpness, diversity in model actions, contrast differences, brightness differences and the similarity in the position of the single light and the shadows on the models’ face.

The camera was using a high ISO of around 800 and an above average aperture on the first photo, and using a lower ISO of around 600 and a smaller aperture on the second.

The shutter speed for the first photo was slightly faster than the second creating the darkened effect with only the single light from the side creating the shiny parts that give the image its ‘definition’.

The depth of field in both images is shown through the shadows created by the side-lighting however, this only shows depth of field on the model themselves.

Alex looking “into the light”

“Seriously Serious”

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Studio Photography

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Now we have moved into portraiture in photography we have started to use the studio, this is brilliant and fun in the moment on creating better portrait  photos, this is because we can take photos in an controlled environment with no factors of extraneous variables.

In the studio we are able to dim and brighten lights, have lights shining in specific areas to light up part of a face, or we can use a color filter to give the photo a different feeling, like a warm or cold feeling, by using a warm or cold color to affect the light.

In my very first studio photo shoot I asked the person visible to act in whatever manor she liked, this way the movements and facial features would seem more natural and relaxed. I like this way as it doesn’t make the photo seemed forced in anyway, but also this way I can capture the real facial features and emotions of a relaxed person.

In the contact sheet you will notice I have used the same key as I always do.

One thing which is visible is that I have loads of photos which I am unhappy with, this is due to the fact that it was my first time using the studio therefore I was getting used to the different settings with ISO and aperture to make it really work with my models face.

Most of the crossed out pictures are because I had made the photos either under or over exposed making it too light or too dark, others which may seemed great did work with the light, but I had realized that my models face looked bored or just uninterested, but there are others where my model is showing emotions such as laughing which really helps me capture the human persona and features.

AO2 Explore Ideas, AO3 Record Ideas, AO4 Present Ideas, Unit 2 Portrait

Studio Lighting – Post 1 (Rankin)

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Rankin:

John Rankin Waddell (born 1966), also known under his working name Rankin, is a British portrait and fashion photographer and director.

Best known as the founder of Dazed and Confused magazine (along with Jefferson Hack), and for his photography of models including Kate Moss and Heidi Klum, celebrities such as Madonna and David Bowie and his portrait of Elizabeth II. His work has appeared in magazines such as GQ, Vogue and Marie Claire. In 2011 Rankin started the biannual fashion, culture and lifestyle magazine, Hunger and launched Rankin Film to produce and direct his own commercial and editorial film work.

Mood Board: