For this blog post, I photographed some models in the studio again. This time instead of focusing on the chiaroscuro technique I wanted to experiment more creatively with the lighting. I used different backdrops, reflectors and experimented with different techniques like fanning the model in order to get their hair to below back.
My aim for this photoshoot was to get some more creative and artistic pictures.
Below is a mood board of some creative portraits that inspired my photo shoot:
Mood board
not my images.
Contact sheets
Best outcomes
Analysing
Technical
For this image my camera shutter speed was 1/160 seconds, and the ISO was set on 400. These two camera settings helped me to get the image perfectly exposed. In this image, I used one spot light which was placed on the right side of the model. I then asked her to slightly turn her face towards the light in order to get the shadowed side of her face in the picture.
Visual
I think this image is very successful. The model is centred in the frame so that there is no unnecessary background showing in the image. Because I wanted to capture the shadowing in her face, I used a black backdrop so that the shadowing would blend into the background. I also really like hoe the front of her face is lit up, and how her eyes are shining due to the spotlight.
In contrast to studio photography, where there is artificial lighting used, we can used a natural source of lighting to light up the subject of the photograph. In this case we used windows around the school to light up the model. Instead of using three point lighting, we used reflectors which help to light up the opposite side of the model which is darker, to eliminate a contrast in tonal regions. For this photo shoot I used a quick shutter speed, a low ISO to reduce the noise found in the photograph, a large aperture and had a large depth of field. With regard to editing I am going to focus on leveling the images and adjusting the curves, making the edits simple like the idea and aim of this photo shoot.
Intensity of the light – An intense lighting source is very harsh, and allows the subject of the photograph to be illuminated. If using a one point lighting rig with intense lighting, we are able to choose what parts of the subject to light up.
Direction of the light – Changing the direction of the light helps to illuminate different areas of the subject. Having the light at the back creates a silhouette surrounding the subject, making them stand out from the background. The light at the front will usually light up the whole of the subject. A light source from the side of the subject will only light up one side of the subject creating a chiarascuro effect. Finally we can position the light up towards the ceiling which will diffuse the light and scatter the light back down on the subject
Temperature of the light and white balance – The temperature of the light is used to help create an emotional response between the viewer and the subject. A cold light is usually more of a white light, the white balance to be used is likely to be cloudy which warms up the photograph but you can change this if you want to stay with the cold effect. and a warm light is a more of a yellow light. The white balance to go with this is likely to be florescent
Using reflectors – A reflector is used to reflect the light source onto a part of the subject. With regards to natural lighting we use reflectors to make the subject equally lit.
Using diffusers – Diffuses are used to make a harsh light much softer. To diffuse the lights we can use tracing paper, colored gels or purchasing a diffuse.
High Key / low key lighting – High key lighting is essentially trying to over expose things. The ISO is likely to be higher and the white balance is altered in order to make everything lighter. To achieve this the lighting is usually harsh and cold.This works well on a white background. In contrast, low key lighting consists of a lot of contrasts and shadows. and its usually dark. The lighting is usually softer and use diffuses, typically this works well using a black background.
Contact Sheets
Edits
These three photographs I would consider to be the top images from this photoshoot. I have been able to use a natural light source in order to capture these images. I have also be able to use a reflector to help light up the other side of my models face.
This photograph was taken at a window, where the most light was found within the school. The main focus point of the photograph is the model who is located on the right side of the frame. The left side of the frame is slightly out of focus meaning the depth of field is smaller and and aperture was low when taking the photograph. I wanted the viewers to still be able to see the background as I felt that it added context towards my image. In this image a reflector was not used which means the left side of her face is lit up and the right side is slightly darker, creating a contrast in tonal areas. The formal elements which are clearly presented are texture, found on the models clothes and hair, and space as negative space is found in the background of the image. The model is looking directly at the lens with a neutral facial expression, her right hand is supporting her face. This creates an emotional response, it shows that she is bored or trapped and that she is next to the outside world that she potentially can not get to. This photograph I would say is my most successful image as it allows the viewers to make their own opinion about why the model is the way she is, making them involved with the image. Moreover I believe it clearly illustrates my skills of natural lighting photography and provides a contrast between studio and natural photography.
An important aspect of studio photography is the artificial lighting that is used. The lighting used helps to present an emotional responses by the viewers of the audience, it also allows the focal point of the image much clearer. Another reason why artificial lighting is important is the fact it adds temperature to the photograph, the harsher the light the warmer the atmosphere of the image, making it seem more cheerful. In studio photography there are four different types of studio lighting:
Flat Light – This is when the light source is facing directly at the subject of the image, meaning the subject is well lit, and all emphasis is on the whole subject. This light source creates a full shadow of the subject in the image.
Split Light – A light source which is provided at the side of the subject, which makes half of the subject lit up and the rest fading into darkness, this is where the photographer can clearly show their main focal point
Back Light – The light source is found at the back of the subject which helps to create a semi-silhouttes creating a contrast in like and dark in the frame of the image.
Flash – Producing a flash of artificial light (typically 1/1000 to 1/200 of a second) at a color temperature of about 5500 K to help illuminate a scene.
One Point Lighting – This is when the photographer will only use one light, which is considered to be the ‘key light’. This singular light is used to emphasis certain aspects of the subject. Usually this light is likely to be a soft box as it turns a powerful light source into a more diffused light.
Two Point Lighting – This is also known as the cross lighting technique and is mainly used in interviews. The first light is used to show highlights and shadows. The secondary light is known as the fill-light which is used to eliminate the shadows and allow the whole subject to be lit up. This light source is found directly opposite the key light source.
Three Point Lighting – This is the black light, which is placed behind the subject. Its purpose is to provide definition and subtle highlights around the subject’s outlines. This helps separate the subject from the background and provide a three-dimensional look.
Chiaroscuro Tehnique – This technique is used to create contrast between the lighting on the subject. Normally, the light source is used to illuminate one side of the face leaving the other side in darkness. To create this affect the key light is place next to the subject, on the side and a black background is used.
John Rankin
Rankin is a British photographer who is well known for capturing images of celebrities in a studio. During his careers he and his friend created a magazine where they would be able to promote their photography. Not only has his work appeared in his own magazine but also in Vogue and GQ, making his images reach out towards the younger generation.
Rankin’s Photograph
This photograph is apart of Rankin’s destroy series, where he would capture photographs of celebrities attempting to show their emotions and personality through costume, props and makeup. He would then print out the images and hand them to the celebrities to make it their own. It was then the celebrity job to destroy, colour stitch, do whatever they wanted to the image to express their personality. Conceptually, Rankin wanted to outline the importance that no one is perfect, even if we are famous we are not perfect, which outlines issues in todays society. When first viewing this photograph I am drawn to the fact that the model has her eyes closed and has her head facing downwards, which could present her emotional state at this time as negative. The use of the plain red background is also used to help support this idea. The necklace found around her neck could be considered as something trapping her, thus she attempts to try and take away her life. The lighting used to capture the photograph seems to be three point lighting as all of the model is well lit up, having no shadows or contrast in tones. I would consider texture and line to be the formal elements within the image, these can be found through the stitching of the image and through the different materials of clothing. The ISO in this image is likely to be low as there is no noise found within the image. Moreover, the image is not completely bright meaning the shutter speed is likely to be fast. Moreover, the whole frame of the image is in focus, suggesting that the aperture is likely to be high and informs us that the image has a large depth of field. In this example of Rankin’s work we can see the celebrity has ripped up the photograph and sown it back together using black thread, making this element clearly visible. This could show that at this time her life is being ripped apart but slowly and surely she is sowing it back together to gain a better life. This photograph is presented in colour which eliminates a high contrast in tonal regions, allowing the three point lighting to clearly be shown. The image is taken at a straight on angle with the subject located in the foreground of the image, making her the main focus point. I believe Rankin’s work clearly shows elements of studio photography but with his own twist, making his work successful. I enjoy looking at his destroy series as I found them visually stimulating and makes you grasp an understanding of what life is truly like for the celebrity.
Plan
I will be conducting this photoshoot inside of the schools photography studio. I will be using the white infinite wall and the black curtain as the backgrounds. The lights being used will mainly be a soft box and a normal harsh light. With regards to camera settings I will be having my ISO roughly around 400-800 and my shutter speed will be around 1/100. The white balance will be put onto tungsten and I will be using a manual focus. I will be looking at using the different techniques listed above to put the theory of studio photography into practice. Moreover, I will be keeping the editing simple I will be levelling the images and adjusting the curves to make the image to be sharper.
Contact Sheets
Edits
This outcomes are very successful considering it is my first attempt at studio photography. Due to the success of this first photoshoot, in studio photography, I decided to conduct another photoshoot where I would look at different aspects of studio photography. I will be using filters and props within this new photoshoot in order to gain more meaningful outcomes. I will be redoing my Chiaroscuro technique images as the original images where not as sharp as I would have liked them to be.
Contact Sheets
Edits
I am very pleased with the way these outcomes have turned out from this new photoshoot. I have been able to successfully show the chiaroscuro technique. I have also been able to use props and light filters in order to create an emotion for the models
Lots of photographers use studio lighting. Studio lighting is used to manipulate and add extra lighting that wouldn’t be there naturally to a shot. Having more light in a shot could be very useful as the photo without it could appear very dark and not how you want it to appear.
In my images you may see some use of chiaroscuro and Rembrandt lighting. This type of lighting occurs when one side of the face is lit up and the shadow from the nose and the cheek on the other side connect leaving a small triangle of light in between the cheek and the nose.
There are different types of studio lighting you can add to create different images. For example you can use one, two or three point lighting. One point lighting requires using one light, usually placed at an angle which will illuminate half of a persons face, creating contrast between the shadow and the infinity curve behind. Two point lighting uses two different lights. In portraiture this is normally used to remove shadows from the face completely. Though I have only really used one and two point lighting in my photo shoot there is also three point lighting which uses a third light. Often placed somewhere behind the person facing the back of their head to create a glow around their head to make it stand out more. Overall, the more points you have light coming from the less shadows will be cast on the person, allowing you to almost remove them completely or create different amounts of shadows in different parts of their face.
These are a selection of the images I have taken using one and two point studio lighting. A lot of the images turned out slightly out of focus due to me not focusing completely or they were over-exposed due to excessive light being used for the images.
The images below are the best images I took using one and two point lighting. I have edited each image to crop, add exposure or add some more contrast between the bright and the dark parts in the images.
The images above and below used one point lighting. I have selected these images as some of the best taken due to the dark shadows that have been created due to using the artificial light on one side of their bodies.
The image above uses two point lighting. In this image I have used gels and placed them in front of a spot light while keeping the soft box light appearing from the right. The use of a blue gel creates a dark blue shadow that illuminates his face and body. Without using the gel to make the the light darker on one side, his body would not appear to have many shadows.
Two point lighting setups can be very beneficial. By adopting two separate positions, the photographer can illuminate the key subject (such as a person) however desired, while also controlling (or eliminating entirely) the shading and shadows produced by direct lighting.
The key light, targets the key subject of the photo and serves as the primary illuminator source. The Photographer can experiment with the strength of the video lighting, colour and angle. The key light will determine the shot’s overall lighting design.
Then a fill light can be used to balance out the shadows appearing on your subject. The fill light will typically not be as strong as the key light. If your lights are all the same strength you can look into using diffusers to help soften a light source along with colour gels. A colour of lighting gel is a transparent coloured material placed over a light source for colour correction and video lighting effects.
Use two separate lights in different angles facing the model to capture a series of images that highlight/concentrate on key features of the photograph.
Therefore is se up two lights one facing towards the model from the left and one light facing towards the from the front. This helped to keep the focal point in the part of the photo where those lights cross over, which illuminates the key areas I want to show. I then set my camera to a high ISO so the colour differences were distinct in the harsh light, whilst using a shutter speed of around 1/8 second and a slightly lower aperture so not as much of the light could enter the camera.
Contact sheet:
Final image outcome:
Visual elements of this image include:
The lighting in this was in two locations with one light at the front of the model and there was another lamp to the right side. A fairly plain colour range of primarily whites, greys, browns and black can be seen with a range of light and dark tones across the photography which contact each other. The depth of field and 3D-ness of the photograph is created by where the bottle in the foreground is not in focus, but the model is. The texture is quite smooth and there is a slight lead in line using the sides of the bottom.
Many portraits have contextual and conceptual meanings but this one does not and is designed to showcase a camera technique.
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.
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.
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.
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.
After going into the studio once to test and see what we could do and learn how to do it, I got about 100 images and then I have taken it down to this group of 17 as possible final images for this shoot
After looking through I selected the images that I thought had the most potential.
Once I had chosen these images I then went into photoshop to edit them.
The centre photo I did in the style of Rankin and drew over the top of it after editing it.
The photo on the right I felt that it needed to be cropped and that it would look good in black and white.
And the left photo I felt that it was composted fine and that i only needed to touch it up and make the colours pop more.
Best outcomes
