Butterfly lighting is a type of portrait lighting technique used primarily in a studio setting. Its name comes from the butterfly-shaped shadow that forms under the nose because the light comes from above the camera. You may also hear it called ‘paramount lighting’ or ‘glamour lighting’.

Photographs :

butterfly lighting context/analysis :

Butterfly lighting is a popular lighting technique in portrait photography that creates a soft and flattering effect on the subject’s face. This technique is named after the butterfly-shaped shadow that is created under the subject’s nose.

why use butterfly lighting ?

Butterfly lighting is a type of lighting pattern for studio portraiture. It is used for taking flattering, glamorous portrait photos. The lighting is soft on the face. It forms a butterfly-shaped shadow under the subject’s nose, which is the source of the name.

my response :

here is my first photoshoot attempt while using butterfly lighting.

best image :

this image could be easily improved by facing the lighting right in front of the models face in order to properly catch the butterfly lighting look on the face.

(Definitions Obtained From Google)

Lighting :

What is the technical definition of lighting?

Lighting or illumination is the deliberate use of light to achieve practical or aesthetic effects. Lighting includes the use of both artificial light sources like lamps and light fixtures, as well as natural illumination by capturing daylight.

soft lighting :

Soft lighting is a type of light with few hard shadows that’s bright yet balanced. In soft lighting, the transition between the light and the shadows is more of a gradient and much smoother. When your subject is bathed in soft light, there will be little to no shadows on their face.

hard lighting:

What Is Hard Light? Hard light is a focused, often bright light that casts harsh shadows and draws attention to a specific part of a photo. In hard lighting, the transition between the light and the shadows is very harsh and defined.

framing :

Framing in photography refers to the process of composing a picture. It involves choosing what you’ll include in the frame and what you’ll leave out. The goal is to create a pleasing composition that directs the viewer’s attention to the subject matter.

headshots :

A headshot is a tightly cropped photo of the face, from the shoulders up. The subject is camera aware — typically looking right in the lens. Years ago, headshots were reserved for actors and models. For talent, these images are in some ways more important than a resume.

focusing:

In photography, focus is the sharpest area of the image. It is the area where the lens works to highlight an object, a person, or a situation. Focus is one of the pillars of photography, along with ISO, aperture, and shutter speed. You can either use automatic or manual focus.

focus on eyes:

In photography, focus is the sharpest area of the image. It is the area where the lens works to highlight an object, a person, or a situation. Focus is one of the pillars of photography, along with ISO, aperture, and shutter speed. You can either use automatic or manual focus.

Using AF (Autofocus) place the square, or set of squares on one eye of your subject. If the subject’s other eye is not on the same horizontal plane as the AF square, it will be out of focus. So, move your subject, or tilt your camera (if you can without ruining composition) so that the eyes are on the same plane.

pose :

If you pose for a photograph or painting, you stay in a particular position so that someone can photograph you or paint you. Before going into their meeting the six foreign ministers posed for photographs. [ VERB + for] Synonyms: position yourself, sit, model, strike a pose More Synonyms of pose.

expression :

Expression, according to an online dictionary, is the action of making known one’s thoughts or feelings. In impressionist photography you create an image to communicate to others, using visual language, how you feel about a specific idea or a subject.

Flash Lighting–

In photography, flash lighting or strobe lighting refers to either built-in flash units or devices that are external from the photographer’s camera that when used emit a strong artificial light for a designated period to light up a background.

Continuous Lighting–

What is continuous lighting?

Continuous lighting, such as LED panels, fluorescent tubes, or tungsten bulbs, is any source of light that stays on constantly. It has some advantages over flash lighting, like allowing you to see the effect of the light on your subject and background before you take the shot and being easier to use with video.

What is the difference between flash and continuous lighting?

Flash offers more power and depth of field and is generally preferred by professional photography. Continuous can serve for both video and photo but they are generally less powerful but they give you more options when used with smartphones.

The deadpan aesthetic

Deadpan portraits are typically shot in a straightforward, uncontrived manner. The photographer does not use any special angles, lighting, or props to create an emotional or dramatic effect. Instead, the subject is simply captured as they are, in their natural environment.

Passport Photos

Passport photograph means a two inch by two inch (2”x2”) photograph of the applicant/licensee taken recently prior to the date of application or renewal of license.

Typologies

Study of or study based on types. especially : classification (as of personality, human physique, or bacterial strains) based on the comparative study of types.

Up close

very close; in close range to.

Background

the part of a picture, scene, or design that forms a setting for the main figures or objects, or appears furthest from the viewer.

Face

Camera settings (flash lighting)
Tripod: optional
Use transmitter on hotshoe
White balance: daylight (5000K)
ISO: 100
Exposure: Manual 1/125 shutter-speed > f/16 aperture
– check settings before shooting
Focal lenght: 105mm portrait lens

Camera settings (continuous lighting)
Tripod: recommended to avoid camera shake
Manual exposure mode
White balance: tungsten light (3200K)
ISO: 400-1600 – depending on how many light sources
Exposure: Manual 1/60-1/125 shutter-speed > f/4-f/8 aperture
– check settings before shooting
Focal lenght: 50mm portrait lens

Henry Mullins is one of the famous photographers in Jersey, producing over 9000 portraits of islanders from 1852-1873 at the time when the population was around 55,000. The record we have of his photographs comes through his albums , in which he placed his clients in social hierarchy. The arrangement of his work of ‘who’s who’ in the 19th centaury Jersey are highly politicised.

Henry Mullins Album showing his arrangements of portraits presented as cartes de visite

About him

When Henry Mullins arrived to Jersey in 1848 there were no photography studios to visit and no archive to consult. His was a community supported primarily by agriculture and maritime trades, and an emerging tourism industry. Mullins was already highly skilled in photography, so he set about setting up a highly successful business attracting Jersey’s wealthy upper classes to his studio. This cemented that his clients statuses among the island were elite. His most productive years were 1867-1872.

His work

Henry Mullins started working at 230 Regent Street in London in the 1840s and moved to Jersey in July 1848, setting up a studio known as the Royal Saloon, at 7 Royal Square. This is where he would photograph Jersey political elite, such as; The Bailiff, Lt Governor, Jurats, Deputies etc. as well as mercantile families, such as; Robin, Janvrin, Hemery, Nicolle etc. and military officers and professional classes such as; (advocates, bankers, clergy, doctors etc.

His portrait were printed on a carte de visite as a small albumen print, which was the first commercial photographic print produced using egg whites to bind the photographic chemicals to the paper. It was a thin paper photograph mounted on a thicker paper card. The size of a carte de visite is 54.0 × 89 mm normally mounted on a card sized 64 × 100 mm. In Mullins case he mounted his carted de visite into an album. Because of the small size and relatively affordable reproducibility cartes de visite were commonly traded among friends and visitors in the 1860s. Albums for the collection and display of cards became a common fixture in Victorian parlors. The immense popularity of these card photographs led to the publication and collection of photographs of prominent persons.

Portrait of Philip Baudains, Writer, Advocate, Constable and Deputy of St Helier. The four headshots of Baudains are presented in a Diamond Cameo.

Diamond Cameo- It is a process in which four separate portraits of the same subject are printed on a carte-de-visite.

Some headshots by Mullins of both Jersey men and women produced as vignette portrait which was a common technique used in mid to late 19th century.

Mullins and Sank

Michelle Sank arrived to Jersey as the inaugural Archisle: Jersey Contemporary Photography Programme Photographer in Residence to complete a new commission of work for the Social Jersaiase Photographic Archivein response to insulur culture and society in 2013. With Mullins and Sank’s work we can therefore traffic 165 years a history. Over that period of time the lives of people in their portraits and the descendants and ancestors that lived between them have been radically changed by developments in every sphere of life. The photographic medium as a visual has also developed and changed due to constantly evolving technology.

Mullins and Sank’s work

Here are images of Mullin’s work from the years 1848- 1872 compared to Sank’s work from 2013 to modern day. The difference in their photographs of how men, women and children lived them compared to now are significant. There is also very obvious technology changes. Mullin’s photograph were in black and white, because technology wasnt very advanced, however Sank’s photographs are in colour.

Henry Mullins is one of the most famous photographers represented in the jersey photo archive. He produced over 9,000 portraits of islanders from 1853 to 2873 at a time when the population was about 55,000. The most famous type of photo that was printed by henry Mullins was the diamond cameo, which was 4 headshots cropped in to an oval shape and displayed into a diamond shape.

The three types of prints Henry Mullins did was the receipt print which was a small rectangle and was printed on to very thin paper. The second type of print was his most famous the diamond cameo which was 4 headshots cropped into an oval shape and displayed on the paper in the shape of a diamond. The last type of print was a bleached headshot and its multiple headshots with the colour fading from the head.

Who was he?

Mullens was an English photographer that moved to Jersey in July 1848 where he set up a studio called the Royal Saloon in what we know as the Royal Square at number 7.

The population in Jersey was around 55,000 and he had managed to produce over 9,000 photographs during his 20 year stay. He photographed a range of different social class people, ranging from bailiffs to ordinary people, he had recorded his photographs in 4 albums which he had organised in a social hierarchy arrangement, he had placed the most important people he had photographed, like a bailiff, at the front of the album and as the album descended there were more people with a lower social class.

He took portraiture photographs and mainly focused on headshots, he did however take some full body shots as well; Mullens had also taken numerous Vignette Portraits.

What did he use or do to create his image?

Mullens had printed his photographs on a carte de visite using a method called albumen print. The size of the carte de visite was  54.0 × 89 mm which was normally placed on card which was 64 × 100 mm, which he then mounted into his albums. He had used this method because it was relatively affordable to keep reproducing and it had become popular among visitors and others who had started trading the cards with each other.

He took different ranges of angles and poses of his subjects, he also used different formats such as a Diamond Cameo.

Definitions

More examples of his work:

Inspiration for own headshot photoshoot

I have decided to incorporate some ideas from Henry Mullens such as taking different angles shots of my subject’s face and body.

I am also going to experiment with the format of my photos by using a diamond cameo just like Mullens did with his portraits. Also I plan on trying to recreate a Vignette portrait on photoshop by feathering the edges of some of my photographs.

Headshots are photographs that put a clear focus on a subjects face and give the viewer

Headshot originated in 1839 with Robert Cornelius when he started taking selfies.

In 1854, André-Adolphe-Eugène Disdéri came up with a more affordable process of photographic portraiture by cutting up full-sized plates into 4 separate small portraits. The photos would later be known as Carte-de-visite, or visiting cards and are thought to be the first business cards.

In modern times, headshots are usually used for methods of identification and professions like acting or music for marketing purposes.

Most of the time headshots implement a lot of negative space like a white background to remove all other focus other than the subject.

These images are from my Henry Mullins Photoshoot.

My Intention with this shoot was to recreate the headshots Mullins used to create his Carte-de-visite’s and Diamond Cameos. With editing I will make my images look like his.

Camera Settings:

Green coloured:

These photos are rated 4 – 5 on the star rating, and are flagged meaning I believe they had a decent outcome.

These matched the angles I would like to use for my Diamond Cameos. Additionally the composition of these image came out well, as the contrast of shadows makes a good tonal effect for that vintage look I am going for.

Red coloured:

These photos aren’t rated as they did not conform to the idea I was going for. Some weren’t taken properly, as they were over exposed or too dimly lit.

These were unable to be used, due to not matching what I was going for. This was because I did not think they had the same angle types I was looking for with my work.

Best Photos:

Introduction- The term “headshot” or “head shot” just means that the portrait photo is cropped somewhere in the middle torso – so that the focus is on your face. A headshot is a form of digital photography that focuses solely on a person’s face. The subject’s face should be the main focus, and the framing should be done in a way that draws attention to the eyes and facial expressions.

Flash Lighting

In photography, flash lighting refers to either built-in flash units or devices that are external from the photographer’s camera that when used emit a strong artificial light for a designated period to light up a background or subject.

Shutter speed 1/200, ISO 200, flash power 1/4-1/32. You may have to adjust your flash setting up and down depending on the ambient light in the room. Once you are getting close to a correct exposure, leave it alone and only adjust your aperture.

Continuous Lighting

Continuous lighting, such as LED panels, fluorescent tubes, or tungsten bulbs, is any source of light that stays on constantly. It has some advantages over flash lighting, like allowing you to see the effect of the light on your subject and background before you take the shot.

ISO: 400-1600 – depending on how many light sources Exposure: Manual 1/60-1/125 shutter-speed > f/4-f/8 aperture

Check settings before shooting.

What is the difference between flash and continuous lighting?

Flash offers more power and depth of field and is generally preferred by professional photography. Continuous can serve for both video and photo but they are generally less powerful but they give you more options when used with smartphones.

The deadpan aesthetic

The deadpan aesthetics is considered a technically perfect photograph which depicts a landscape, still life or a person by a direct centred composition. The photographs usually have a single central theme (a mining tower, face, mound of clay, etc.), the background is usually unimportant (which does not apply for more sociologically oriented concepts), ignored or is neutral and sterile.

Deadpan photography is a cool, detached, and unemotional presentation and, when used in a series, usually follows a pre-defined set of compositional and lighting rules.

Passport Photos

There are very strict instruction as to taking your passport/id pictures. These are:

• eyes must be open and clearly visible, with no flash reflections and no ‘red eye’
• facial expression must be neutral (neither frowning nor smiling), with the mouth closed
• photos must show both edges of the face clearly
• photos must show a full front view of face and shoulders, squared to the camera 
• the face and shoulder image must be centred in the photo; the subject must not be looking over one shoulder (portrait style), or tilting their head to one side or backwards or forwards
• there must be no hair across the eyes
• hats or head coverings are not permitted except when worn for religious reasons and only if the full facial features are clearly visible
• photos with shadows on the face are unacceptable
• photos must reflect/represent natural skin tone

Typologies

The study of or study based on types. Its a system used for putting things into groups according to how they are similar. An example of a typology would be classification such as by age and health: young-healthy, young-sick, old-healthy, old-sick. Typological theorizing is the development of theories about configurations of variables that constitute theoretical types.

Upclose

 The close-up shot is the best way to show detail. 

Bruce Gilden’s compositions are renowned for their dramatic use of light and shadow, reminiscent of Alex Webb, another master of color and complex light. Unlike Webb, however, Gilden often employs a flash, highlighting the minute details of his subjects and further enhancing the rawness of his photos.

A head shot or headshot is a modern portrait in which the focus is on the person. The term is applied usually for professional profile images on social media, images used on online dating profiles etc.

A great headshot should include the following:

• Simple background.
• A clear photo of one person.
• Good expression.
• Proper attire.
• Minimal distractions.
• Should reflect how you look currently.
• Proper cropping of the photo.
• Flattering poses.

Flash lighting

Flash photography is using an artificial light source to light a person or a scene whether you want to give that scene a different look or you have to out of necessity.

With your camera set to manual, set the shutter speed around 1/125sec to 1/250sec depending on your camera’s flash sync speed. ISO 320, aperture f/5.6, daylight white balance. For flattering results without much distortion use a short telephone lens or a zoom setting from 70-85mm.

A flash photograph can vary the appearance of a subject by controlling the intensity, position and distribution of light coming from a flash.

Continuous lighting

Camera settings (continuous lighting)
Tripod: recommended to avoid camera shake
Manual exposure mode
White balance: tungsten light (3200K)
ISO: 400-1600 – depending on how many light sources
Exposure: Manual 1/60-1/125 shutter-speed > f/4-f/8 aperture
– check settings before shooting
Focal length: 50mm portrait lens

The deadpan aesthetic

The origins of the word “Deadpan”  can be traced to 1927 when Vanity Fair Magazine compounded the words dead and pan, a slang word for a face, and used it as a noun. In 1928 the New York Times used it as adjective to describe the work of Buster Keaton.

In summary Deadpan photography is a cool, detached, and unemotional presentation and, when used in a series, usually follows a pre-defined set of compositional and lighting rules.

The deadpan aesthetics is considered a technically perfect photograph which depicts a landscape, still life or a person by a direct centred composition. The photographs usually have a single central theme (a mining tower, face, mound of clay, etc.), the background is usually unimportant (which does not apply for more sociologically oriented concepts), ignored or is neutral and sterile.

Passport Photos

The UK government has a specific list on what passports must include, this can be found on the UK government website.

FACE:

• eyes must be open and clearly visible, with no flash reflections and no ‘red eye’
• facial expression must be neutral (neither frowning nor smiling), with the mouth closed
• photos must show both edges of the face clearly
• photos must show a full front view of face and shoulders, squared to the camera 
• the face and shoulder image must be centred in the photo; the subject must not be looking over one shoulder (portrait style), or tilting their head to one side or backwards or forwards
• there must be no hair across the eyes
• hats or head coverings are not permitted except when worn for religious reasons and only if the full facial features are clearly visible
• photos with shadows on the face are unacceptable
• photos must reflect/represent natural skin tone

BACKGROUND:

Photos must have a background which:

• has no shadows
• has uniform lighting, with no shadows or flash reflection on the face and head
• shows a plain, uniform, light grey or cream background (5% to 10% grey is recommended)

Typologies

the study and interpretation of types and became associated with photography through the work of Bernd and Hilla Becher, whose photographs taken over the course of 50 years of industrial structures; water towers, grain elevators, blast furnaces etc can be considered conceptual art. The Becher’s were influenced by the work of earlier German photographers linked to the New Objectivity movement of the 1920s such as August Sander, Karl Blossfeldt and Albert-Renger-Patzsch.

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