Portrait Renaissance Style
I was reviewing all the photos in my Lightroom catalog and came across a photo that I took in my basic studio lighting course back in the days of film.
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I was reviewing all the photos in my Lightroom catalog and came across a photo that I took in my basic studio lighting course back in the days of film.
In previous shoots, I received comments that my shots were too sharp so for this shoot, I stretched a black nylon over my lens to create a soft focus effect. As the photo had minimal color, I decided to convert it to black and white and then brought back the color in the rose.
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In previous shoots, I received comments that my shots were too sharp so for this shoot, I stretched a black nylon over my lens to create a soft focus effect. As the photo had minimal color, I decided to convert it to black and white and then brought back the color in the rose.
Read less
Nov, 2017Views
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Behind The Lens
Location
This photo was during my Basic Studio Lighting course in the school's studio a long long time ago.Time
As I was working full-time in a 9 to 5 type of job, the course was in the evening. However, since it was in a studio, the time really is irrelevant.Lighting
The lighting was a single Speedotron head attached to a 3'x4' softbox about 3 feet away at a 45 degree angle to the model's right with a large white foamcore on the table to bounce some light under the chin.Equipment
This was back in the film days so I was using my Canon A2 with my Tokina AF 80-200 ATX f2.8 with Fuji Provia film. I'm pretty sure I was shooting at 200mm and at either f8 or f16.Inspiration
This was my second studio session in the course. After my first studio session, I learned that the models were inexperienced modeling students and needed a fair amount of instruction with regards to posing. My instructor also commented on the fact that the shots from my first shoot was almost too sharp as every little detail on the model's just popped when looking my projected slide. So, for the second shoot, I brought some props and a black nylon stocking. The model that I was assigned had red hair and came in wearing the white top in the photo. The red rose that I had brought with me seemed to be a perfect prop for this model and the expressions that I was getting from her. Towards the end of the shoot, I stretched the black nylon across my lens and attached my lens hood over top. The end result was the dreamy look that you see without the glowing highlights that would have appeared if I had used a white nylon.Editing
There wasn't much post-processing to do at the time as I was shooting with Provia film. I selected one of the shots for my portfolio and had a digital direct print made at one of the pro labs in the city. Some years later, I ended up scanning the print to upload onto some websites/portals. Most recently, I rediscovered it in my collection and used Photoshop to convert it to black and white by removing the hue and saturation and then selectively restored the color to the rose.In my camera bag
Now that I'm shooting digital, my main camera is my Canon 5D Mark II with the Canon 24-70 f2.8L USM and 70-200 f2.8L IS USM. I also have a Speedlight 580EX II for those low light indoor situations or fill. If I'm shooting a sporting event, I'll switch out the 5D MKII for my Canon 80D. Some habits are hard to break and I still carry my Minolta Autometer IV F light meter. In difficult light situations, it helps me nail my exposure without taking a bunch of test shots. When I'm travelling, I'll lighten the load significantly by using the Canon 80D with the Canon EF-S 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM and EF-S 10-18mm f/4.5-5.6 IS STM.Feedback
The lighting is pretty simple but whenever I've used this setup again, I've switched out the black background with a lighter neutral color that complements the subject's clothing or I've added a hair light to get some separation of the model's head from the background.
