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Public Zone 公開區 => General Topics 綜合題目 => Topic started by: chin on 08 June 2010, 03:59:19
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This was the first I took pictures in a photo studio. This was also the first time I have a semi-profession model pose for me.
It was an interesting experience, because the lighting condition is about as perfect as I can get. So technically many pictures went well. But the major challenge of studio portrait is to find interesting compositions or moments. Since there is no background to add any interest to the picture, it's tough to get interesting shots.
The model Christy did make lots of different poses, but many moves were just too "artificial" (for the lack of better word.)
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She was very professional. Before I figure out how the lighting works, she just stepped up to the white background sheet, and started to pose.
There were 4 of us, and somehow she figured out quickly who was about to press the shutter, and would look into the lens.
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Out of the 4 of us, oo8 and I were first time in a photo studio. We were not very sure what's acceptable, whether we should make request for any particular pose, etc...
So after perhaps 15 min of very quiet shooting, we were kind of bored with Christy just changing poses. Then one of our friends who had done this few time before started to looking for props. And asked her to use the props to add interest and different elements to the portrait.
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Besides props, Christy untied her hair, and added some more "diversity" to the pose. ;D
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Before more pictures of Christy, here is how it looked on site.
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From viewing my friends previous studio pictures, I knew that the model would sometimes change clothes during the session.
I was wondering about if we should ask or not. Then the guy who runs the studio asked her if she had other clothes. She went into the changing room, and came out with this.
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When we arrived at the studio, the guy who was manning the studio, Peter, was listening to some Japanese jazz and drinking wine.
So in the middle of the photo session, I asked Christy to use Peter's wine glass as a prop. I asked if she drinks any wine, and she said no. Initially she was holding the glass very high near her face, like holding other props.
We had to tell her to pretend to smell the wine, asking her to find blackcurrant or other fruit aroma in the glass. Then we asked her to swirl the glass. It took her a few tries to get the motion going.
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I know these two pic kind of look alike. But I couldn't decide which one to give up.
I used a 85mm/F1.4 lens to take these two pictures. This lens used to be my favorite lens for taking pictures of my kids. Now that they are older and not very willing to let me take their pictures, so I had not used this lens much for for a long time. When I first use this lens in the photo session, I was very happy to find that this very sharp lens was above to resolve the very fine details, like the special contact lenses Christy was wearing. I will show an eye close-up picture later.
The only regret here was that we should have somewhat cleaned the wine glass first. It does not look to "crystal clear". Or the next time I will bring my own nice Riedel. ;D
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Tired?!
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More "behind the scene" type of shots. ;D
There were 3 flash lights - 2 at the back (or front of model) with diffuser to make the light soft. One at the back that was pointing to the background sheet to add a bright spot so the background was a bit more interesting.
By now we were more relaxed, and start to making changes to the lights. For a while, we made the back light pointing directly at the model from the back/side. It was interesting for a few shots but too strong for general lighting purpose.
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These two were with the strong light coming at her from the back directly.
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Hopefully the picture is less boring with the diffuser.
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One of our friends commented afterward that she looked better when trying to be cool instead of smiling. One of the reasons was that her teeth are not very "neat".
I think the comment is fair in general, but there are always exceptions to the rule. In this one, her smile was happy enough to overcome any imperfection she may have. ;)
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We booked the session for one hour only but we were allowed to stay for another 30 min more. By now we were sort of ran out of ideas what to shoot. Then someone handed her this fluffy chair, and it was a nice prop.
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Last two photos. At the end, she requested us to send the finishing photos for her portfolio.
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When we arrived at the studio, the lights were not yet setup. After the setup, he measured the lights and just told us "ISO100, F7.1, 5000K white balance". My friend told me that the shutter was assumed to be 1/125. All the photos above were taken with this particular setup.
Once at home, I found the exposures were a bit too high, as all the information on the white background were lost. It's OK for this particular set of photo, since the focus is really on the model.
This really brought up the point that in the studio we can have consistent and near perfect light. So the technicalities are good. The problem was really how to make the pictures interesting with a plain background. I took about 250 pictures, nearly all technically correct (right exposure, right focus) but not necessary pleasing to the eyes.
Since the lighting was very good, there was no adjustment to the color, brightness, or contrast, except the one with oo8 adjusting the light. I darken the picture, then "burn" the right half of the photo where the model was, so she stands out in the picture.
With my very sharp lens, quite a bit of her skin imperfection showed us. I have smoothed the skin tone a bit. (Quite a bit actually. For a sample before smoothing the skin, see #81 vs #82 at http://chinman.com/index.php/topic,99.80.html)
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This is the close-up of her eyes from the 2nd pic in #7 above.
This picture is 1:1. Meaning not compressed. And each pixel on your screen corresponding to one pixel on the sensor of my Sony A900.
See the pattern on the contact lenses? :)
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nice pics......Charles will love it...... :P
008 seems to be a professional lighting consultant.....and I see that 大眼仔 too
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nice pics......Charles will love it...... :P
008 seems to be a professional lighting consultant.....and I see that 大眼仔 too
Calling Charles....
If any of you would like to try, just drop me a note. It's not expensive to arrange a session like this. It would be an interesting experience.
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And I just found out the model is professional, not a part-timer.
http://www.fotop.net/ChRiStyD/Album
But pro could also means.... ;D .....nodayjob.
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Just read this in a Macau photo forum. I found the following "formula" a very accurate description.
好相片的元素精彩照片=（光圈+快門+感光度）+（焦距+構圖）=（曝光正確）+（精彩構圖）
A good photo = (Aperture + Shutter Speed + ISO) + (Focal Length + Good Framing) = Correct Exposure + Good Composition
In a studio photography like this set, the more technical exposure elements are under control. But getting good framing needs lots of imagination and pre-planning. What we did this time was just walk in and shot whatever was shown to us. It get boring after 10 or 20 min.
Comparing to studio photo, event photos like sports or dance competitions (http://chinman.com/index.php/topic,235.0.html) offer lots of good framing opportunity because of the constant changing motion and genuine postures. But getting the right technical elements together is much tougher. Either the lights are not right, or shutter too slow.
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Thanks for sharing...
it reminded me a lot experiences, coz I took studio photo shooting class in Baptist University....and where I met my ex-girl friend.... ;D ;D ;D
Also, I wondered I haven't visited the webiste for a long long time.... :'( :'( :'(
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Good, so you are the pro here. Maybe you can give me some pointers on lighting, framing, etc... ;)
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in front of an attractive girl, I will turn to a pro...
is there any??
::) ::) ::)