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Seamless white
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The first shot is gorgeous. I love the highlight in her eye and the reflection adds to the action. Nice setup. ps (she even looks like Dora)
Hi oshead,
I think #1 is an excellent image and one that I would be very
happy to have taken.I really like the eye contact and the action.
The white background really is white and looks well.#2 is not as successful IMO.
It is lacking the eye contact and the bottom of the image is a little busy.I’m no expert on this type of photography but I’m not sure whether
the partial reflections help either shot.I’m not a fan of the border either but that’s only a personal thing
and takes nothing away from the lovely image.I’d have to say well done.
Cheers.
John.
Very nice shots. I would be interested to know how you achieved the fully “blown out” look on the white background. Was there much PP involved or was it mainly lighting. I have a cheap two light setup at home and wonder could I achieve something similiar….
Brian
Lovely stuff Dave especially the first one. Would you mind posting the setup you used?
Thanks Miki. I agree. Even with the Dora look ‘a’ like thing. :)
Thanks for the comments John. The second was taken to go with another one really. Here it is. Just a little play on contrasting sizes.
Brian. The fully blown out look was partly achieved with lights and partly through photoshop. Here is a before and after shot.
I got it as close as I could in studio, then it takes literally 1 minute to blow the highlights out using a 10% dodge brush on the highlights. A trick I learned form the Zack Arias blog.
Hi Ballyman. Here’s the setup minus the key light. The bg is a 13′ x 7′ roll of lino painted brilliant matt white on the back. On the floor is a 4′ x 4′ sheet of perspex I picked up in B&Q. The underside is painted white too. The strobes to the left and right are Canon 580EX II and 430EX flashes. They are triggered using skyports. Not shown here is a 60′ shoot through umberella with flash for key light.
David OS
Excellent Dave. Thanks for that. Seems I’m off to Des Kelly and B&Q at the weekend!!!
#1 is very good although I do wonder is her face a tad dark?
Nice improvisation on the setup too… our local handyman jb7 would be proud of you.
J
Hi,
Well done on cracking images (number 1 my fav like everyone) and well done on an information provided regarding set up.
Best regards,
John
Ballyman. I got the lino from Bargantown. I got mine for €45. Ask them if they have any offcuts. I think that’s what they’re called. For proper seperation between the subject and the bg you need at between 7′ – 9′. So you will need atleast 13′ lenght lino. The perspex 4′ x 4′ x 4mm thick was €40.
nfl-fan. You may be right about her face. I used a Macro twin light flash behind a 60′ umberella. I had that sucker blasting out full power. Saving for a proper set of studio lights at the moment.
Thanks John and Jb for the comments. The perspex really does a great job of visually grounding the subject and keeping her from straying from the general area.
Here’s another one, just for the heck of it. This time with no border :)
Thanks Dave for for the info. The room I have isn’t very long though so separation between the subject and the background could be an issue. Come to think of it finding a human subject is the biggest issue. I have the lights and background with ages but no one will stand in! At least if it’s your daughter you can make her (or bribe her with sweets or something) :D
Hey Oshead,
Cracking shots. A wonderful, expressive model too.
Thanks for all the detail on the setup, you must have a very mellow missus, I’d be killed if I did that to the living room!!
I’m not a big fan of the reflection either, but I’m sure that’s sorted with another piece of lino
Take it easy
Sean
wow, lots of information here!
I am not a big fan of partial reflection, but I have to say that those are really nice shots.
well done!Brian. For proper seperation of background to subject you need at least 1.5 to 2 stops of light. This is’nt easy to achieve over a smaller distance. If not done correctly, the light from the bg will wrap around the subject. That’s fine if it’s the look you’re after. But for me here it wasn’t, so I set the bg spill to about 2 stops lower by the time it gets to the back of the subject. You can do this without a meter if you don’t have one. Setup the lights to fill the bg. You don’t need to blow the bg out. Just fill the white matt surface with nice balanced middle of the histogram light. When happy with the coverage of light, take a photo of your hand facing the bg about 7-9 feet away. Your hand should be underexposed by about 2 stops. If not, adjust flash power and subject distance accordingly. Not all together the most accurate method, but good enough to get you in the ball park without a hand held meter. Once there, If you need to, write the settings down. Setting up in future with the same gear will be a breeze.
As far as not having anyone to photograph. You are probably a bit hesitant to ask when you havn’t got enough space and/or practice under your belt. I got the lights right using a golf bag, teddy bears, chairs etc. Once I was happy I could reproduce it, then and only then I asked people to step in.
Thanks for the comments Sean. At this stage, Jessica is well trained. I’ve had a camera in her face since she was born.
Gizzo. The reflection on the floor is a taste thing really. I like it, some don’t I guess. I could turn the prespex over and have a white matt finnish which will cast a bit of a shadow. That’s nice too. It’s important to keep the subject grounded, with reflections or shadows. Otherwise they look like they are floating.
Btw, I set the camera up on a tripod and we take turns shooting. It keeps her interested for longer and is just more fun really.
David OS
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