MarMarina Parklife . .

[mike the bike]

IMG_2875 copy by mikethe8ike, on Flickr


Here's a shot from my first proper photoshoot this one was taken shooting into the sun . . using a reflector i metered off her face then locked the exposure , recomposed and took the shot. I like the composition (on the "Y" axis ) and the crop i did some work on her skin in Elements and tweaked the RAW conversion a little i would be interested in hearing any comments anyone might have . .

thanks

[Colin Southern]

Hi Mike,

I love you like a brother buddy, but ...

... to be honest ...

... I'm seeing a bit of a fundamental problem with it.

Keeping in mind two things:

1. That portraiture is primarily about the face, and

2. The eye is drawn to the brightest thing in the scene

So here we have an under-exposed face and our eyes are drawn to the large blown highlight areas in the hair and on the neck.

I think this can work (what we call rim lighting), but it needs to be more behind the subject, and you have to light their face carefully (I use flash, but a reflector might do it).

For your shot I'd have put a diffuser between your subject and the sun - it should have given a nice lighting direction.

Here's an example of how I'd process it (sorry it's got some jpeg artifacts, I had to crop it hard and then up-sample it) ...



I also found a similar shot I've taken to shot you what I mean ...

[Donald]

The master seems to have captured all the fundamentals!! Me, I just stick to trees and walls and fields ... and tractors and sheep. Much easier!

[mike the bike]

AAAH yes i see what you mean . . and of course your crop is much better than mine and perfectly illustrates your point .I did think that her hair may just steal the attention but i thought it would pass for backlighting . .? in shots like these (which i really would like to perfect . .how would you go about exposing the face more ? as i said i metered of the face then locked exposure stepped back and took the shot . should i have used ex comp - / + ?
Im currently reading "Portrait Photography" by Steve Sint and this together with all the valuable info ive amassed on these forums should go some way to helping me with the basics . .
Im trying.... i feel like a student who aint going to school . .
But please persevere mate i will get there in the end . .

[mike the bike]

Yep Donald i know what you mean . .but then i dont like to back down from a challenge and this certainly presents one with a monumental hill to climb . . and when i summit (and i will !!) the whole world will know about it !!

[Colin Southern]

Hi Mike,

You'll be fine. Honestly, day to day (in the real world) I seem to come across 2 sorts of folks; those who will say "I don't understand something ... can you please explain", and those who argue until the cows come home (that you can't teach a darn thing to). You're in the first category - so just hang in there! To be honest, once you understand the theory - and get more experience putting it into practice - you'll soon get to know what works and what doesn't. There just aren't many shortcuts I'm afraid.

With regards to this kind of shot, in essence, what you're needing to do is work 2 zones of light (so there's no "correct exposure" per se without manipulating the zones). Zone 1 is what's behind the subject (including the into-the-sun portion), and zone 2 is the light on the subjects face. If you don't augment the light for zone 2 somehow then you'll probably have a LOT of over-exposure in zone 1 (which can be a good or a bad thing depending on what you're doing); the problem you have though is that (I'm guessing) you're limited to only using a reflector at this stage (whereas with the shot of mine, I'm hitting her with diffused flash) (well 4 of them actually, so I have quite a lot of "fire power" at my fingertips if needed), so it is a bit limiting.

Anyway ... back to the basics ... think of what happens when we have a solar eclipse ... basically the moon gets in the way of the sun, but (if you're in the right place) you'll see the sun trying to "poke out" the edges of the moon ... and essentially, that's one effect you can aim for here (where your subject's head takes the place of the moon) - but - you have to get the sun pretty much right behind her - meter off the face - and take the shot(s) (rim lighting). The basic problem with your shot is that the light wasn't behind her. If you haven't already, best thing you can add to your arsenal is a diffuser (they typically come with those 7 in 1 reflector combos that you can buy anywhere for a handful of $$$ eg

http://www.trademe.co.nz/electronics...-420664686.htm

If you don't have a VAL (Voice Activated Lightstand) then a holder and a boom arm are pretty much essential:

http://www.trademe.co.nz/electronics...-419732864.htm

http://www.trademe.co.nz/electronics...-421174543.htm

(welcome to the world of pro equipment!)

With a diffuser - for the shot you had - it'll do a wonderful job of softening the direct light ... then you can start working on getting the right direction for the lighting.

Also, pop along to www.kelbytraining.com - sign up for the month - and take a look at the videos from James Schmelzer regarding outdoor shooting. You'll learn so much in that 1.5 hours that your head will spin.

Here's a couple of sequential shots from a recent shoot - the first doesn't have a diffuser (look at the dappled light on her hair and shadows on her face), whereas in the 2nd shot both of these problems are 100% cured.