model wanna be

[Akhsan Aziz]

These photos are just my experiment. taken at home in the evening.

1. Used a down light lamp and the main lamp. It seems too bright.



2&3. Only used a standing lamp.





Thanks for viewing.

C&C are most welcome.

[IzzieK]

Very good attempt, Akshan...I do not know much about portrait/modelling shots but I know that it will help if you move your subject/s far away from the wall as possible so they do not have that harsh shadow behind them...Manfred and a few others here will be able to help you best.

[Akhsan Aziz]

Very good attempt, Akshan...I do not know much about portrait/modelling shots but I know that it will help if you move your subject/s far away from the wall as possible so they do not have that harsh shadow behind them...Manfred and a few others here will be able to help you best.

Thanks Izzie! Noted.
Yes they were too close to the wall.

[IzzieK]

Thanks Izzie! Noted.
Yes they were too close to the wall.

When you have a little problem like this, go to the internet and type "how do I eliminate shadows on the wall from my subject in photography?" and it will show you a lot of answers to your question and you can pick one from those answers that you can understand easily...

[Akhsan Aziz]

When you have a little problem like this, go to the internet and type "how do I eliminate shadows on the wall from my subject in photography?" and it will show you a lot of answers to your question and you can pick one from those answers that you can understand easily...

once again thanks !
Just click one of many links, it said the distance from the wall should around 7 feet or use a reflective fabric..

[Shadowman]

Nice efforts, you avoided the reflections in the glasses on the second image but not the third. That is something to avoid as it distracts from your subject's eyes. Agree with Izzie about the shadows.

[Akhsan Aziz]

Nice efforts, you avoided the reflections in the glasses on the second image but not the third. That is something to avoid as it distracts from your subject's eyes. Agree with Izzie about the shadows.

Yup...thank for the input !

[Manfred M]

Akhsan - as someone who does use lighting when shooting people, let me make a few quick comments.

1. When using artificial light in portraiture, we tend to try to emulate natural light, i.e. sunlight. That generally means that the light is coming from high above us, rather than from down below. The lighting you have used in these shots is called "uplighting", i.e the light is coming up from below. It is a lighting technique used in early horror movies, as it looks spooky and un-natural. It is probably not the best lighting to use when shooting people.

A good place to start your artificial lighting study is something referred to as 45/45 lighting. Position your light so it shines down on your models from a 45 degree angle, and position it so it hits your models positioned 45 degrees horizontally to your models.

2. People have already mentioned the harsh shadows. Having your models stand 2 - 3 m from the wall helps a lot here. If you position your lights the way I describe in point 1, you will also find that the shadow falls behind and below the models, and that helps hide any shadows.

3. Reflections from glasses can be impossible to hide. Normally photographers will try to shoot models without their glasses. If the glasses are part of the look you are after, a common trick is to remove the lenses from the frames and to just shoot the person wearing the frames.

4. You say that the lights are too bright? Just decrease your exposure. If the models find the lights to bright, well, that is why these types of shots are done usually done with flash, rather than continuous light sources. Continuous light rarely delivers enough light to get a fast enough shutter speed and small enough aperture for this type of shooting.

[rpcrowe]

Great start, you caught your subjects in very natural poses...

I agree with the tips above. Some other considerations that I noticed:

1. When shooting with continuous light it is often difficult to get enough light to shoot at a low ISO and to (a.) freeze the camera shake and (b.) to use a small enough aperture to get your subject(s) entirely in focus. When shooting with a larger aperture (short depth of field) I like to ensure that the faces (especially the eyes) are in best focus. Sometimes using continuous light, getting enough light might bother your subjects and cause squinting. In that case increase your ISO until you have a shutter speed and f/stop you can and your subjects can be comfortable with. Sure, a high ISO may produce noise but, that can be minimized with post processing. Most post processing programs have some sort of noise reduction capability. I'd also rather have a sharp and correctly focused image with a bit of noise than a noise free image that is not sharp due to camera shake or incorrect focus.

2. When shooting a group of people, try to ensure that the shadows from one person doesn't fall on another person.

3. I am not sure that your color balance is quite correct. Color balance can be adjusted in post processing, especially if you are shooting in RAW. Donald introduced me to the Whibal Card https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yKM-fwYnaIg
However, there are other cards which will allow the adjustment of the white balance to approximately what you saw when shooting...

4. I personally don't care for portraits shot from a lower angle. This tends to shoot up the subjects nostrils and can make the nose seem larger than normal...

I would love to shoot the young lady in image #1. IMO, she has a very photogenic face.

Keep shooting and keep posting - welcome to CiC

[Akhsan Aziz]

Akhsan - as someone who does use lighting when shooting people, let me make a few quick comments.

1. When using artificial light in portraiture, we tend to try to emulate natural light, i.e. sunlight. That generally means that the light is coming from high above us, rather than from down below. The lighting you have used in these shots is called "uplighting", i.e the light is coming up from below. It is a lighting technique used in early horror movies, as it looks spooky and un-natural. It is probably not the best lighting to use when shooting people.

A good place to start your artificial lighting study is something referred to as 45/45 lighting. Position your light so it shines down on your models from a 45 degree angle, and position it so it hits your models positioned 45 degrees horizontally to your models.

2. People have already mentioned the harsh shadows. Having your models stand 2 - 3 m from the wall helps a lot here. If you position your lights the way I describe in point 1, you will also find that the shadow falls behind and below the models, and that helps hide any shadows.

3. Reflections from glasses can be impossible to hide. Normally photographers will try to shoot models without their glasses. If the glasses are part of the look you are after, a common trick is to remove the lenses from the frames and to just shoot the person wearing the frames.

4. You say that the lights are too bright? Just decrease your exposure. If the models find the lights to bright, well, that is why these types of shots are done usually done with flash, rather than continuous light sources. Continuous light rarely delivers enough light to get a fast enough shutter speed and small enough aperture for this type of shooting.

Dear Manfred,

Thank you for your detail explanation and useful tips. Noted. I am trying to figure it out and practice it.
I have not taken any course of photography yet, but I am planning to. I am still busy taking some other courses like English and French. And I'd rather playing football and boy scout at the moment . So I am not familiar with some terms in your statement.

In terms of lighting, yes the light is too low. the standing lamp cannot be adjusted but maybe later I can use table or stool to try the tips.

Regards.

[Akhsan Aziz]

Great start, you caught your subjects in very natural poses...

I agree with the tips above. Some other considerations that I noticed:

1. When shooting with continuous light it is often difficult to get enough light to shoot at a low ISO and to (a.) freeze the camera shake and (b.) to use a small enough aperture to get your subject(s) entirely in focus. When shooting with a larger aperture (short depth of field) I like to ensure that the faces (especially the eyes) are in best focus. Sometimes using continuous light, getting enough light might bother your subjects and cause squinting. In that case increase your ISO until you have a shutter speed and f/stop you can and your subjects can be comfortable with. Sure, a high ISO may produce noise but, that can be minimized with post processing. Most post processing programs have some sort of noise reduction capability. I'd also rather have a sharp and correctly focused image with a bit of noise than a noise free image that is not sharp due to camera shake or incorrect focus.

2. When shooting a group of people, try to ensure that the shadows from one person doesn't fall on another person.

3. I am not sure that your color balance is quite correct. Color balance can be adjusted in post processing, especially if you are shooting in RAW. Donald introduced me to the Whibal Card https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yKM-fwYnaIg
However, there are other cards which will allow the adjustment of the white balance to approximately what you saw when shooting...

4. I personally don't care for portraits shot from a lower angle. This tends to shoot up the subjects nostrils and can make the nose seem larger than normal...

I would love to shoot the young lady in image #1. IMO, she has a very photogenic face.

Keep shooting and keep posting - welcome to CiC

Hi Richard,

Thank you for your appreciation and tips. Noted.
The models are my sister and cousins

Regards.