"School of Portraiture" - Lesson 01 - Backgrounds / Locations

[Ricko]

OK, ran out and took these tonight Hope they are ok.


1. Back wall with not much space.





2. Side fence with a bit more room to move





3. Someones hedge across the road, plenty of room to do anything!

Uploaded with ImageShack.us

[Colin Southern]

Hi Richard,

#1 Would probably work ... bit hard to say because it needs a few adjustments (as a rule we don't want backgrounds drawing attention away from the subject - so backgrounds like that look better under-exposed a bit

#2 Should work OK with a bit of tweaking

#3 I don't think would work well - you might like to have a read of what I wrote for Kay above.

I'll write up lesson #2 tonight and we'll move forward ...

[Shadowman]

Here begins a journey

OK - lets set a little "frame of reference" ... by "portraiture" I'm meaning head & shoulders and/or 3/4 length shots of "models" who are willing participants; are prepared to pose - and are willing to follow instructions. And in this first series of lessons we'll work on outdoor portraiture and natural lighting, so you can put away your 1200 watt-second strobes & portable generators (ahh - hang on, that's me!).

I'm not trying to make this sound like a dictionary definition (it's not) -- but I did want to set the above scene for what I'd like to cover in this series, and just as importantly, what I'm not covering at this time, eg ...

Not covering ...

- Family snaps (where one or family members pauses for a second, says "cheese" whilst the photographer goes "click"), and

- Environmental portraits where for example shots are captured of a worker in their surroundings (although many of the techniques may well be useful for these types of shooting).

OK - with that out the way, the first thing I'd like to work on is backgrounds and locations ...

In reality getting this right is about 1/3 of the battle, and the good news is getting a suitable background & location is actually pretty easy when you know what to look for; we're really only looking for 3 things:

1. Some place that's out of direct sunlight. Direct sunlight is horrible for portraiture (in fact it's horrible for most types of photography) - direct sunlight gives harsh shadows - washes out skin tones - and it makes models squint; generally it's just plain unflattering. So first up, we need a shady place, free of direct light (including dappled light shining through tree branches). Sounds simple enough, but I could show you wedding party shots taken by full-time professionals where dappled light shining through tree branches onto faces of the wedding party has produced far from ideal results - so be sure it's one of the things you look for when gazing through the viewfinder.

2. OK - we've found some places in the shade - but - it's not quite that simple; what I didn't tell you is that we also need a place in the shade WITH SUNLIGHT CLOSE BY. If we pop our model into the shade then already we're streets ahead - but - a shot taken under these types of condition often has no direction to it and the subject will be reflecting levels of light similar to their surrounding and won't "pop" (or "stand out") - recessed areas like eye sockets will be dark, and the images just won't sing. If however you can get your model in the shade - but have sunlight close by (or a fill flash, but that's a different lesson) then some of that light can be reflected back towards the model, making them brighter than their surroundings AND illuminating recessed areas like eyes. Get this right and you'll suddenly be able to reveal pleasing eye detail (like eye colour and patterns) rather than just 2 black holes where eyes used to be.

3. Lastly, we want the location to be appropriate - all too often people aim for a "portrait" but none-the-less end up with 1/2 chewed dog's bones / shopping bags / lawn mowers etc etc etc in the background. Now I'm not saying that some of these things CAN'T be used - but - until you know HOW to use them, they're best avoided. What I find works best is a simple repeating pattern - the likes of trees & shrubbery CAN be used, but again, it has to be handled properly; unless you have the lenses and techniques to throw it significantly out of focus then more often than not it ends up being sharp enough to be a distraction, but not sharp enough to be pleasing; whereas with more regular patterns it doesn't seem to matter quite so much.

So there you have it - Backgrounds and locations. In summary ...

1. In the shade

2. Sun close by

3. Simple background with no distractions

So here's your first portraiture shooting assignment -- have a look around your home / street / community, and select 2 or 3 locations that meet these criteria - take shots of them - and post them here for us to take a look at (ie no models required for this assignment). Too easy eh?

To finish up for today, take a look at the backgrounds I've chosen for these three shots to get an idea of how I've applied the above lesson to my own work.

PS: Hope you ALL feel free to jump in with questions or comments (so long as we don't let the lesson drift too far off track).

Colin,

I see you have left out candid portraits which are more spontaneous and less likely to have overall control by the photographer.

[Colin Southern]

Colin,

I see you have left out candid portraits which are more spontaneous and less likely to have overall control by the photographer.

Yes; I'd rather keep our focus narrow - get the variables under control - and then look at introducing other things so as not to confuse and/or overload.

[Alis]

Posting this one as an example. I meant to use the whole trunk but there were too many ants and other insects on the tree that made him move to left a little bit. But the tree trunk in this case could be a good background:



The picture itself is a bit too flat for some reason. Could not quickly fix it in PP.

[Shadowman]

Yes; I'd rather keep our focus narrow - get the variables under control - and then look at introducing other things so as not to confuse and/or overload.

Accepted parameters.

[Klickit]

Tried the side of the bus, but it is too shiny and reflective. I have a bit of blue cloth that I use for displaying TradeMe stuff, so that will do I think. And there are bound to be walls, fences, whatevers appearing as we move about.

[Maritimer1]

These are my two backgrounds that I can use. Both are by trees and I can face north with one (the fence) and southeast with the other. I have a grey, slatted fence that is on the south side of our house that could do in a pinch.





Myra

[Colin Southern]

Posting this one as an example. I meant to use the whole trunk but there were too many ants and other insects on the tree that made him move to left a little bit. But the tree trunk in this case could be a good background:



The picture itself is a bit too flat for some reason. Could not quickly fix it in PP.

Hi Ali,

I agree - it should work fine; a couple of things you could have done with this one, but I'll make you wait for a later lesson to find out (that's a bout as good as I ever get at creating suspense!).

[Colin Southern]

These are my two backgrounds that I can use. Both are by trees and I can face north with one (the fence) and southeast with the other. I have a grey, slatted fence that is on the south side of our house that could do in a pinch.





Myra

Hi Myra,

Not sure about the first; probably work so long as we can get your model far enough in front of it to throw it out of focus.

With regards to the 2nd - it's touch and go I think ... the texture & form ... potentially great, but we really don't want to be able to see through the gaps. Sometimes we can shoot fences like that at an angle, but I really can't tell it that would work, from that shot.

[Colin Southern]

OK guys & gals, I think I'll wrap lesson 1 up here - some parting thoughts on what I've tried to achieve ...

A significant part of what seperates "snaps" from portraiture is that with snaps of people we're concerned mainly (only?) with the subject ("model"), where as with portraiture, we're considering the whole image. Nobody would be too bothered by a chewed dog's bone in the background of a snapshot of Aunty Gertrude holding her daughter Hildergard; but it's not something that would be acceptable in a portrait - so ...

... when creating portraits we must consider all aspects of the image - and in that regard, I consider the background to be equally as important as the subject. So the things I'm trying to get across here are ...

- Think about what background you're going to use before you even pickup the camera, and when you look through the viewfinder don't just "look", but make a conscious effort to actually "see" - being consciously aware of the background.

- Remember that you really have to shoot portraits to get experience of what works and what doesn't; as a rule, (well it's my belief anyway), "low-frequency" backgrounds work better than high-frequency backgrounds -- "low frequency" being things that have significant shape and texture (eg timber fences, brick walls) as opposed to "high frequency" objects which have lots of fine detail, but no over-all shape or direction (eg shrubbery / hedge etc).

Writing up lesson #2 now - any comments or feedback? Anyone game to post some portraiture shot after reading lesson 1, with good background consideration? (I don't care about other aspects of the shot at this stage)?

[Antonio Correia]

I have been reading with attention what you have been writing Colin.

Let me make a small remark regarding the backgrounds as "high frequency" - that is if I have understood everything clearly.

The background may - should - have some kind of connection with the portrait of the person him/herself.
I mean, if I am shooting a soldier - that is what came to my mind all of a sudden - if I take as background the flag of the regiment, other guns or even a lot of soldiers in a row, this gives a meaning to the portrait. Contextualize the portrait.

I think this is what you mean by a "high frequency" background.
And this a very strong and meaningful way to shoot people.

Did I made myself understand or not that much ?

[Ricko]

Writing up lesson #2 now - any comments or feedback? Anyone game to post some portraiture shot after reading lesson 1, with good background consideration? (I don't care about other aspects of the shot at this stage)?

Hi Colin,

I was wondering, how much PP is acceptable at this stage? My photography can be pretty bad at times

[Colin Southern]

I have been reading with attention what you have been writing Colin.

Let me make a small remark regarding the backgrounds as "high frequency" - that is if I have understood everything clearly.

The background may - should - have some kind of connection with the portrait of the person him/herself.
I mean, if I am shooting a soldier - that is what came to my mind all of a sudden - if I take as background the flag of the regiment, other guns or even a lot of soldiers in a row, this gives a meaning to the portrait. Contextualize the portrait.

I think this is what you mean by a "high frequency" background.
And this a very strong and meaningful way to shoot people.

Did I made myself understand or not that much ?

Hi Antonio,

Yes, and no

In terms of contextualization, ... absolutely a good idea. To be honest, I didn't think to point that out explicitly. But no, nothing really to do with the frequency of the background.

"Frequency" probably isn't the best word as it's not a term many are familiar with in this context (although I did try to explain it a little), so just to try to expand on that a little ...

A background like Richard posted ...



... probably isn't a whole lot more interesting than a green screen. It's what I'd call high frequency because their is lots of small detail - in fact lots and lots and lots of small detail, but that detail isn't really part of any "bigger plan" - it's like background "hiss" from a record, without the foreground orchestral music.

In contrast, something like Ali's tree truck still has texture of the bark (which may or may not get blurred) - but other elements of the scene "break up the monotony" - so this is what I'd call a much lower frequency scene; in other words it's something that can stand as an interesting image in it's own right. The "gold standard" is probably - as you so corrctly mention - something that connects with or is relevant to the scene eg props of a flag behind a portrait of a president or prime minister, or a race car & track behind a driver.

So yes - absolutely right, although having said that, that level is probably going to be a lot more difficult for those starting out (eg far easier to find a paled fence in the shade than it is to get a driver in front of his or her car in the middle of a race track). So yes - if you can access the ultimate background then great - if you can't then find something (anything!) else - just consider the background and avoid the "chewed bone / neighbours letterbox / rubbish bags" syndrome at all costs!

[Colin Southern]

Hi Colin,

I was wondering, how much PP is acceptable at this stage? My photography can be pretty bad at times

Hi Richard,

It's something I'll be covering later - so at this stage you can do as little or as much as you want, but it's not something I'll really evaluating at this stage. Keeping in mind too that a lot of people have very crude retouching skills and often make things worse. So members can make their own choice about this at this stage.

[wilgk]

Anyone game to post some portraiture shot after reading lesson 1, with good background consideration? (I don't care about other aspects of the shot at this stage)?

Hi there - the funny thing is - I really looked at out family portrait on the wall 'in a whole new light' today & guess what we are standing in front of? - yep a brick wall

So here below is my use of my new background (from home not the wall at work - but same technique I had him in the shade with the sun on my right)

also - the first thing my 'model' asked when I said 'I need to take your picture' was....
"Do I have to squint?'
anyway here he is - and I'm off to read lesson 2 now

[Klickit]

Ok, first portrait. I've done this without reading Lesson 2, even though I can see it's there and am dying to read it. This was taken against a wooden garage wall, overcast day, subject facing more or less South. (Read North, if you are in the Northern hemisphere.) Focus point on the eye. Minimal pp included a slight warm-up, clarity increase and levels, so the sliders just touched the corners of the curve.

I can see some faults immediately, including his higher shoulder - it's not like that IRL - and it's not the sharpest.

Creation date: 7/08/2010 15:50
Camera: NIKON D80
Lens: Tamron SP AF 28-75mm F2.8 XR Di LD Aspherical [IF] Macro
Focal length: 62*mm*(equiv. 93*mm)
Aperture: F3.2
Exposure time: 1/60"
ISO speed rating: 200
Program: Aperture priority
Metering Mode: Center-weighted average
White Balance: Preset (but ignore this, as I forgot to reset it to Auto)
Focus Mode: AF-C
Noise Reduction: Off
Flash: Flash did not fire

[Colin Southern]

Hi there - the funny thing is - I really looked at out family portrait on the wall 'in a whole new light' today & guess what we are standing in front of? - yep a brick wall

So here below is my use of my new background (from home not the wall at work - but same technique I had him in the shade with the sun on my right)

also - the first thing my 'model' asked when I said 'I need to take your picture' was....
"Do I have to squint?'
anyway here he is - and I'm off to read lesson 2 now

Hi Kay,

Yep - excellent start. Keeping in mind though that the "big picture" isn't to shoot every portrait from now on in front of a brick wall, but to consider (and actively think about) backgrounds for all portraiture from now on (at which point you can shout Eureka! as the lightbulb goes on!) - so feel free to go shoot a few more in front of other good backgrounds; see what works & what doesn't work!

[Colin Southern]

Ok, first portrait. I've done this without reading Lesson 2, even though I can see it's there and am dying to read it. This was taken against a wooden garage wall, overcast day, subject facing more or less South. (Read North, if you are in the Northern hemisphere.) Focus point on the eye. Minimal pp included a slight warm-up, clarity increase and levels, so the sliders just touched the corners of the curve.

I can see some faults immediately, including his higher shoulder - it's not like that IRL - and it's not the sharpest.

Hi Kit,

Great start too. We'll cover posing in a few more lessons, but just a quick pointer for now ... you'll usually want to have the shoulders at a significant angle to the neck and head; square on like this is a bit of a "glorified mugshot" pose (albeing one with a great background!).

Also, don't be afraid to rotate the camera quite a few degrees too - it'll make the background lines look a bit more "modern" and inject a bit of energy into the shot (doesn't work with square on shots like this, but then again, once you discover better poses, I don't think you'll be shooting square-on poses anymore anyway)

If you're keen, try the same thing again, but with the gent leaning on something (even sitting down - leaning forward - and leaning one arm on the arm rest of a chair.

[Ricko]

Uploaded with ImageShack.us

Oks, I'm rushing a bit here! But better to get something up than nothing

The sun was actually behind me for this shot, which isn't what was stated in the first lesson, but it was behind clouds. The problem this caused was that I didn't have much directional light to use. Hence the eye area seems a bit too dark!
Shot was taken on a tripod but I did notice some movement when I depressed the shutter button because the camera was at hanging at 90 degs so I'll use a cord next time.

No real PP on this shot as I wanted it "As shot" as much as possible. (Dont tell the missus)

Hopefully will get more time tomorrow to give it 100%, sorry this is only a quick effort Colin.