This year for our church I'm going to be taking some headshots of some of the more active members. Our Pastor wants something simple and dramatic in black and white. I was thinking of a deep black BG but wanted some opinions as what types of lighting you would create, Rembrandt, beauty, etc. I don't shoot a lot of B&W but I thought I'd keep the lighting softer for the ladies, especially for the older ones, and maybe more contrasty for the men or should I stick with one type? Appreciate the feedback.
If the images will all be presented together, I'd keep the lighting setup the same.
As far as background tonality, watch out for all black backgrounds. They can work, but IMO they require a bit of aesthetic finesse to not look campy. I prefer a bit of tone and gradation, often using thunder gray and using subject distance and lighting to control it's tone.
Lighting setups? The sky is the limit. I tend to go with a bit more contrast and use grids for mains when I'm shooting for BW. Though there's no reason something softer like a clamshell setup couldn't work dandy.
If you go an inky black background, just make sure you have something to separate the hair from the background so it doesn't disappear. (which of course is not what I did with some of these examples)
Really? The gentleman on the bottom has a rosy complexion normally, but he looks pretty faithful to me on my monitor. Same with the rest of the images. They aren't printing out red either for studio prints. His shirt isn't blown out either. There is thread detail on the print and upon zooming into the image.
And highlight burn is okay by me. You speaking about the last image again? A 16x20 example of that image *pops* when people see it hanging as an example.
Thank you every, all good advice. yes, I was already starting to rethink the black BG and maybe stick with Thunder Gray (which I have also) and maybe use my Elinchrom BG reflector for a uniform look. I do love that inky black look though.
I just got back from Photoshop World in Las Vegas and watched Jim Schmelzer create absolutely incredible black and white portraits with one Qflash into a Rogue Flashbender as a key light, basically 45 degrees up and over to create a loop lighting pattern, another as a hair light from opposite and behind (bare bulb into another Flashbender), and another into a gridded snoot laying on the floor, pointing up to create a highlight pool on the bkg. I was amazed at how good these were. He created a kind of Hurrell/Hollywood look with this setup that just killed me. It's all about the placement of the lights (but you know that already).
Greg, how will these be used? Will they be in print or on the web? Will they be tied to a campaign or some promotional material? Will you be able to take all the photos in one or two sessions?
If you can shoot under easily controlled conditions so that there is consistency in lighting, etc., I think a nice plain gray background would be fine. Basic loop lighting would do and be easier to control. As I demonstrate to my students, true Rembrandt lighting requires more precise positioning of the main to the subject; a movement of the subject of just a couple of inches can eliminate the pattern.
If the shoot can't be controlled easily then I'd be inclined to pitch environmental portraits of the subjects. You could photograph them pursuing a strong interest - gardening, cooking, working with the homeless, teaching children's Sunday school, etc.
Your pastor seems to have some definate ideas. Can he provide samples of what he's looking for?
"Greg, how will these be used? Will they be in print or on the web? Will they be tied to a campaign or some promotional material? Will you be able to take all the photos in one or two sessions?
If you can shoot under easily controlled conditions so that there is consistency in lighting, etc., I think a nice plain gray background would be fine. Basic loop lighting would do and be easier to control. As I demonstrate to my students, true Rembrandt lighting requires more precise positioning of the main to the subject; a movement of the subject of just a couple of inches can eliminate the pattern.
If the shoot can't be controlled easily then I'd be inclined to pitch environmental portraits of the subjects. You could photograph them pursuing a strong interest - gardening, cooking, working with the homeless, teaching children's Sunday school, etc.
Your pastor seems to have some definate ideas. Can he provide samples of what he's looking for?"
Excellent question. Actually I was given much better clarity this weekend. I have very little time between shots. It could be a head shot, a 3/4 , a full length, or a family of 4, etc. So I think I'm going to roll out a 20' muslin and set up my 53' Octa for key, a strip for hair and separation, and a BD with grid overhead for the BG for a little vignette and see what happens. Thank you all for your input.
Methodical wrote:
Question: Why do photographers crop the tops of the heads out of the photo? Why not show the entire head?
Thanks...Al
Al, should all photographs look the same? Should everyone be posed at 3/4 from the right with short lighting? How about broad lighting?
Sometimes I cut the head to help focus on the eyes. Sometimes I will use certain lighting to focus on the eyes. Sometimes I cut the head to help hide balding.....it goes on and on. Bottom line is that it is a choice for different subjects/photographers.
In this situation many people use soft butterfly lighting for the ladies. See the butterfly nose shadow on Sid's pics.
Many people tend to use something that is a little more mantastic for the men, like a rembrandt with the triangle shadow on the cheek.
Of course my personal favorite for this type of image is very dramatic. I tend to shoot the subject in full profile using a single softbox at 90 degrees from the camera position. I have the softbox height well above the height of the subjects head and have them looking dead into the center of the softbox. They will look like they are being touched by a beam of light from a single high window.
I would save this for one saintly person, as doing a bunch of images like this would be a bit much.
