A portrait I took of my friend Jahred, using a one light setup (Neewer C300 with a 20x28 inch softbox).
Shot using the original Canon 5D with a Canon 100mm f/2.8 macro usm lens attached. Prior to this shoot I was almost exclusively a natural light photographer, until I found myself in possession of a beat up second-hand Neewer lighting kit. It was that moment when I fell in love with studio portraiture as much as I love natural light portraiture.
the shirt edge distracts a bit - either no shirt or more shirt, I'd say
I honestly feel the same way about the shirt. Admittedly this was a test shot that was never intended to be a keeper, as I had just gotten the lighting kit and was keen to test it out before an actual client shoot. I was lucky that Jahred was in the room when I got the studio set up (in the living room, and for context we lived together at the time), and rather than testing it on the client who would be arriving within the hour, I was able to get him to stand in for a few shots. At the time there were some principles of shooting with strobes that I wasn't fully familiar with yet, such as using the correct shutter speed. I had my shutter set to 1/250th of a second for this shot, and as a result of using too fast of a shutter speed, part of the shutter door was captured and I had to crop it out of the shot (you might notice the strangely long vertical dimension of the crop). For a test shot it still ended up being one of my personal favorite portraits that I've done. Fortunately I also had many opportunities at other times to get Jahred in front of my camera besides this time in order to capture his likeness with better technique, but I particularly like the evocative nature of this shot despite the annoying asymmetric shirt and weird crop dimensions.
Very nice portrait. I'm assuming it was not easy balancing the highlights and shadows with the darker skin tone. I think you managed very well. I especially like the triangle of light formed over his right eye. Adds a mystery.
sum1sgrampa wrote:
Very nice portrait. I'm assuming it was not easy balancing the highlights and shadows with the darker skin tone. I think you managed very well. I especially like the triangle of light formed over his right eye. Adds a mystery.
Thanks. It really isn't something that crosses my mind. I photograph black folks exactly as I do white folks or anyone else. The principles are all the same in my opinion.
The shirt doesn't bother me as much because you can use a gradient filter and knock down the shirt brightness a couple of stops. That would significantly lessen its distraction. In future shoots like this, you might consider putting a silver reflector on the opposite side from the strobe That way you can move it closer or further away to adjust the shadow side to your liking.
story_teller wrote:
The shirt doesn't bother me as much because you can use a gradient filter and knock down the shirt brightness a couple of stops. That would significantly lessen its distraction. In future shoots like this, you might consider putting a silver reflector on the opposite side from the strobe That way you can move it closer or further away to adjust the shadow side to your liking.
