Finally made it to a studio session to learn about this unknown area this past Saturday. We were eight students so each of us had a few minutes with the model at each round.
Below are a few images from the session, no touching up here except for white balance and levels (As in particular aside from removing a pimple here or there I have absolutely no knowledge in retouching skin).
Who was your instructor? Did he have you build these set ups or shoot them?
Pattern blue, red satin and high key backgrounds are fairly complex backgrounds that most would never attempt for their first foray into the studio. Not to mention the accent lighting and balanced ratios. Great job. Looking forward to more.
The high key BGs look to me like a large SB, panel, or octa. Explains the tight cropping and it's really the easiest way to do that with minimal lights, fiddling, and PP.
Who was your instructor? Did he have you build these set ups or shoot them?
Pattern blue, red satin and high key backgrounds are fairly complex backgrounds that most would never attempt for their first foray into the studio. Not to mention the accent lighting and balanced ratios. Great job. Looking forward to more.
Good luck.
His name is Clarke Drahce, you can see a new newsletter he just started here. Essentially you subscribe to a new lighting setup at 5 euros per month - he's now working on the English version. Quite a good job as in about 20 pages he covers how he did a shoot.
bacilonur wrote:
The high key BGs look to me like a large SB, panel, or octa. Explains the tight cropping and it's really the easiest way to do that with minimal lights, fiddling, and PP.
The red background used a mix of different type sources (panel and bowl).
The high key was simply two sources in reflector umbrellas aimed at a white background with the model standing right in the middle of the two sources in a "doorway".
The blue lighting was simply two light boxes (panels?) with a stencil positioned in a light source to get the pattern.
Not sure of the vocabularly here, I'm American but as I've learned alot of this in French haven't yet got all the direct translations !
mholdef wrote:
i plan to go back to the studio to rent it out and have him help me set up the lighting the firt couple of times.
Mark,
What you were able to do in your first session is more than some will ever do in their careers.
I'm not one to advocate "formulas for success" or "light by numbers" but having a good real-life lighting mentor is invaluable.
Even though the natural tendency for most photographers is to assume they can figure it out on their own; some do, most don't. To see first hand how a journeyman uses various tools at their disposable and be able to ask them questions about their methods is still the most effective way to scale the learning curve and increase one's level of confidence. You are fortunate to have a qualified mentor, at any price.
There is a saying, the doctor who treats himself has a fool for a patient.
You are wise student indeed to seek qualified instruction beyond the internet. What you will learn from just watching this guy for a few minutes is money well spent and worth more than spending 100, make that 1000, hours on a forum.
What you were able to do in your first session is more than some will ever do in their careers.
I'm not one to advocate "formulas for success" or "light by numbers" but having a good real-life lighting mentor is invaluable.
Even though the natural tendency for most photographers is to assume they can figure it out on their own; some do, most don't. To see first hand how a journeyman uses various tools at their disposable and be able to ask them questions about their methods is still the most effective way to scale the learning curve and increase one's level of confidence. You are fortunate to have a qualified mentor, at any price.
There is a saying, the doctor who treats himself has a fool for a patient.
You are wise student indeed to seek qualified instruction beyond the internet. What you will learn from just watching this guy for a few minutes is money well spent and worth more than spending 100, make that 1000, hours on a forum.
Many thanks for the positive comments. Funny you mention "light by numbers" but that's exactly the way I've described his newsletter to other people!
I plan to continue working with this instructor, to see first what he can show me that he likes to do, then i can come in with some of my own ideas and ask him to walk me through it and then hopefully can start doing this completely on my own.
My idea is to do another 3-4 sessions with him and models I bring in and then be released into the wild.
You can go down to the bank and watch the pro cast his line. The mechanics of the process really are not to difficult to figure out because its just simple physics: mass, lever arm, etc. You can go on line to Orvis buy all the gear and go down to the river and with a few hours practice cast just like the pro: but not catch any fish. Why? Because the secret of fishing isn't having all the right gear or even knowing how to use it expertly: the true secret is learning how to think like a fish and how the fly will look from the fishes point of view at various times of year and time of day. The photographic equivalent is learning how to put yourself inside the mind of the viewer and imagine how they will react perceptionally and emotionally to the patterns of contrast the lighting, in the holistic sense of source and what reflects it, creates.
I spent two years of my young life working with a "Master of Light" learning "how to cast" photographically. It took a lot longer to learn to think like a fish So while you are learning the techniques by imitation take the time to dig a bit deeper and understand why each image works, or not, on a perceptual and emotional reaction level from the point of view of a stranger seeing the image for the first time.
What is the goal/message for the photo? What are the criteria for success meeting it? What different strategies might work to meet it? Which is the best and why? For example why a red background in one shot and blue in the other? For the sake of variety or to change the mood of the photo? Did you intend the photo to flatter the model or not? Does it? Why or why not? What are your personal criteria for things which flatter a person in a photo?
The best time to ask those types of questions is when your mentor is around to answer them, so use the time to best advantage
I certainly need to listen attentively, ask questions, and compare what he's doing with what I'd like to do and ask him how he'd do it so that i can progress.
