“If God had intended photographers to use more than one key light, he would have made more suns.” Just about every single shot includi…
“If God had intended photographers to use more than one key light, he would have made more suns.” Just about every single shot including the food and still life shots in my portfolio was made with one light. One light in the right place. You won’t need any more except possibly to light a background. In this case make sure that they light the background, and do not spill back on to the subject. Use barn doors or large black sheets of card if necessary. Very early in my career I learnt that light bounces around all over the place in a white studio. This is unwanted light. When I worked for top food photographers and fashion photographers like Barry Lategan, we actually blacked out the studio with drapes or black screens. Great for glassware too. I ordered funeral drapes to cover an entire studio when I was asked to light a “Finish” (the dishwasher stuff) TV commercial in Milan. The essential shot was of a glass. How do you get a glass to look sparkling clean? Answer, outline it in black, make it totally transparent and have one clean reflection of light on it. How do you do that? Black out the studio; this creates the black edges which are the walls reflecting in the edges of the glass. Use one ‘window’ type light. In this instance I used a 6×4 sheet of opaque white Perspex and stuck some halogen floods behind it. Result – one clean reflection of soft light, no glass to be seen, just the black outline of one. It looks as clean as a whistle because the glass is invisible! The actor doing the demo in the commercial looked good too, with a similar lighting quality to that in my stills. The cameramen were two old hacks from Rome who scoffed in bemused wonderment at this 22 year old kid who had made the studio look set for a funeral. The drapes were all that the three funeral companies could provide. However, the results were crystal, the client was thrilled, I was a hero for a day, and I got more work from the production company who shot the ad. This lighting style was often copied after that, and is still the basis of many British commercials today. So where were we? Yes one light. One light in the right place. At John Cowan’s studio, I persuaded John to have the entire walls of the studio painted black to which he agreed. Why black? So that the light does not bounce all over the room filling in shadows where you want shadows. To start with black and then paint with light gives you much more control over your lighting. It makes you the master of it. It gives you the contrast you want without having to print on grade 4 paper, thus allowing more detail in mid tones. I painted my studio in Milan black, and would do the same today. It gives you a quality that is sharp and precise. OK so where does the One Light go? More or less above your own head and slightly above the subject. This will slim the face by putting the cheekbones in shadow if the model is facing you head on. Take a look at the head shots in my portfolio and look where the shadows are. Then figure out where the light is. Above the camera, maybe slightly to one side. This should be the side the model faces if the shot is three quarters on or the shoulders are three quarters on. When you have set up, always use a tripod to establish your camera position and then adjust the light until it is exactly where you want it. Don’t run around the model with your camera in hand. It may look good in the movies, but it will look crap in your contacts, with no consistent lighting whatsoever. Just one more thing, what sort of light you may ask? The light should be intense but soft, so a single umbrella is fine, a soft box is fine, and a bowl light is excellent. This is where the flash head is reflected into a shallow bowl and the head is shielded. If the bowl is then opaqued by a thin sheet of plastic, you will get the same quality as some of the Vogue photographers. It is a very flattering light. You can tell when it has been used by top photographers. You will see the circular highlight with a black center reflected in the model’s eyes. OK folks so that’s how I light head shots (and many of the top guys I have assisted). Give it a whirl and see if you can take some shots that stun you, the girl you are shooting, and the horse I rode in on. ‘til next time – John
This is really big! We’ve tracked down some of the coolest photography prizes we could find, passed the hat round the office for some b…
This is really big! We’ve tracked down some of the coolest photography prizes we could find, passed the hat round the office for some bubblecash, stuck the megaphone out the window, and now we’re ready to launch the RedBubble Real Photography Competition. Prizes include: / – Leica M4-P plus 50mm F2 Summicron (or a Canon 400D + 17-85mm IS USM) / – Elinchrom D-Lite 4 – Studio Lighting Kit / – Gitzo Carbon Fiber Tripod with a Really Right Stuff BH-40LR Head / – 15 x great photography books / – $2500 bubblecash There are five categories, and you can only enter once per category. Simply upload your entry and tag it as follows: 1) Landscape, Travel and Nature Tag your entry with landscapephotocomp 2) Portrait, Fashion and Commercial Tag your entry with fashionphotocomp 3) Black and White, Street, and Reportage Tag your entry with bwphotocomp 4) America Tag your entry with usaphotocomp 5) Europe Tag your entry with europephotocomp See www.redbubble.com/promo/photocomp for full details
We recently did a test shoot for Maria Gonzales and “R…
We recently did a test shoot for Maria Gonzales and Rogue Artists With very bad rain forecast, we abandoned our location scouting and set about using any available space in her store, including the tea room, out the back and yes, even in the toilet. James was set up in the main shop room with studio lights so hopefully we got a mix of my random roaming around and some nice clear polished shots. I haven’t even made it half way through my shots yet, but here are a few if you’re interested.
Last weekend I spent one day roaming the city doing some fashion shots. Straight fashion is not my usual style, so I appreciated the “tes…
Last weekend I spent one day roaming the city doing some fashion shots. Straight fashion is not my usual style, so I appreciated the test shoot to try out some ideas. Anyway, here is some of what I came up with. As you can tell, I’m still playing with ideas and developing the right skills for this genre of photography but it lots of fun! If anyone else wants to model for me in their favorite outfits so I can practice on you drop me a line Many thanks to all the models, MUAs and photographers involved / Simon Liberta: www.redbubble.com/people/liberta / Dave Aarons: www.redbubble.com/people/daveaarons / Bronwen Hyde: www.bronwenhyde.com/ / James Price: www.vividphotogrpahy.net / Jo O’Brien: www.joobrien.com.au / Stephen Michell: www.ezcreate.com.au / Louise: http://www.fashionising.com/models/portfolio/n/Louise/m/7482/ / Chenai: www.modelmayhem.com/chenai / Eugenia: http://www.starnow.com/eugeniaaverina / Praveen: http://www.fashionising.com/profile.php?profile=16296 / Sonia: http://www.fashionising.com/profile.php?profile=16615 / Elise: www.redbubble.com/people/elisel / Kelli – www.fashionising.com/photos.php?member=16103
I’ve entered three works (in accordance with the clearly defined rules) into the RedBubble Photo Competition...
I’ve entered three works (in accordance with the clearly defined rules) into the RedBubble Photo Competition Theme 1: Landscape, Travel and Nature / Entry: Shell Necklace / These shells have attached themselves to a string of seaweed washed up in the surf. Found on Kangaroo Island. / (tagged: landscapephotocomp ) Theme 2: Portrait, Fashion and Commercial / Entry: Hail Britannia II / Shot at 2007 All British Day, Uraidla, Adelaide Hills, February 11th, 2007 / (tagged: fashionphotocomp) Theme 3: Black and White, Street and Reportage / Entry: Coffee in Carpark / Atop a carpark in the Adelaide CBD. Captured as found / (tagged: bwphotocomp )
How excited was i to wake up this morning only to find that my piece ‘Pippa’ had been featured in Fine Art of Portraiture group….i’m ma…
How excited was i to wake up this morning only to find that my piece ‘Pippa’ had been featured in Fine Art of Portraiture group….i’m made up!
Thankyou for featuring my T-shirt Design “Happy to be ME” !http://images-0.redbubble.net/img/clothing/bodycolor:white/cropped/siz…
Thankyou for featuring my T-shirt Design “Happy to be ME” I’m ecstatic!
This series of pictures was shot during the Summer of 2006. During that Summer I was going a little nuts with the amount of shoots I was …
This series of pictures was shot during the Summer of 2006. During that Summer I was going a little nuts with the amount of shoots I was doing. I think I did 18 shoots that Summer. / I’d never shot at Mooney’s Bay before. I’d always wanted to but just never found the right person to work with. I’d also been looking forward to shooting with Tania for what seemed like years! So now with the perfect location and the perfect model I was set! / I’m always blessed with the best weather when I shoot. I can’t even shoot in the rain if I planned it! This day with Tania is no different. And of course having a great looking woman helps! / Click here to view the full set of Tania’s pictures. / http://www.flickr.com/photos/jefharris/sets/72157602071894275/
Just checked into my bubble profile whilst on my travels in Malaysia, so happy to see that ‘Gemma’ has been featured in Fine Art of Portr…
Just checked into my bubble profile whilst on my travels in Malaysia, so happy to see that ‘Gemma’ has been featured in Fine Art of Portraiture group, thank you so much to those who host this amazing group for appreciating my work.
YAY! 2nd feature for my piece ‘Pippa’ this time in the Fashion Illustration group. Many thanks to all concerned !http://images-1.redbu…
YAY! 2nd feature for my piece ‘Pippa’ this time in the Fashion Illustration group. Many thanks to all concerned
Thank you to Stephanie and Jinxxx for appreciating my work and featuring me in their amazing group ‘Painted Ladies’. Steph X !http:...
Thank you to Stephanie and Jinxxx for appreciating my work and featuring me in their amazing group ‘Painted Ladies’. Steph X
Thankyou for featuring my T-shirt in your group!!! Love Barcode T-shirt !http://images-1.redbubble.net/img/clothing/bodycolor:white…
Thankyou for featuring my T-shirt in your group!!! Love Barcode T-shirt
!http://images…
Ever since posting this piece back in June i’ve never really been content with the outcome of how she looked on RB, bit too much of a blue hue going on for my liking, i kept on looking at the original thinking it’s just so much better, anyway after a bit of tweaking in PS here she is, much improved in my books. Thanks to all of you who previously commented on her and added her to your faves. Steph :))
It’s been a while since I publish new material here, but don’t think that’s because I was lazy.. well I was with the uploads but I was sh…
It’s been a while since I publish new material here, but don’t think that’s because I was lazy.. well I was with the uploads but I was shooting like crazy in the last 2 months. Finally got some awesome pics of Melbourne… (will come shortly) and since I was travelling for a month, got few more places, like Bangkok worth to mention now back to studio and doing what I love the most… glamour, portraiture & fashion… OH hard life…:)
Dimensions are from post cards to posters for all my exposed photos. / I invite you anytime for your best book in my studio. / Custom and o…
Dimensions are from post cards to posters for all my exposed photos. / I invite you anytime for your best book in my studio. / Custom and order works anytime.
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