My first Portrait Attempt

Rick M

Senior Member
Had a fun morning shooting my first portraits today. I had a few mistakes, but all in all I'm ok with the results. I discovered that I need a lighter background. Despite direct light on the background, his hair does not stand out as much as I would have liked. Will go for some lighter colors for the next one. I accidently moved up my shutter speed while shootiung and half the shots were under exposed, live and learn!

Here's a few from today

These are all shot with the Nikon 85mm 1.8g at f5. Studio lighting was all continuous flourescent, 3 85w (425 equivalent) and 2 30w (about 100w equivalent), no flash. The bulbs are all 5500k matched the WB as close as possible. I was very pleased with the color reproduction.

Click on the image for a larger size, any suggestions welcome!


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Marcel

Happily retired
Staff member
Super Mod
Nice portraits Rick. Like Jack said, you need just one backlight and they'll be perfect.
As far as the stance of the subject, I found that it was alway better to have them turn their shoulders about 45 degrees from the camera and lean a little bit forward to give the shoulders a little angle. Also, when the front elbow is leaning on the knee, it makes the double chin almost disappear and this makes the subjects look thinner. And sometimes, having the subject sit a little lower than the camera gives a certain look to the portrait. Don't be afraid to experiment and look at the masters' galleries. Google Karsh and you'll get some ideas of how to position your subjects.

I'm sure this will open up another world for you. Enjoy!
 

Rick M

Senior Member
Thanks Guys! I need to get a boom so I can control the hair light. I did have a lamp between him and the background, but I did not have a reflector on it so it was not concentrated on the background. Looks like I need to spend some more money :)
 

pedroj

Senior Member
Very nice Rick...For more detail in the hair bounce your flash off the ceiling...

You would be happy with these...
 

RockyNH_RIP

Senior Member
Rick, very nice!!! Cannot comment much (cuz I have no experience, training or skill) but I thought the background actually looked pretty good and to my untrained eye, your lighting looked good... Looks like you are having fun!! :)

Patin NH
 

AxeMan - Rick S.

Senior Member
Not that I have any skill level to give advise, but from what I have learned so far I would like to say the same thing as Jack & Marcel. First thing I noticed was you need a hair light. As for the shots themselves I like the last one. Keep up the great work!

I should have something we all can look at late next week. My backdrop is going to be here Tuesday, and my next day off after that is Thursday. Don't know how booked my Thursday is yet with personal things, but I'm hoping to spend some time playing then.
 

Rick M

Senior Member
Thank guys! After doing this I have a new respect for portrait photographers, it's a bit of work (but fun as a hobby). Between the setup/breakdown time and the unwilling subject it is time consuming. My kitchen became the studio so now I want a bigger house (and my wife thought all the gear was the expensive part :)).
 

disciplerocks

Senior Member
I don't do any studio style shots, but the only critique I have is I think the last photo should have the background more in focus. If it were outdoor, I would suggest the opposite.

They all look good though. You can probably bring out the hair with a little fill light in PS with your RAW image.
 

Rick M

Senior Member
I don't do any studio style shots, but the only critique I have is I think the last photo should have the background more in focus. If it were outdoor, I would suggest the opposite.

They all look good though. You can probably bring out the hair with a little fill light in PS with your RAW image.

Yea I would have gone above f5, but lighting only permited 1/100 at f5. I could have bumped the ISO up a bit as I was only at 500, which isn't much for the D600. I really learned a lot today and from you folks, I'll take another stab at it next weekend. I need to work out the hair and background lighting, which will also help reach a higher aperture with a bit more lighting. It's amazing how much light is needed! I was pleased with the balance of the front lighting so I'll have a bit more confidence with the next attempt.
 

pedroj

Senior Member
Thank guys! After doing this I have a new respect for portrait photographers, it's a bit of work (but fun as a hobby). Between the setup/breakdown time and the unwilling subject it is time consuming. My kitchen became the studio so now I want a bigger house (and my wife thought all the gear was the expensive part :)).
..

I detect a divorce about to happen.......
 

Ruidoso Bill

Senior Member
Nice job Rick, portraits can be a pain sometimes. Bounce a flash off the ceiling or I even use a small clip on halogen and clip it on the back drop stand to highlight the hair. If possible keep your subject as far from the back drop as possible which will give you more options with DOF. Next do some groups, families etc, that will help you develop some posing strategies. I'm like Marcel for a single, always have them turn and look back at you, helps angles and double chin issues as well. Look for the best side, one is normally more appealing than the other. Just my 2 cents.
 
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wysiwyg

Senior Member
Rick - an even cheaper easier solution to adding light in tricky places is to buy a few pop up reflectors and clamp them to anything handy - light shaping tools are sometimes better than extra lights - and even just using a speed light off camera bouncing light around! Good job -
 
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