Table of Contents The Rules Of Good Portraiture
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Numerous times here on Photocamel I see photographers using direct sunshine as the main light in portraiture. This can be done in the early morning or late evening with a white reflector or flash to fill in the shadows, but in between those times sunshine is very difficult to control unless you have a staff of five or six to hold the required diffusers, reflectors or scrims. Also fumbling with a light stand and clamps to hold an too small diffuser in even a light breeze will result in more time spend trying to set it up than you will shooting. If you are like me I like to travel light. A camera, meter, reflector, a zebra card and maybe an off camera flash is about all I want to lug around even with my ever present assistant along to help. When you arrive at the scene of the shoot all one needs to do is LOOK at what the lighting is doing to the face of the subject and then determine if the lighting that is there is sufficient, or does it need a reflector or an off camera flash to supplement it. The off camera flash can be used as a main light, or a fill light. If the off camera flash is used as a main light it should be placed where the shadows cast by it will render a pleasing light pattern. You will set the aperture based on the output of the flash, and the shutter speed will regulate the ambient light which is now the background/hair/fill lights. If you are using the off camera flash as a fill light, it should be about 2/3rds of a stop LESS than the highlight side and held above the camera. In the example images below all were lit by sunshine that was bounced off of a nearby building. No additional lighting was used, although if needed I did have the above items along "just in case."    |
Table of Contents The Rules Of Good Portraiture
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Benji's Book Posing and Lighting My full color 8.5 x 11 inch glossy 44 page book on how to pose and light the high school senior girl is in my hands are ready to be shipped. It has 44 different poses in it, including head and shoulders, waist up, 3/4 and full length poses. Twenty six poses are shown without a prop, most of the rest of the poses are with chairs that can be bought locally in a second hand furniture store (or new!) I also show a steel "school" chair that I have modified, and I've included instructions how to do it. Four pages of lighting diagrams and five wide angle shots showing the entire scene, then the actual close up shot of that same image so you can see just what the heck the rest of her body is doing to get that great close up shot! LOTS of posing and lighting tips in easy to understand language. Poses for the larger gal as well as the size 6 senior are shown. This is a "lay flat" book that you can show to your client and let her choose what she likes thereby eliminating poses that will not sell. Benji's Video Photographing The High School Senior in the New Millennium Over 45 minutes long and jam packed with lots of good instruction on posing and lighting for the high school senior girl. How to get beautiful indoor lighting for head and shoulders portraits, 3/4 length and full length poses. All of this and lots more are covered, most showing exactly what I do to get the shot. I show in several of the images what problems will crop up when YOU attempt this pose and what you need to do to correct it. The exact placement of the lights to get these shots is also covered in detail. Outdoor poses are covered also. Perfect exposure quickly and easily whether you are shooting digital or film. This is the instructional video for you. You have already experienced my easy to understand style of teaching in my tutorials found here and several of them are included in this video also.How to order:
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