Dramatic lighting

[Caz]

Time for me to pop my head above the parapet and put something up for critique.

This was taken at my monthly portrait shoot in Towcester - the gentleman wanted something similar to the album cover shot "With the Beatles" where half the face is in total darkness so in that respect this is a failure. He'd also liked one of my darker gig shots which I'd put up as a sample. No sale - he wanted something "more dramatic"

Although the EXIF appears to say "no flash" it was shot using a softbox away to the left. Enough waffle - any opinions please?

[Pops]

Re: Dramatic lighting

Can't offer much critique but there is a small blemish underneath the nearest eye that maybe should have been removed ... if this photograph was of me I would love it.

[OlyPaul]

Re: Dramatic lighting

Hi Caz, its a nice portrait but if you had wanted to emulate the" With The Beatles" portrait then a spotlight (and not a softbox) and Rembrandt lighting would have been the way to go.

Similar to this image of mine with a main light to the extreme left but even more so.

[Patrick]

Re: Dramatic lighting

Time for me to pop my head above the parapet and put something up for critique.

This was taken at my monthly portrait shoot in Towcester - the gentleman wanted something similar to the album cover shot "With the Beatles" where half the face is in total darkness so in that respect this is a failure. He'd also liked one of my darker gig shots which I'd put up as a sample. No sale - he wanted something "more dramatic"

Although the EXIF appears to say "no flash" it was shot using a softbox away to the left. Enough waffle - any opinions please?

Hi Caz's

For me this is a super shot! Has wonderful skin texture the lighting, is as you say dramatic, some might say a reflector could have been used to put a little detail in the shadows (for this style not your intended Beatles style)but I feel it works as it is. You get the feeling of the man.
It's a shame the subject himself wasn't impressed. No taste

Patrick

[Caz]

Re: Dramatic lighting

Thank you all for your comments.

Pops - I knew the blemish was there, but he'd asked for a "warts and all" shot, so I left it in.

Paul - the leader at my camera club said something very similar last night. He also recommended umbrella in front, snoot behind. He asked why I'd not brought a print to the club as he'd seen it on Facebook (I'd uploaded it just before I went out). Mainly because last night was about flower shots (I came third...)

Patrick - must remember to TAKE my reflector (there's usually one left in the car, but that was parked half a mile away!) Which reminds me - I was down to one light (I generally have two) as I didn't have a spare bulb with me. Time to go shopping again!

Thank you again - I liked it, just a shame he didn't. Athough he did ask for an "untouched" shot, perhaps he was expecting to be a little less craggy? Unfortunately the singer shot he'd asked me to emulate was of a man in his mid-30s (he also has long blond hair and very few lines, as yet!)

This was the photo he'd seen:
[ame]http://www.flickr.com/photos/carolpgh/5796983579/[/ame]

[Horacio]

Re: Dramatic lighting

Hi Caz's
I like this strong picture. The blemish is part of life...I prefer not to take them off...
I wonder if it is not to cropped in front of him and I would have liked more space and some small illumination behind him to avoid the harsh deep black on the back. Regrds, Horacio

[patmoore]

Re: Dramatic lighting

I've always been a fan of shots like this but haven't had much success. Here's one I took in 1995 of my daughters. I had them sit on stools in the bathroom which was the darkest room in the apartment and I draped a dark green sheet over the shower bar. I then used a lamp with an uncovered 25 watt bulb and took a tripod-based time exposure with a 1970s vintage Canon AE1. This is a low-res scan from a 4x6 print. Hopefully one of these days I can find the negative and scan it properly.

[Patrick]

Re: Dramatic lighting

Thank you all for your comments.

Pops - I knew the blemish was there, but he'd asked for a "warts and all" shot, so I left it in.

Paul - the leader at my camera club said something very similar last night. He also recommended umbrella in front, snoot behind. He asked why I'd not brought a print to the club as he'd seen it on Facebook (I'd uploaded it just before I went out). Mainly because last night was about flower shots (I came third...)

Patrick - must remember to TAKE my reflector (there's usually one left in the car, but that was parked half a mile away!) Which reminds me - I was down to one light (I generally have two) as I didn't have a spare bulb with me. Time to go shopping again!

Thank you again - I liked it, just a shame he didn't. Athough he did ask for an "untouched" shot, perhaps he was expecting to be a little less craggy? Unfortunately the singer shot he'd asked me to emulate was of a man in his mid-30s (he also has long blond hair and very few lines, as yet!)

This was the photo he'd seen:

I sometimes think a single light is best, using perhaps a reflector (in this case I like the harsh light of the one lamp). Let's face it God gave us one light to use and that works well enough.

Patrick

[Caz]

Re: Dramatic lighting

Hi Caz's
I like this strong picture. The blemish is part of life...I prefer not to take them off...
I wonder if it is not to cropped in front of him and I would have liked more space and some small illumination behind him to avoid the harsh deep black on the back. Regrds, Horacio

Horacio - thank you for your comments. Unfortunately there is no more space! Due to the confinements of the room I was in (very small - my 8 x 6 backdrop fills the back wall) I had to come in close and the image is virtually "as shot". The only editing I did was to reduce the lights and highlights very slightly on the tonecurve in Lightroom.

[John Perriment]

Re: Dramatic lighting

Portraits aren't really my thing so I speak with no authority, but I think it's great - and certainly dramatic. I suppose it doesn't really conform to the lighting on the "With The Beatles" album cover, but then he's no Beatle - more of a Bing Crosby if you ask me!

[devilgas]

Re: Dramatic lighting

gotta be honest. i think the shot you did of the guy far outweighs the shot of the singer and is great!
as far as facial blemishes go, they are part of the person, and unless they specifically ask for them to be removed (or it's a model shot) then they *should* be left in. that said, i'll remove angry zits as they are transient and not part of the person normally - they are treated in the same regard as make-up imperfections.

did you try any photos with him facing the other way? with the light positioned where it was, facing the other direction would've gotten the effect he was after.

[Caz]

Re: Dramatic lighting

gotta be honest. i think the shot you did of the guy far outweighs the shot of the singer and is great!
as far as facial blemishes go, they are part of the person, and unless they specifically ask for them to be removed (or it's a model shot) then they *should* be left in. that said, i'll remove angry zits as they are transient and not part of the person normally - they are treated in the same regard as make-up imperfections.

did you try any photos with him facing the other way? with the light positioned where it was, facing the other direction would've gotten the effect he was after.

Unfortunately not

But thank you for all your suggestions - it's given me a lot of ideas for the next session

[vj_photography]

Re: Dramatic lighting

i loved the light and the texture of his skin. Lovely work on the eyes. too, shame he didnt like it but i can understand that he wanted it to be in some other way.

My personal choice for portraits is always for the natural light, nothing against studio lights but I always think the natural ligh portrait work most of the times.

Happy clicking..