'Omeco and Lewis

The post Omeco and Lewis first appeared on TomOnTheRoof Photography Blog.

1/160 s at f/5.6, ISO 160, 100 mm

The key (main light) for these shots was a 600 Ws strobe with the Beauty Dish and a honeycomb grid, placed on a boom frontally and overhead, approximately 4 feet away from the model. There is something magical about a Beauty Dish – it gives light which is not really soft, not really hard, yet focused, edgy and “three-dimensional”. It is a distinct look, different from what can be achieved with a softbox or with an umbrella.

The grid tightened the beam of light and added some contrast and drama to the look. I also used a small white reflector, camera left, for just a touch of fill light. There is a big light falloff from the Beauty Dish but I actually like it in these shots.

1/160 s at f/5.6, ISO 200, 105 mm

A white seamless paper background helped me draw attention to the model. To eliminate any texture and shades of gray from the background I illuminated it evenly with two hot shoe flashes set to 24 mm zoom and sitting in two 43″ silver umbrellas (I chose small flashes mainly for portability, though more powerful lights would let me shoot at a higher aperture / lower ISO). All the flashes were set in manual mode and fired with PocketWizard radio triggers.

1/160 s, f/5.0 ISO 250, 120 mm

My camera settings killed the ambient leaving me only with the light which I controlled. I adjusted the background lights until I was seeing a spike in the whites region of the histogram on my camera, and the key light simply until I was happy with the results – maybe a third of a stop more than for a typical portrait.

1/160 s at f/5.6, ISO 160, 95 mm

In case you are wondering how much post-processing I did, below is the first shot right from the camera (a preview of a completely unedited RAW image after importing to Lightroom).

Unprocessed image

Unlike this RAW preview from Lightroom, a JPEG preview at the back of my camera was already contrasty and sharpened by the ?Standard? Picture Style (in-camera Styles do not affect RAW images and only get baked into JPEGs). But I prefer to take things in my hands and adjust the settings to taste.

So I pushed the whites a bit until the background was pure white, tweaked the tonal curve for a better contrast, added a pinch of clarity and sharpening, and slightly desaturated the skin. Oh, and I removed that reflector.

The Beauty Dish with a grid and the white seamless background were my primary tools for achieving this look. Previously I used a Beauty Dish in a different setup for overpowering the sun. Be sure to check out that post!

'Lit with a Beauty Dish

The post Lit with a Beauty Dish first appeared on TomOnTheRoof Photography Blog.

1/80 s, f/1.6, ISO 100, 50 mm

I shot these images in a bar and used mostly ambient light with a little fill from a small softbox.

1/80 s, f/2.5, ISO 2000, 85 mm

1/160 s, f/2.5, ISO 100, 135 mm

For the above photo I lit the model with a single speedlight in a medium size Lastolite softbox.

1/200 s, f/4, ISO 100, 135 mm

Here I used a white shoot-through umbrella and a silver reflector for fill in a butterfly configuration (note the catchlights in her eyes).

1/200 s, f/4, ISO 100, 135 mm

For the last photo I used the softbox again. To add tonal transitions to the walls I lit them with a second speedlite pointed to the corner behind the model.

Initially this background light gave a spot which was too hot for my taste. To tone it down I used a Sto-Fen diffuser and covered the diffuser’s front surface with a piece of Gaffer’s tape.

'A Simple Portrait

The post A Simple Portrait first appeared on TomOnTheRoof Photography Blog.

1/60 s, f/4, ISO 160, 100mm (Macro)

For the first three photographs I underexposed the ambient slightly and used a soft light on the subjects – a flash in a 60″ (150 cm) white shoot-through umbrella. The photographic umbrella, positioned as close to the subject as possible (in this case camera left and above, just outside of the frame), increases the size of the light source and softens the light significantly. In a way it emulates a northern window.

1/60 s, f/4, ISO 160, 100mm (Macro)

This soft light blended well with the light diffused by the canopies of the trees, and there are no harsh shadows. Soft light partly fills in its own shadows (and often appears to wrap around the subject).

1/60 s, f/4, ISO 160, 100mm (Macro)

Soft light can be achieved in many other ways – with a softbox (like in this photo shoot) or by bouncing the tilted flash from a large surface (like in this wedding shoot). These modifiers and techniques allow to shape and control the light.

For the below image I used a hard light source – a flash with a 7″ (18 cm) parabolic reflector, positioned camera right and above the subjects, with a 20° grid to constrain the light. The flash was relatively far from the subjects and the shadows are harsh.

1/125 s, f/3.5, ISO 200, 85mm

These two light types – soft light and hard light – give very different looks. None is good or bad per se and both can be used effectively. Typically soft light is more flattering for portraits and hard light can define the subject better, bring out the details, and may create more interest by casting shadows.

One of my favorite light sources is a Beauty Dish. It combines the characteristics of soft light and of hard light and gives a unique look. I used it in the Overpowering the Sun shoot.

'Soft Light, Hard Light

The post Soft Light, Hard Light first appeared on TomOnTheRoof Photography Blog.

The weather was rather sunny when we started so we mostly worked in the shadow. I used a small flash in a big white brolly and slightly underexposed the ambient to saturate the colors and make the model pop.

This image above may be my favorite photo of the day. I worked on the composition to create geometrical figures (triangles) and make it exciting for the eye to wander through the frame. The red-green-blue triad strengthens the composition.

Jagoda had really pretty shoes so I figured I should also make this image. No flash here but I used the brolly as a reflector for just a bit of fill, and shot wide open. Love this classy look.

Mariusz intends to become a professional powerlifter and keeps training on his pretty fiancee ;-) He is a strong guy but obviously the image had to be shot fast.

Here you can see the effect of a second flash, camera right, used for cross-lighting and giving a subtle glow and definition to the edges. I placed a Honl grid on the flash to prevent light spillage and flaring. The flashes were triggered with a PocketWizard MiniTT1 transmitter and FlexTT5 receivers.

I will be also shooting their wedding. But shooting for others always makes me very nervous. And will they like the images?

'Engagement Session

The post Engagement Session first appeared on TomOnTheRoof Photography Blog.

I lit the images with a single small flash hidden in a 28″ Apollo softbox. I totally love the quality of light I am getting from this modifier.

I used a Canon 100mm f/2.8 macro lens at it’s widest setting. Even wide open this glass is tack sharp and I love sharpness. The depth of field is pretty shallow at this focal length on a full frame sensor (you have to get closer to the subject compared to a crop sensor camera and the DOF gets significantly thinner). It looks great on the skin.

We tried several poses and angles to have a variety of images. Julia is a singer and needed a photo for the web.

The moment I knew I got all the shots I wanted it started raining and we had to pack.

'Julia Photo Shoot

The post Julia Photo Shoot first appeared on TomOnTheRoof Photography Blog.