As I mentioned in a
previous post, I've been working hard to learn how to light. My biggest influence thusfar has been
Strobist, but my day-to-day encouragement has always been from the kind folks here at DPS. Upon going through my portraits today I realized a few things:
1) I have quite a few.
2) While they may not be good, they're getting better.
3) Others might be able to learn something from my journey.
So here is part one of what may be several episodes in my quest to learn lighting. These will specifically address portrait lighting, as that has been my main focus.
We'll start back in November, when I first received an umbrella and a new tripod (which was quickly used as a lightstand) for my birthday. My parents were over to visit, and the family became my photographic fodder:
This one is my Dad. For strobist fans, I'm trying out the principles detailed in the
umbrella specular assignment. Here is another:
Lessons learned:
1) With a single light source, having the subject look towards the light gives great lighting coverage and definition.
2) People with glasses (even the expensive anti-reflective kind) should not look at the light source (duh).
Here is one of my wife:
So, I have a long way to go, but this is definitely a start. Important lessons:
1) One off camera light is loads better than any on camera flash (even the fancy bounce kind).
2) Get the subject off the wall, every little bit counts.
3) My wife is gorgeous.
4) Shooting RAW is a godsend. Most of these were significantly underexposed, and by shooting in RAW I was able to fix them.
5) I need more practice.
Comments, critiques, and laughter are all encouraged. I feel that I've already come a long way from these shots in November, but I would love to know what you think about them. If there is significant interest (i.e. more than 3 views and one comment), then look forward to Part 2 in about a week. The setting will be the same, the light will be similar, but the shots I think, get better.
Cheers.
Part 1 -- Umbrella Specular
Part 2 -- Adding a reflector for fill (and a Mother-in-law)
Part 3 -- Crosslighting with the sun (for a group portrait)
Part 4 -- Now I have two strobes!
Part 5 -- Ghetto striplight high key fun
Part 6 -- DIY Softbox for serious light