Look into the light, horsie...

[CiiVii]

Human subjects are never as readily available as my friend here. I used two speedlights here bounced into 43"(?) reflective umbrellas. The light is messy, and I'm just getting into this, but it helped that my horse spent a little time investigating the setup as it brought him into the light. You can probably see in his eye that the fill I used spilled onto the floor... How do you aim an umbrella when you are using speedlites (no modeling lights)? I suppose shoot-through umbrellas would be more forgiving, but mine are even smaller than the reflectives that I used here. I don't think they'd cover enough area.

I might be asking for too much, as my "model" moved around a lot. I am pretty happy with this shot and would like to get a technique or two down pat for more of this kind of equine portrait. Not keen on the foreshortening caused by the wide-ish lens- the width of the aisle way I was in was the limiting factor. Any suggestions would be welcome.



Exposure: 0.003 sec (1/400)
Aperture: f/2.8
Focal Length: 35 mm
ISO Speed: 200

[Laurenbiz]

I personally love this!

I don't really have experience with studio lighting, so your description of the umbrellas is over my head. The lighting looks like the sun is perfectly beaming down right on his face. I don't know if the background was that dark, or if you darkened it with post processing, but I love it!

Looks like you're using a nice, fast lens, too, with how crisp this portrait is.

Fabulous work :-)

[CiiVii]

Thanks Laurenbiz! I've imagined taking this type of portrait for MONTHS now. I've spent an almost embarassing amount of time reading about off-camera lighting, more time deciding which route I wanted to go, etc. And then after all the excitement and anticipation comes fiddling with the real-life gear and subjects and trying to make it all come together. I don't have the equipment that it will take to make it *great* and just like my vision, but there is a lot to learn by doing with what I have now.

The right 1/3 of the image was made black in post- he was reaching around the corner of the stall door, which the light had fallen onto as well. The rest of the background is dark-to-black because the higher shutter speed basically kills ambient light.

As for the lens, that is the 35mm F1.8G Nikkor lens. Here's how my crazy thinking goes- as soon as I start really disliking a technique or style, I go out and use it to find its merits. I've been annoyed by seening narrow DOF all over the place lately, so I whipped out my 1.8 to see what I could do with it. And yes, it is noticeable sharper than the zooms that I have.

Thanks again for your comments.

[mlbillard]

I love this shot and want one of my horse! Its not a normal shot you would see for equine photography, normally its the big wide open fields or looking out into them. I love it because its different. I don't know anything about lighting so I can't actually help just wanted to say I love this.

[Smurf]

That is a great shot, wish I had some lighting equipment so I could have a crack!!

Love having my two boys to photograph but I've gotten stuck in a rut, thanks for the inspiration

[mpf777]

Really nice shot!
I am no expert in lighting but have played around a lot with it much like you. I use a shoot threw umbrella a lot and also a couple 36" (I think) silver reflector umbrellas with a couple Nikon flashes. I have not played to much with trying to isolate a portion of the model and have most everything else black but I know one time I did something similar by making a snoot from some cardboard to isolate the path of the light to a small area. You can also play around with gobo's or flags to block as much of the light from hitting areas of the scene you don't want it to as you can.
This shot I think is very nice though!

Mike

[vbhakuni]

Thats an amazing shot......thanks for sharing.

[mk12mod]

What a beautiful shot!!!

[aprillove20]

Awesome photo...I like the composition and colour.

[bayberry]

I just love it and the distortion gives it a fun, whimsical feel.