My Wife Taught Me to Shoot People -- Part 1

[RussHeath]

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

[Digidave]

I subscribed to this thread. Does that count as showing interest? I think this is a great idea you have here. I'm thinkin' it'll help a lot of people, me included. I don't have any special lighting, but you never know what the future holds. Besides, it'll be a good chuckle when I'm feeling blue. Someone else's Misery is always a good Pick-Me-Up.

[Liz Caldwell]

Great lighting! Good job!

Little tip to avoid glare from the glasses: tilt them downward! (huh?) Oh, how to explain... the arms of the glasses go up, to make the glass point down... so instead of the arms resting on your ears, you slide the on into the hair line...

Hope that makes sense...
I think I confused myself with that one, lol....

[clockdoc]

Nice work, newbie, on your portrait examples! I look forward to seeing more of your work along this line. The Strobist is an excellent site for learning all about off-camera flash.

[RussHeath]

Thanks, all!

Digidave -- so glad to have someone enjoy my little trials.

Liz -- I have lots of family with glasses (me too) so I've been getting a lot of practice with this. It's one of those things I kind of knew in my head but until you actually make a mistake a few times it doesn't really stick, you know? Thanks for the tip.

Clockdoc -- I'll be interested to see what you have to say about the light as I do some more of these.

[ELAY]

Great start.

Even before I read the narrative, I was thinking "Umbrella specular" when I saw the first pics.

EL

[Liz Caldwell]

Originally Posted by newbie

Thanks, all!

Digidave -- so glad to have someone enjoy my little trials.

Liz -- I have lots of family with glasses (me too) so I've been getting a lot of practice with this. It's one of those things I kind of knew in my head but until you actually make a mistake a few times it doesn't really stick, you know? Thanks for the tip.

Clockdoc -- I'll be interested to see what you have to say about the light as I do some more of these.

I forget sometimes too, even after 10 years! There's so many things to look for in each shot, occasionally, one slips by us all.

[photofun]

Looking forward to part II - your portraits are pretty good for just starting out with new equipment.

[filemanager]

I LOOVVVEEEE the picture of your wife! Not only is she a great model, but the contrast of light and dark, the way she posed.. love it!

[RussHeath]

Elay -- It's been a while! Glad to see you back . . . (just checked, you've been back for a while -- I'm slow).

Photofun -- Thanks. I was happy with these when I shot them, and I really feel like I've learned quite a bit in just a couple of months. Look for the next set of pics early next week!

Filemanager -- That shot is still one of my wife's favorites (despite many attempt on my part to do better). She's a real natural in front of the camera, after the usual complaining about having to pose of course. I get really spoiled working with her, and I don't quite know what to do when I shoot other people who just sit there and stare at me. I'm working on that though, too. Thanks for the comment.