Sony DSC R1 Portrait

[Glyn2]

This was one of the earliest ones in the third section of the shoot. I had just st up the lights and was going for accurate light from my right at the same height as my camera wich was in front of him and then light from the left and slightly below to add slight shadow fill. The background I PP'd ..... I masked his face so that I could adjust that seperately from the background. The background I went to Hue/saturation and I think I simply reduced the lightness until it went nearly black and then brought it back up and used saturation to choose the final colour. Part of my intent was to level the background .... darkness obscuring the folds and some of the shadow. I was also wanting to avoid losing his hair-shape in the gloom.

[Glyn2]

This one was 24mm at f3.2. I was nearly holding the camera above my head and this is whee I was silently grinning as I took it .. giving thanks to the swivelling LCD which puts this camera in a class of its own. No guessing about framing.

He is a big guy and I wanted that to be represented .... how could I get a sense of height and broadness? I thought if I could get his head and shoulders and size of chest in one view from above .. and hopefully all in focus .... but from abaove to bunch the bits up a bit and add a sense of vertigo due to downward depth then I might get the effect.I don't actually know how effective it was. In one view I can see my vision as having suceeded to some extent. Another view I can just see it as a naive distortion from someone who has not yet learnt to live in the 24 mm world [my widest until 2 weeks ago was 28mm]


I think I am going to do more planning for Friday ..... get that sheet hung from the ceiling rather than slung ove my flipchart frame. And get it stretched. Hmm ... just remembering something I used to do .... get an anglepist behind the subject ... hidden behind the subject and shining on the background might do that.

I'm also going to clear more spcae for me so I can more put into action your recomendations about camera angle

All the best

Glyn

[RiaRia]

Hi, Glyn:

Paul is really a trooper! Of the three latest posts, number 2 would be my pick. Can't wait to see the results of your Friday session!

One question, though. What is an anglepist? (From the context, I take it that it's some kind of background light?)

[Glyn2]

Hi Ria ...

OK .. Number 2 .... I'll bear that in mind as a model for friday.

Anglepist ...... LOL!
OK .... that was VERY typo.
AnglePOISE ..... anglepoise lamp .....

http://www.icone.co.uk/designer-livi.../Anglepoise/0/

They great for directing light precisely. I have two of them. One table and one hospital floor standing. Hardly a Pro lighting rig but I have always kind of liked the warmth of tungsten.

I was talking with Paul only five minutes ago and asked him to wash that vest and wear it on Friday .... I will be trying to redo the basic look ... but to do it better.

All the best

Glyn

[RiaRia]

I LOVE the look of tungsten lighting! Ria

[nickphoto123]

Hi Ria,

Yes, the tungsten light gives a glow, but I think a simple levels adjustment

will reveal the true color of your subject like this:

Regards, Nicholas

[RiaRia]

That's much better, Nicholas. My sister will thank you, she hated this picture.



Q. Could you please give me a little more info on setting the white and black point with the eyedropper? I am confused as to what do you do if the image has no white or black in it. What do you do in that case?

(I made the question more obvious this time so that you wouldn't miss it! Ria

[Glyn2]

Hi both

Very interesting to compare these. I love the golden glow and also the natural skin tones. That gives me much food for thought. There are enough warm tones in the picture after the colour cast has been removed for it not to get cold.

All the best

Glyn

[nickphoto123]

Hi Ria and Glyn and All,

Here is my attempt to illustrate a levels adjustment.

The idea when clicking on the White eyedropper, is not to find a totally white ( 255,255,255) part of your original image.

The idea is to change an ALMOST ( less than 255,255,255) white part of an image to ALL white.


MAKE SURE YOU HAVE YOUR INFO SCREEN VISIBLE.


Here and the next post are examples of what clicking on different almost white parts of your image to change the those parts ( and all those other brighter parts than your selected part ) to all white:

Once you like what you see with the white adjustment, you repeat the process with the almost black parts with the black eyedropper ( the one on the left.)

I never use the middle one ( grey).

Hope you find this of value.

Regards, Nicholas

[nickphoto123]

Here are the results of the above White clicks:

You will still need to find a suitable black point as stated above:

Regards, Nicholas