Search Connected Photographer's 5,992 photography article archive 
Home
EasyPrint
News details Click here for the RSS feed's XML code. This is not a browser URL.
Articles-only Click here for the RSS feed's XML code. This is not a browser URL.
Twitter Feed Click here for the Twitter feed.
Basic portrait lighting (continued)

In this instance, your setup would be like that in Figure D, only with the key and fill lights reversed. Make sure that you disable your camera's red-eye reduction; otherwise it will trigger the slave to fire before the shutter is open. If you're not sure how to disable your camera's red-eye reduction, this would be a great excuse to sit down with some good coffee and re-read your manual.

The portrait in Figure F shows the kind of result you're going for. Everything is in focus and well illuminated, with no shadows.

FIGURE F


When correctly lit, your portraits will much more satisfying. Roll over picture for a larger image.

Reflection and softening
The use of umbrella reflectors will go a long way toward making your pictures -- all of them, not just portraits -- a lot better looking. The umbrella helps to soften and diffuse the light, eliminating harshness. By shooting light through the umbrella, rather than reflecting off of it, the umbrella will act like a softbox, further softening the light.

There are a few budget remedies available if you don't have umbrellas. One is to use white poster board as a reflective surface. I've also used white foam-core before as well. It's a little stiffer than poster board and might be a little easier to position.

About the cheapest alternative though is a white pillowcase. Just about everyone has a white pillowcase. It's one of those items that most people have around the house that a photographer can readily use as a cheap substitute. You can even bounce the light off of a white wall to help soften and diffuse the light.

I've already mentioned several methods of softening the light if you so desire. A softbox is, of course, a nice method, but not everyone has one. To be honest, I don't use a softbox; I just shoot through a white umbrella. Another method is to tape a piece of tracing or tissue paper over the flash to diffuse the light.

Conclusion
It's not really all that difficult to get decent studio-quality portraits. With a couple of proven lighting setups, you can achieve excellent results, time after time. And if you're using a digital camera, it's even easier, as you don't have to wait for film to be developed to see if your pictures came out.

James Aronovsky is a professional photographer who frequently flies to out-of-town assignments. He can be reached at jamesaronovsky@hotmail.com.


« Previous  ·  1  ·  2  ·  3
Other articles you might like
Home > Basics > Lighting (7 articles)
   Five tips for great night shots with or without a tripod
   How to buy a basic lighting package
   Correcting eyeglass glare without any fancy software or specialized equipment
Get Weekly Email Updates
Subscribe to our regular weekly email newsletter. It's packed with tips, reviews, deep analysis, and the latest news.
 
Recent Connected Photographer Articles
Incident report: denial of service attack against ConnectedPhotographer.com
How to reduce stress in this crazy, crazy world
Adobe's CS4 Master Collection is the Full Monty
Get ready for wedding photography
Here come the judge, Barack's BlackBerry, David does CNN, and more
We review Photoshop CS4: The Missing Manual and more
So long 2008, and thanks for all the phish
Connected Photographer News
Win an Autographed "Create by Jason Wu" Digital Camera
Ricoh GXR S10 24-72mm in-depth review
Canon EOS 5D Mark II Firmware Update Released
How to Take Photos in Extreme Cold
Mastering Canon EOS Flash Photography
Pentax 645D
35mm Slide Scanner with a Bonus: No Computer Required
>> Read all the news
More from the ZATZ journals
Computing Unplugged: The iPad defenders have spoken
David Gewirtz Online: CNN commentary and analysis
DominoPower: Application development, William Shatner, and the origin of the universe
OutlookPower: More about disappearing text
-- Advertisement --

NO HASSLE PHOTO PRINTING, SHARING, AND STORAGE -- AS LOW AS $2.54 PER MONTH
Discover an easier way to share, print and manage your photos online! Get your own online photo album site for sharing photos, as well as easy-to-use editing tools to make sure your photos look their very best. You can even order high quality prints directly from your album -- and have them delivered right to your door!

Best of all, you can also get login-free photo sharing at your personal domain name (if you have one), so your friends and family don't have to hassle with signing up or logging in just to view your pictures. It's the perfect solution for sharing, printing and storing all your favorite images!

And it's only from The Duck! Tap here to get started.

ZATZ Home  ·  News  ·  Back Issues  ·  Credits/Trademarks ·  Link To Us
Copyright © 2010, ZATZ Publishing. All rights reserved worldwide.
Editor's Login