End of the Year

On my way back from an assignment in Ottawa (Its cold up here) and I decided to take some time to post one last entry before Christmas takes hold of my schedule.

This portrait was a test.  I've been inspired lately by the work of Dan Winters and wanted to take some of his principles into the studio and rethink my approach for certain portraits.  I was very intrigued by the idea of lighting your subject then removing the unnecessary light.  My version is a fairly simple 3 light set up.  One light with a 30 degree grid illuminates the backdrop, one light with a beauty dish placed directly behind and slightly above the camera provides fill, and finally a small strip keys the subject from stage right.  No doubt the beauty dish spilled on the backdrop some, but the spot over rides it.  The two things to note on this setup 1: the beauty dish 2: the small strip.

First the beauty dish.  I placed a sock over the the dish to soften the light and then aimed it upward to catch the edge of the lamps throw; feathering.  This way I could control the fall off of the fill light and let it taper down my subject.  I do this because it looks better than a gradient placed in photoshop.  Certainly this effect can be attained in post but not as naturally and certainly not in as little time.  This is an aesthetic choice and one that I have started to consider more.  That being, how much shadow detail is necessary.  The shot is fairly limited as to what information the audience is given.  A guy in a motorcycle jacket holding a helmet with some wrap around his neck.  So what's really important to convey is his face, the yellow scarf, and his helmet.  Not so much the pants.  Unless it was an ad for the pants, I find this to be information we all understand - He has pants on.  And that's good enough.

The key from stage right is important because its flagged a little over a foot away and the light that is let through is only a sliver along the top, long side.  This again mimics the idea of fall off presented by the beauty dish and isolates the light on his face.  This took a little while to get right only because I was sure that I did not have to flag (remove) that much of the strips light to get my effect. Little did I know.

Finally the question of exposure.  The images is definitely underexposed by all understanding of text book exposure.  I purposely left out a hair light because I did not want a true "highlight" on the face of my subject.  The specular highlights are still present and white as ever on the helmet and in his eyes.  By keeping the exposure down on his face in this particular dark setting their is a softness to the image.  The desaturated color helps keep the image from being to loud as well.  While not completely monochromatic it certainly feels ripped of life's colors but not lifeless.

PROJECT FJ62

These are a handful of images from an ongoing shoot following the restoration of a FJ62 Toyota Land Cruiser while its owner is stationed overseas in Afghanistan.  This is one of my more favorite projects right now.  I do not shoot photography this way very often and I find this to be very rewarding.

Recently completed a shoot for Sound and Video Contractor these ran in their December issue.

Now to see what 2011 brings....