| |
|
1
Photos
© 2001, Monte Zucker, All Rights Reserved
|
|
You say you don't have any
beautiful locations around you for portraits? Who cares? You don't need
any fancy environments for portraits. All you need is some light and a
little ingenuity. That's what I've used here for these portraits. Of course,
if you just want to take snapshots outside, that's your prerogative. But
if you really want to do portraiture outside, then you can do it simply,
easily, and effectively.
Window Light
This new portrait of me was made by using window light coming from a high
window. I was positioned to get perfect portrait lighting with just the
window light and a silver reflector to open up the shadows. It doesn't
get much easier than that!
|
|
Shoot From Light To Dark
At another class in Long Island I was working the same theme. That is,
you can create great portraits just about anywhere, as long as you know
how to control the light and the background. Walking around outside with
the class I found a covered back entrance to a store. Instead of placing
Alex under the covered area, I wanted to show everyone in the class what
I meant to "shoot from dark to light."
|
|
I stood under the covered area
and posed fellow photographer, Alex, just outside the covered area. He
was naturally backlit by the ambient light, but his face was almost totally
in shadow. So, I had someone hold a Westcott Monte Illuminator (silver
on one side/ black on the other), pointing it up to the sky to pick up
the light. Then, he turned the reflector's edge only slightly, bringing
light onto the front of Alex's face.
I asked the class how we were
going to handle the drain pipe that was cutting right through the back
of his head. They all exclaimed, "Photoshop!" "Not so!" I answered them
back. Instead, I had someone hold up my Westcott translucent diffuser
panel (#1707) behind him. That's all there was to it.
|
|
Find The Spot!
Moments later I pointed out our next studio. It was under a covered walkway
only a few steps away. Who would have thought, huh? Well, there was light
coming in from the open area, plus more light coming down an open staircase.
All I had to do was pose the photographer, Chip, between the two of them.
I had light coming from both directions, but not lighting up his eyes.
|
|
Easy enough. I once more positioned
my silver reflector to pick up some light from my right side and get it
into his eyes. He was wearing a dark coat. I didn't have my black and
white background with me, so someone held up a dark scarf behind him.
That blended his coat with the background, so that his face would jump
out of the portrait.
And then, that's all she wrote.
What we saw is what we got!
|
|
Soften The Light
Photographers, Suzanne and Robert Love, recently visited my house. They
wanted a new portrait for their next year's holiday card. The day we planned
a beach shoot the weather didn't cooperate. The next day time was limited,
so we shot right in my own pool area behind my house. I posed them just
on the outside edge of an umbrella covering the outside table.
|
|
It was early morning. The sun
was up brightly already. I positioned my translucent panel behind them,
but this time I used it not only for a background, but also to soften
the harsh light. It was a perfect backlight for a high key portrait. They
were dressed in light tones to blend with the background.
|
|
With no light coming from overhead
I needed to light their faces. Not a problem. My silver reflector was
put on a stand and again pointed up toward the sky. This picked up the
light from the sky. Then, when I tilted the reflector slightly I was able
to light the front of their faces with it.
|
|
Dark Surround
Why not try a dark background? That meant changing them to dark tops,
of course, so that their heads would jump out in the portrait. Since the
light wouldn't come through the dark background, I changed my tactics
for creating the portrait. I posed them under cover right behind my living
room. The light was coming in from my left. For the background I used
my black/white Westcott background (#5685). The light source was so broad
I didn't even have to use a reflector to open up the shadows. I simply
had to turn them so that the ambient light wrapped their faces. I brought
Robert slightly forward from Suzanne, so that her head wouldn't block
the light from his face.
|
|
The resulting portrait was
just as easy to create and as effective as the others had been.
For more photographic instruction
visit my web site: Zuga.net. We've got live video instruction going on
there now. Have you experienced that yet?
You can now watch live video
right from the comfort of your home on your computer. What can I say?
It doesn't get much easier than that!
|
Site Links
