I gave a quick presentation last night at the Chester County Camera Club. I showed some simple and more complex lighting modifiers that can be used with regular Speedlights in order to get nice lighting results in your photographs.
The strobes that I use are the (now discontinued) SB-800 and SB-600 flash units. I fire them using the SU-800 commander, but if you have a D80 or better you can use can also use the on board flash to trigger the remote speedlights.
The flash reflector card that I was using is the Demb Flip It. This works by bouncing the light off of the ceiling, while reflecting some of it forward directly onto the subject. I have and recommend the big (4″ x 4″) size. There are a lot of nice examples and instructions on his website.
The flash diffuser that I was using is the Gary Fong Lightsphere. This gives a very nice softbox look to the light by diffusing it all around the room. I really like the light that I get from this and use it often, even though many people love to call it an overpriced piece of tupperware! Again he has lots of examples and instructions on how to use it on his website.
I prefer the lightsphere most of the time. The only drawback is that you lose about 2 stops of light using this, so you usually only want to use the lightsphere for a few (1-3) people that aren’t too far (10-12 feet) from the speedlight. For larger groups or longer distances I’ll opt for the flip-it.
For when you have more time, you can get the best results from using an umbrella or softbox. You don’t need large studio strobes to use these either, the typical Nikon speedlight is more powerful then the entry level Alien Bee B400 flash.
All you need to get started is a lightstand, an umbrella head and a basic umbrella. You can also use a softbox without the hassle of having to deal with a speedring. The Westcott Apollo line of softboxes are designed to work like an umbrella, and come in 16″, 28″ and 50″ sizes. I have the 28″ one.
There are lots of great places to learn more about lighting and off camera flash on the Internet that I have found very useful. Here are a few of my favorite sites:
There’s also a new Nikon DVD called “Hands-on Guide to Creative Lighting” with Joe McNally and Bob Krist, this is very informative.
I also keep a list of equipment that I use here on my blog.
Well I got a completely new and resigned website for my photography business, Kelleher Photography.
Please take a few minutes to checkout the new site and let me know if you have any comments or suggestions on how to improve it. And let your freinds know about it too! It’s www.kelleherphoto.com
These are some good examples of various photo studio light schemes, with diagrams of how the lighting was setup and the resulting images that were taken.
Original white background, resulting appearance light grey
1. Two superpose softboxes on the left. Value F8 @ ISO 100
2. One light with a diffuser to cut the subject shadow on the background
3. Hairlight on top
3. Silver reflector near subject
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A portrait photographers primary objective is to idealize his subject. The subject’s appearance can be made more flattering through posing, lighting, and camera angle. In many instances, more than one of the following suggestions will be employed. Evaluate each subject individually.
| Prominent Forehead |
Tilt chin upward, Lower Camera Position, Use Gobo (Head Screen), Use Barn Doors |
| Long Nose |
Tilt Chin Upward, Face Directly Toward Lens, Lower Main Light, Lower Camera Position |
| Angular Nose |
Turn Face Towards Camera, Place Main Light To Produce A Straight Line |
| Narrow Chin |
Tilt Chin Upward, Lower Camera Position, Use 3/4 Head Position |
| Double Chin |
Tilt Chin Upward, Body Straight And Leaning Forward, Use High Camera Position |
| Baldness |
Use Gobo To Shield Top Of Head, Use No Hair Light, Blend Top Of Head With Background |
| Broad, Round Face |
Use Short Lighting (move key light so it strikes the subject at greater than 50o), Turn Face Away From the Main Light To 3/4 Position |
| Narrow Face |
Use Broad Lighting, Use Umbrella, Turn Face Towards Camera |
| Wrinkled Face |
Use Soft Lighting, Use Feathered Light, A Relaxed Non-Smiling Pose, Use High Camera Position |
| Facial Blemishes, Scars, Etc. |
Use Diffused Lighting, Place Blemishes, Scars, Etc. On The Shadow Side Of The Face If Possible |
| Ears |
Show Only One Ear |
| Prominent Ears |
Hide Far Ear Behind Head, Keep Near Ear In Shadow |
| Glasses |
Tilt Lenses Downward By Raising The Glasses Stems, Have Subject Raise Or Lower Chin |
| Deep-Set Eyes |
Lower Main Light, Use Lower Lighting Ratio |
| Pop Eyes |
Lower Camera Angle, Talk To Subject From Camera Position |
| Droopy Eyelid |
Have Subject Look Up, Put Catch Light In Eyes |
This tutorial is a nice quick way to correct the sky in photos using Photoshop
Step 1: Open a blank layer above the image. Select the rock at lower left and invert the selection (Ctrl-Shift-I). (In CS3, the quick select tool works best for selecting the rock.) Now you’ve got everything except the rock selected.
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Let me start this tutorial by stating the obvious, not everyone has beautiful skin. To compound this problem we have skin eruptions, uneven tan, freckles, unwanted highlights, large pores, etc. In addition, today’s cameras and lenses magnify every imperfection and freeze it for all to see. This tutorial will help the photographer put their models in the best light so to speak. I will start at the point where you have completed your basic processing and have an image with the correct exposure value and white balance.
Overview
This subject will be covered in steps as follows:
- Removing or softening major flaws in the skin
- Touching up undesired reflections and highlights
- Apply a Gaussian blur to the skin to soften and blend it.
- Spot sharpening
Note for MAC users: Substitute the Option key for the Alt key when specified in the tutorial.
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These are some basic photo adjustments using Adobe Photoshop that can improve most any images with a few simple steps.
This is a typical straight-from-the-camera image. The photographer has created a lovely picture of a pretty young woman and as it is, it’s fine. But it could be better with la few basic adjustments that work with ANY digital capture, not just portraits.
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The topic of using PhotoShop to improve portraits came up during my last portrait photography class, and I just wanted to share a few things that I picked up recently.
Here are some PhotoShop plugins that I have found are highly recommended and work well for different situations and effects:
Imagenomic Noiseware, Portraiture and RealGrain
OnOne Software Plugin Suite
Nik Software Color Efex Pro
PixelGenius PhotoKit Sharpener
Most of these have demo versions available, so you can see which ones you might like to use.
Here are some tutorials that show some simple steps you can use in PhotoShop in order to improve a picture:
Basic Photo Adjustments: Shows how to use Levels and Unsharp Mask to make basic adjustments to improve any image, including portraits.
Making Skin Beautiful: This shows how to use the clone tool to remove blemishes and apply a Gaussian blur to soften and blend the skin.
I hope these tips might be helpful to fellow photographers!
