The Dark Smurf

This is a good example of object photography that mimics the set up in a larger space.

Just over and left of the little Smurf is a simple 3 joints table lamp with a metal conic shade and a 60w light bulb. The lamp is so close that it acts as a big softbox for the metal mug on which the Dark Smurf is perched upon. The light is angled down so that the background (just a foot behind) does not receive direct light. Result: a nice light gradient. The bottom is a white table which helps diffusing light. Camera (an old Sony DSC-W3C) settings: ISO 160 f3.2 1/100th EV -1. The mug and the handle were de-focused with Gaussian Blur. I dodged the Smurf and the immediate background just a little bit.

Got the Smurf on a trip to Friburg, Germany. I was six.

One more Retro Portrait

This is composition 24 from
"Lighting for portraiture" a great book from Walter Nurnberg
The light scheme is shown here (the softbox on the left was not on), with my favorite take on the left.
The interesting deviation from the "by the book approach" is the light on the right arm and hand. It came from a window I forgot to completely obscure. Compare with the right take.

Photoshop tricks:
- Temp: K5650
- colors substantially unsaturated
- increased contrast on jacket and shirt.
- some minor skin retouching.

Things to improve:



- Not happy with the double highlights in the model's eyes.
- The background light in the right take is a little too distracting.
- Added Oct 08. Contrast between key and fill a tad too low.

Background Test for Apnea style photo.

She is the lovely Apnea. The photo was taken by the awesome Lithium Picnic. I am not sure about the subject on the right, but that is beside the point. The lighting is subtle, if simple, so how did he do it? My light set up is above...it is a quick first attempt. The interesting bits are the background color gradient and where the lights were. I suspect a bit of photoshopping to brighten up the subject. There is definitely a large softbox as fill (it shines on the rubber at camera left). The light set up I used is below. ISO 100 f9.0 1/160 18mm. Subject at 2ft from background 800ws Octabox and Softbox at 1/32. Diffused 400ws strobe at 1/8th. Lights 6ft high. (the diffused strobe might not be necessary..).

The color gradient was achieved with two layers and the "curves" command. The reddish one was erased on the right. I roughly matched the background colors from the original. The man skin is obviously darker than hers. Things that did not work out: there are two shadows on the right! and not enough detail in the darks. (note: her right background reads 82 87 90). What to do?

1. Move octabox to center and closer to subject. Add a tad more fill, but not on background.
   
2. Lower both softboxes one foot.
   
3. Move strobe a little further away?
4. Right softbox at same distance as subject.
   
5. subject a bit further from background.
   

High Key and Others.

Sunday I explored a range of styles, with some loose inspiration from W magazine and Christine Kessler work: bold colors and accessories, strong lights, often with a simple silver umbrella+flash as the main source and backgrounds with saturated colors.

1-First try in the "Green Room". ISO 200, f 4.5, 22mm 1/160th. In Lightroom: +Vibrance and Green Saturation. Less global Saturation. Darks -30. Yeah Punchy. A bit of Liquify to make the coat fit better. The light scheme is here.













2-The Couch. (Note: people seem to like this one) The trick here is to keep the couch a few feet away from the red wall. No Shadows! Two softboxes (see scheme) and the umbrella in the back as extra fill. ISO 100, 27mm, f9, 1/160th.



The vignetting was added in post production.

3-High Key. This was shot in a corridor overlooking the studio. The big flashes where all at max power in the room behind the model. I used the Vivitar+silver Umbrella as fill at 1/16th and several feet away, with a blue filter to make the scene a bit colder, as the reflections from the studio wall + sunlight (see below) where yellowish. I do not think the filter mattered much in post production. Iso400 (that was silly) 27mm, f5.0, 1/160th. With these settings there was additional sun light from the outside. Model: Angela A.

Bag it Up.

My first foray in object photography. This is a line of bags with a vintage look. So I decided they should not look too blingy, but rather have a bit of an understated tone.

The setup is here on the left. It is a bit complicated, but not really. A snooted strobe with a blue gel to give the "halo"
on the background. Two softboxes to give uniform light and two small strobes (the one on the left with gobos, the one on the right with a mini diffuser) to add a bit of edge and sparkle to the objects.

Skin Retouching

I am following this very detailed walkthrough .

This a nice shot of Justice and Robin (make up Kristin Von Claret) after some basic skin retouching with the healing tool and the procedure described in the above link.

Obscure notes to self: if I had to burn or dodge some specific areas:
- layer
- create a new layer
- overlay
-fill with 50% gray

When it is time to create the skin mask for the filters involved in the skin retouching (Lens Blur and High pass) go to the Channels Palette. Make an Alpha Channel and erase/burn as desired. Then turn your newly remodeled Alpha Channel/Mask into a selection: Go back to the Layers Palette and, making sure your layer (I use the top layer that contains all the sublayers) is the Active Layer, click on the third-from-the-right-button on the bottom of the Layers Palette which will turn your still-selected new Alpha Channel into that Layer's new Layer Mask. (this last detail is not in the skin retouching howto).

Photographers prefer Brunettes

Professional, beautiful, easy to work with, on time. What could I ask for more? Oh yes a great stylist.

The b/w was done with the model reclining on the couch (Pillow is for Posture!). Flood high above turned down quite a bit. 50mm at f2.5, 1/160th, ISO100. Tiny flash (and stylist!) hiding just a foot behind. Photoshop: add a layer with a 10px gaussian blur, mask eyes and lips. Fix small blemishes on the main photo. Merge layers. Unsharp mask. A little subtler than previous attempt.

Red Shirt: Easy. Vivitar high on camera left, power 1/16th. added mini softbox. White reflective board at lower right. I almost botched the shot though. Best focus is on lips rather than eyes!

High Key: The big softbox set up as discussed a couple of posts ago. A little off center so the left side gets less light. Or I could have added a semi transparent gobo. f2.5


Model: Robin

Stylist: Kristin Von Klaret