Bright Shiny Things

The assignment calls for "soft tungsten lights", so I had been looking for an object that would have actually been easier to photograph using tungsten lights rather than strobes.








This is usually the case when the object is itself a light source that the strobes would overpower even when dialed down. So here it is: a Mac ThinAir in a Crumpler bag.

The light scheme starts super simple: a softbox over the bag (higher on camera side, almost touching the bag at the back) ), with the modeling light on. That gives the nice diffuse light on the cover of the ThinAir and the soft shadows. I then added a white LED light inside the bag to add a little more punch to the white light that comes from the keyboard. The computer is on so that the Apple logo is illuminated. The red bag adds a nice touch of color, but with the tungsten lights balance the computer looks yellowish and the bag has no punch....

The solution is to actually color balance on a grey card. That makes the alluminum a perfect gray and shifts the LED light to the blue: the red bag becomes more saturated and the keyboard now gives a cool "high tech" glow. The logos in the back are sligthly blurred, but that is a feature to
highlight the front corner and make the picture more 3D. There is ample space for text if it is needed. Shot at 100ISO, 50mm,5' exposure. Only minor blemishes retouches in postproduction.

Dear Richard, it's on.

I have been doing some research on Richard Avedon's work. It is obviously a different approach to the subject compared to others of his time (much colder and well a little predatory compared to the sympathetic one of say Irving Penn). But is it just about throwing in a perfectly white background (and having your subject stand up for an hour?) Not really, as his subjects are actually fairly low contrast (with the exception of the signature slightly overblown skin). I suspect burning and dodging only played a secondary role, and the "signature look" was actually a very distinctive light histogram distribution (in PS lingo) , that back in the day was achieved by using specific developing techniques. So I am doing some research....
This is a good way to (self) describe his work:
"I've worked out of a series of no's. No to exquisite light, no to apparent compositions, no to the seduction of poses or narrative. And all these no's force me to the "yes." I have a white background. I have the person I'm interested in and the thing that happens between us. "

This paragraph was taken from a comment by Jay Johnson on a photo forum.

Back in the 60's, 70's and 80's that NYC fashion guys were big into what everyone is calling the "Avedon look" including Avedon.

Most popular was shooting Tri-X overexposed (pushed to 1200 or more) with a #25 red filter. The models were made up with black lipstick and black nail polish. The film was processed in Dektol 1:3 or 1:4 at 70F for 4-5 minutes after a pre-soak.

This technique results in a porcelain looking skin and a soft but high contrast look that glows."

Will give it a try.

With a Little Help from my Friends.

This is a simple attempt at balancing
day light with a Q Flash and a softbox. I tried to be subtle, but the effect is quite evident. The flash was 1.5 yards from the model (hey Laurie!) at camera left pointed a bit down. Shot at 32mm 1/100th f 4.0 ISO 100. Flash power down to 1/8. Note to self: use longer focal length for better blurring of background+make flash less evident.

Joe Six Pack

How appropriate. This is a simple product shot done with a digital SLR. The camera is at 45deg.
3 strobes. two softboxes left and camera right with edges close to lens. One gridded flood pointing to the white background under the table level. First set with the Sekonic L-758dr light meter, and the 24-70 f2.8 Canon lens. I know, I upgraded.

Incident dome metering pointing at camera on the near corner of the box. Shutter speed 125th.

-1 all lights: f5.6 Each soft strobe: f4.0. Background f1.2 Shot at f4.5
-2 all lights : f16 Each soft strobe: f11. Background 2. Shot at f14.5

The background measure just shows that there is little spill to the front of the beer pack. The intensity at the background remains the same, it meters f32.5 for the second configuration , 1.5 stops above the midgray at the pack.

Note: the smaller aperture shot is colder by 300k. I corrected with Lightroom.

The whole exercise is about learning to control the depth of field and using minimal postproduction re adjusting. The fun part will be to compare with a 4x5 shot with tungsten lights that I have lined up. Stay Tuned....

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.