To all ye who want to paint with light ...

I should have started this blog many moons ago as I started experiencing the joys of rediscovering the art of photography. But as the saying goes - it's better late, than never!
So, here I am, in the hopes of recording what I learn as I progress from ignorance to enlightenment; about what my eyes can see that my camera can capture; and, what my mind imagines and my camera paints with its capabilities.

Please feel free to add any comments and share your wisdom (tips or tricks) that you have picked up along the way.

And do check out my How-To and Birding pages as well.


Sunday, October 31, 2010

Day 183 - Portrait session with a friend

I was looking for some practise with portraiture, and a friend offered to sit for me as he needed some photos done as well.

I am completely green at this and besides a couple of lessons on lighting a subject for portraiture, I have not done any serious portraiture at all.  And those sessions were really on how to use reflectors as a supplemental light source.  My dilemma this morning was how I could actually use a reflector, as I had no second person to help.  I had to rely on my pop-up flash for fill-light, as my YN460 is extremely unreliable.  And since we went out around 10:00 am, we didn't have a lot of time to waste experimenting with an unreliable flash.

My challenges today were mainly two - composing a shot properly with a human being as a subject, and of course the light.  I was happy with the locations I chose.  But at times the bitter cold winds made it difficult for my subject to keep his eyes open.  However, out of the 200 plus shots I took, I found that I could easily keep at least 30, if not a few more.

My next challenge, post-photoshoot, is the processing.  I hope that once I'm done with the processing, I can get some nice shots ready for delivery to my friend.

I would love to hear your comments on these shots on how I could have composed or lit them better, or if I can process them differently to improve the image.



2 comments:

  1. yea, I'm late with the comment, I was more in the mood to work on poems. Sorry

    First one is just plain excellent!!!!

    Second one, I would done a different background or just move him over so the whole background is the water.

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  2. Your subject could not keep his eyes open?? sheesh. what an amateur. Next time, ask him to tidy up his act !
    RA

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