July 30, 2011

Lesson 4: Page 2

LIGHT FALLOFF AND FEATHERING LIGHT Most light modifiers will have some falloff from side to side. This means that the center of an umbrella for example, produces brighter light in…

Read More
July 30, 2011

Lesson 4: Page 3

BUSINESS PORTRAITS Business portraits, like any portrait sitting, can be as simple or complex as you wish. The majority of portraits I do in the studio for business people are…

Read More
July 30, 2011

Lesson 4: Page 4

Occasionally you might have a client who requests a ‘animated’ portrait with a knockout background. When I describe Animated, I am referring to an approach where the subject is not posed…

Read More
July 30, 2011

Lesson 4: Page 5

FAMILIES When you open your portrait studio, one of your target markets will be families, couples, and children. Since we have covered the basic principles of lighting patterns, ratios, angles,…

Read More
July 30, 2011

Lesson 4: Page 6

COUPLES With couples, the lighting approach remains the same: what lighting will best work for this particular couple? In this photo, I chose a large light box on camera right,…

Read More
July 30, 2011

Lesson 4: Page 7

PLACE YOUR LIGHTS CAREFULLY Now that you are taking your first portraits, I would like to share some things I see quite often with students setting up their lights for…

Read More
July 30, 2011

Lesson 4: Page 8

For this photo of the woman below left, I started with a Rembrandt pattern and no fill and it is obviously to contrasty. In the right image, I turned on the…

Read More
July 30, 2011

Lesson 4: Page 9

For this business portrait of a young woman, I chose to light her with a more glamour approach by placing the key light above the camera and a white reflector…

Read More
July 30, 2011

Lesson 4: Page 10

This light was back far enough to cover the entire sheer for a large diffused light source. A second light was placed on camera left at the background and designed…

Read More
July 30, 2011

Lesson 4: Page 11

For a professional woman, a head pose that is leaned away from the near shoulder gives an impression of strength.  Here you can see the business portrait and the portrait…

Read More
July 30, 2011

Lesson 4: Page 12

For these men, the straight up and tilted towards the rear shoulder shows a stronger look.

Read More
July 30, 2011

Lesson 4: Page 13

When you photograph a subject, you can make the decision of whether to face their body towards the key light or opposite of it. Again, if you have a large…

Read More
July 30, 2011

Lesson 4: Page 14

Hands also require special attention as well.  The main rule is to avoid showing the back of the hand and avoid pointing at the camera. Rather position them to show…

Read More
July 30, 2011

Lesson 4: Page 15

This next example is a much more pleasing pose as the arms lead towards the face and support it, although not perfect. Once I had her relax the fingers and…

Read More
July 30, 2011

Lesson 4: Page 16

For this business portrait of a husband and wife who are business partners, we move them in close and show them as a couple but maintain some space to keep…

Read More
July 30, 2011

Lesson 4: Page 17

PHOTO TIP : INTRODUCTION TO COMPOSITION There are basically four main ingredients to a strong and well photographed image: composition, lighting, exposure, and subject. Composition can be the difference between…

Read More
July 30, 2011

Lesson 4: Page 18

RULE OF THIRDS But wait…there are no rules, just guidelines. In this series of photos you can see how the thirds align compositionally.  For the image of the Badlands, the…

Read More
July 30, 2011

Lesson 4: Page 19

RECEDING LINES Receding lines, also known as a ‘forced perspective’ is a very powerful compositional element. Here, something in the foreground of the image pulls you into the background. The…

Read More
July 30, 2011

Lesson 4: Page 20

PATTERNS AND TEXTURES This is a very powerful compositional approach to many subjects in nature. Zooming in on a pattern or texture can provide some visually powerful images as displayed…

Read More
July 30, 2011

Lesson 4: Page 21

MOTION There are several ways to add more drama to your compositions by adding motion. The most common approach to this is with water. By using a slow shutter speed…

Read More
July 30, 2011

Lesson 4: Page 22

CENTERED Another false compositional “rule” is that subjects should never be centered, rather off to one side or the other in the thirds areas. Baloney! If it works, go with…

Read More
July 30, 2011

Lesson 4: Page 23

ALLOWING FOR TEXT As a commercial photographer, you will strive to produce images for a variety of clients and markets. One aspect of shooting marketable stock images is to make…

Read More
July 30, 2011

Lesson 4: Page 24

Here are some samples of composition in commercially shot images.

Read More
July 30, 2011

Lesson 4: Page 2

LIGHT FALLOFF AND FEATHERING LIGHT Most light modifiers will have some falloff from side to side. This means that the center of an umbrella for example, produces brighter light in…

Read More
July 30, 2011

Lesson 4: Page 3

BUSINESS PORTRAITS Business portraits, like any portrait sitting, can be as simple or complex as you wish. The majority of portraits I do in the studio for business people are…

Read More
July 30, 2011

Lesson 4: Page 4

Occasionally you might have a client who requests a ‘animated’ portrait with a knockout background. When I describe Animated, I am referring to an approach where the subject is not posed…

Read More
July 30, 2011

Lesson 4: Page 5

FAMILIES When you open your portrait studio, one of your target markets will be families, couples, and children. Since we have covered the basic principles of lighting patterns, ratios, angles,…

Read More
July 30, 2011

Lesson 4: Page 6

COUPLES With couples, the lighting approach remains the same: what lighting will best work for this particular couple? In this photo, I chose a large light box on camera right,…

Read More
July 30, 2011

Lesson 4: Page 7

PLACE YOUR LIGHTS CAREFULLY Now that you are taking your first portraits, I would like to share some things I see quite often with students setting up their lights for…

Read More
July 30, 2011

Lesson 4: Page 8

For this photo of the woman below left, I started with a Rembrandt pattern and no fill and it is obviously to contrasty. In the right image, I turned on the…

Read More
July 30, 2011

Lesson 4: Page 9

For this business portrait of a young woman, I chose to light her with a more glamour approach by placing the key light above the camera and a white reflector…

Read More
July 30, 2011

Lesson 4: Page 10

This light was back far enough to cover the entire sheer for a large diffused light source. A second light was placed on camera left at the background and designed…

Read More
July 30, 2011

Lesson 4: Page 11

For a professional woman, a head pose that is leaned away from the near shoulder gives an impression of strength.  Here you can see the business portrait and the portrait…

Read More
July 30, 2011

Lesson 4: Page 12

For these men, the straight up and tilted towards the rear shoulder shows a stronger look.

Read More
July 30, 2011

Lesson 4: Page 13

When you photograph a subject, you can make the decision of whether to face their body towards the key light or opposite of it. Again, if you have a large…

Read More
July 30, 2011

Lesson 4: Page 14

Hands also require special attention as well.  The main rule is to avoid showing the back of the hand and avoid pointing at the camera. Rather position them to show…

Read More
July 30, 2011

Lesson 4: Page 15

This next example is a much more pleasing pose as the arms lead towards the face and support it, although not perfect. Once I had her relax the fingers and…

Read More
July 30, 2011

Lesson 4: Page 16

For this business portrait of a husband and wife who are business partners, we move them in close and show them as a couple but maintain some space to keep…

Read More
July 30, 2011

Lesson 4: Page 17

PHOTO TIP : INTRODUCTION TO COMPOSITION There are basically four main ingredients to a strong and well photographed image: composition, lighting, exposure, and subject. Composition can be the difference between…

Read More
July 30, 2011

Lesson 4: Page 18

RULE OF THIRDS But wait…there are no rules, just guidelines. In this series of photos you can see how the thirds align compositionally.  For the image of the Badlands, the…

Read More
July 30, 2011

Lesson 4: Page 19

RECEDING LINES Receding lines, also known as a ‘forced perspective’ is a very powerful compositional element. Here, something in the foreground of the image pulls you into the background. The…

Read More
July 30, 2011

Lesson 4: Page 20

PATTERNS AND TEXTURES This is a very powerful compositional approach to many subjects in nature. Zooming in on a pattern or texture can provide some visually powerful images as displayed…

Read More
July 30, 2011

Lesson 4: Page 21

MOTION There are several ways to add more drama to your compositions by adding motion. The most common approach to this is with water. By using a slow shutter speed…

Read More
July 30, 2011

Lesson 4: Page 22

CENTERED Another false compositional “rule” is that subjects should never be centered, rather off to one side or the other in the thirds areas. Baloney! If it works, go with…

Read More
July 30, 2011

Lesson 4: Page 23

ALLOWING FOR TEXT As a commercial photographer, you will strive to produce images for a variety of clients and markets. One aspect of shooting marketable stock images is to make…

Read More
July 30, 2011

Lesson 4: Page 24

Here are some samples of composition in commercially shot images.

Read More