What Bothers You About This Portrait?

This is a colleague of mine I shot for a professional brochure. This is not the final image used. But I thought I'd seek the opinions of others for my own sake. One thing that I notice, which isn't too significant I imagine, is the displaced margin of his right facial line due to the lens of the glasses. I don't get the opportunity of shooting a lot of people with glasses; and I was emphasizing lens flare, or rather lack there of, throughout the shoot. The softbox is a 30x48 positioned horizontally and to the camera left, almost parallel to his face [see setup below] with a reflector for fill.

-proudfather

A little selection, copy to layer, free transform.

dave

dave

Can non-experts comment? I just started reading the lighting forum yesterday, so take my comments as a "person off the street", not as a real photographer...

Ignoring the somewhat stiff look and concentrating instead on the lighting, I'd like to see less fill and more contrast. He seems a little 'flat', if you know what I mean.

Hope that helps.

cheers,

Chris

Nice job. I definitely like it better retouched like that. It doesn't look unatural at all.

-proudfather

Point well taken. I was hesitant to use darker shadows for this shoot given its use for a brochure, thinking it might look too harsh. Though I agree that for his face it would've added some dimension. Maybe I could burn the left side a little.

-proudfather

Hi Proudfather,

Is this the exact same setup used for the shot?

It seems to me that in each of the shots the backdrop is a different colour, also is there a light on the backdrop because there seems to be a "glow" around him against the background.
One other thing, did he sit on the chair facing the back?

I am also a novice around here, and think the photo is great, but am just trying to picture how it was all put together.

Thanks,

Fid.

Solve the refraction problem in the glasses by removing the lens from the frame -- keep a jewelers screwdriver kit handy..

Photo is nice overall but overfilled on the side. Regardless of whether a fill light or reflector is used the ideal position on a dark background with short lighting is in FRONT of the subject's face to the degree possible so the fill falls off from front to back and the ear and side of the face doesn't get over illuminated. That can be difficult to do with a reflector but is a no-brainer with a fill light; just put it behind the camera. Use fill light if you have one and you'll get a very smooth fall off from highlight to shadow relative to the front of the face.

The reason neutral fill at the camera axis is ideal this is a matter of visual dynamics. You use a short lighting pattern on a dark background to create eye grabbing contrast between the FRONT of the face and everything else. When other parts of the photo become too light relative to the front of the face the attraction to the front of the face is lessened and with it the visual impact and effectiveness of the presentation.

Here the side of the head and background behind the shadow side of the head are so bright they divert attention away from the front of the face. That is not good, but the solution is also quite simple; put less light there.

Also, with regard to leading the eye with brightness and contrast, consider where the placement of the hair light in this photo will lead the viewer's eye; off the face and past the top of his head and out of the photo. The ideal position for a hairlight is back behind the subject on the key light side so the highlight in the hair will pulll the eye towards, not away, from the key lit side of the face which is the center of interest.

The suit is a good match with the background but the shirt and tie must have UV sensitive dyes which created flourescence and make them a bright distraction. Hitting them with the desaturation sponge will fix that problem.

Next time watch for details such the postion of the tie knot and the bunching of the suitcoat on the shoulders

CG
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proudfather said:

This is a colleague of mine I shot for a professional brochure.
This is not the final image used. But I thought I'd seek the
opinions of others for my own sake. One thing that I notice, which
isn't too significant I imagine, is the displaced margin of his
right facial line due to the lens of the glasses. I don't get the
opportunity of shooting a lot of people with glasses; and I was
emphasizing lens flare, or rather lack there of, throughout the
shoot. The softbox is a 30x48 positioned horizontally and to the
camera left, almost parallel to his face [see setup below] with a
reflector for fill.

-proudfather

Click to expand...

Joe Peoples writes:

I see nothing "bothersome" about your choice of lighting or color combos. If this gent is a heavy hitter in the corporate world, I'd have him wear a different color jacket (charcoal gray, perhaps). What I see, that most people might not (I'm talking about his target audience) is that his skintone could use make-up to lighten his beard and even out his skintone. His jacket looks a size too big (it's natural) and a few well-placed clothespins or A-clamps would help. His jacket also has a lot of lint on it. Either dab with tape beforehand to pick up the lint, or Photoshop it out.

proudfather said:

This is a colleague of mine I shot for a professional brochure.

Click to expand...

Wait a minute folks.

A peek into 'average city portrait studio' windows reveals, that proudfather - being an amateur - surpasses most of what those professional are able to deliver.
I would just briefly like to mention that.

--
Kind regards,
Peter B.
(English - not my native tongue)

proudfather said:

I was hesitant to use darker shadows for this
shoot given its use for a brochure, thinking it might look too
harsh. Though I agree that for his face it would've added some
dimension.

Click to expand...

Good point. This is a great forum with loads of info, by the way. My brother is a graphic artist and has to always edit photos for print too. I always say "These are so dark!" and he says "Yeah, but I need the contrast for the print to work" So whatever the context dictates will work.

I'm not sure which is easiest: shoot a 'normal' short lighting portrait and use curves to adjust shadows for printing later; or shoot with lots of fill, and then adjust the fill for web viewing (after the print is done). Probably best to let the primary function of the photo (print vs. web) dictate what the original should be.

cheers,

Chris

I was thinking of the lint too...and the blue collar (if he's trying to give a 'corporate' look, but no problem if doesn't want that look). The lint is very apparent, though (I didn't mention it above only because I thought he was asking about the lighting that).
cheers,
Chris

Ever wonder why there's no middle key? Because when everything in the photo is the same middle range of tones there is no compelling center of interest that pops out an you; no real visual impact.

That in a nutshell is why you probably feel something is not quite right with this one. It's got all the right elements for a great executive shot, but tonally everything sort of runs together - front of face, side of face, background, etc. resulting in an overall impression of blandness

FWIW: True high- and low-key photos don't have compelling contrasting COIs either and are not very visually effective. What you want is either a high- or low-key BACKGROUND with a strongly CONTRASTING center of interest.

(Caps to illustrate contrast visually).

CG
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Hey Fid, that's a different background. The lighting setup is the same. I used the background in the lighting setup for the actual shot to be used in the brochure. This image didn't make it.

He was stradling the chair with his arms draped along the seat back. That can be difficult with suits since it can raise the jacket collar up.

-proudfather

Yes, when using a reflector, there's always the question in the back of my mind when setting up as to where exactly the reflector should be positioned. I very rarely use a second strobe for fill and usually only do so with larger group shots. Generally you can't go wrong with reflectors with respect to shadows, with the exception perhaps of the dreaded upper lip shadow with buttefly lighting. Though, this case exemplifies overfill, as you've mentioned. This subject, due in part to the shape of the face, it's angle, and his being a male, would have benefitted from a deeper shadow. Can't argue there.

The final image used for the brochure, unfortunately, shares a similar flattness. On the upside, the marketing lady e-mailed me, complimenting me on the wonderful portaits (his was not the only one I did) and the promptness in which I delivered them (shot at 6:30 pm, delivered at 7:30 am the next day). So it seems the lighting suffices for their purpose. Besides, who knows how the final printed brochure will end up. Once they go to the graphics artists, they're pretty much out of your hands.

-proudfather

Ah, it seems you've got some experience under your belt. Clothespins, huh? Good idea. Heavyweight in the corporate world? Not! We never wear ties, and are often dressed neatly in blue scrubs!

-proudfather

It sucks, there's no question. Fortunately, the final print will be smaller than that viewed on your monitor. So the lint won't be noticeable. I'm confident of that. Funny, I didn't think of a 'white-collar' worker wearing a blue collar. Is that degrading in any way?

-proudfather

Maybe one of the Phoshop experts can change his jacket to blue.

Bit I don't think they can cope with the collar and the wrinkles.

Sometimes it helps to use a secrtetarial chair, with no arms and one of those very small backs, so you can tug the jacket into submission.

BAK

Thank you sincerely. I tried professional photography as a soul source of income for 1 year and, although I was relatively successful at it for the short time, decided that I ran the risk of loosing the passion at the cost of running the business. It's much more enjoyable now as I can photograph on my terms. Yet, photography is a lifelong learning process for everyone, professionals and amateurs alike. I don't believe anyone can ever be too great at what they do. There's always room for improvement.

-proudfather

Yeah, or perhaps a stool with no back at all. He was stradling a chair for this picture with his arms draped over the back which contributed to some of the suit jacket discrepancies. I become so attentive on facial expression, lens focus, and lighting, that I often overlook the attire. My wife used to act as my assistant and she paid attention to all those details. But now she could care a less about my photography and finds her time better spent doing other things.

-proudfather