Low Key Portrait Question

[Ellis Vener]

1. Rico Tudor wrote:

Nice. Can you post your results from your experiment when you have a chance. I'm also considering buying a black valvet material to cover my white walls. ...

Inspired by dinoSnake, I completed my demo. Key is positioned frontally and larger (3'x4' softbox), so flagged it doesn't work. Instead, I placed the 2'x4' flag behind me with just 1' of clearance. The flag is made by Matthews and has a nubby surface (very effective photon sponge), and is lightly angled away from the SB.

Uncropped version of the portrait above: http://patternassociates.com/rico/fm/flagbg3.png

Same with flag swung aside: http://patternassociates.com/rico/fm/flagbg4.png

The shooting setup: http://patternassociates.com/rico/fm/flagbg1.png

I often shoot against a black b/g, either for portraits or product. Besides flags, I have a 9'x20' Westcott backdrop along one wall of my studio. I use velvet (80% silk) for jewelry. The grid+flag trick does work to kill a white wall, although I typically pull out my fresnels. Black fabric b/g is a simpler route, and can always be employed.

--
Canon, Nikon, Contax RTS, Leica M, Profoto

Nice! And nicely done and exampled as well.

--
Ellis Vener
http://www.ellisvener.com
Free your eyes and the rest will follow. (With apologies to George Clinton.)

 

[Rico Tudor]

Thanks, Ellis, you're a prince.

 

[Sailor Blue]

Good exercise. More beginners should do exercises like this.

Unfortunately you were much too close to the subject so your images are good examples of extension distortion, which is frequently and wrongly called wide angle distortion. By moving the camera to a distance of about 15' from the subject you will get rid of either extension or compression distortion.

I know it, have the portrait lens but couldn't use it here, I'm out of room. Keeping the subject 5 feet from the wall meant that, using even 25mm focal length, my back was pretty much up against bookcases on the opposite wall. Use the 85mm (equivalent) 1.7? Couldn't happen

I'm considering backgrounds and stands.

Thank you for the feedback

I figured it was something like that.

One time when I did a glamour shoot in a shower I was only able to get about 5' to 6' from the subject. Shooting with as short a focal length as 27mm (43mm equivalent) I had to be careful to keep the camera centered on the subject and not aim it up or down to minimize the visible extension distortion and keystoning.