ONE LIGHT STUDIO PORTRAITS - GROUPS

It’s a very easy case to make when advocating a No Fill Light - One Light set-up for portraits for individuals, but when doing groups—now that will make many photographers really nervous! Removing the fill light from most photographers’ studios would be like taking away a toddler’s security blanket! 

I must say that when I retired my 36x48” softbox, which I KNEW was incapable of group portraits without a fill-light, and upgraded to the Photoflex, 7-foot, Octodome, I was skeptical before I tested it. In fact, when I first set-up my new studio, 6 years ago, I put up my usual fill light, in a big silver umbrella, up high, behind me—just in case. I wanted my blankie near me! I found that when used properly, placing that big light as close to my subjects as possible (without being seen in my viewfinder) the results were fabulous! Of course, I tried it both ways—turning the fill light ON for comparison and the fill light just flattened out the light—making a boring two-dimensional rendition of my subjects.

Just to be clear when I say “One Light Portrait” I’m referring to how may lights are striking my subject’s faces. There are at least 3 and often a total of 4 lights being used on the set when doing groups: 

1. You need a hair light to put some sparkle and separation of hair especially with dark backgrounds.
2. You need at least one background light and often two-lights as the group gets larger because the group blocks light and makes the background much darker on the side opposite the main light.
3. What I’m eliminating is the 5th Light—the Fill Light—the only light that is creatively destructive to the studio portrait.

As proof of concept I offer the following image. It was a Professional Photographers of America, International Print Competition, Loan Collection Winner in 2014.

 f11.0 @ 1/200 sec, ISO 100

Lighting: 

• One, 7-foot, Octodome Main Light
• No Fill Light
• One white reflector on camera right
• the usual two background lights and one hair light

This was my first studio set-up with the 7-foot Octodome. Note the white reflector on the stand on the left. Most importantly notice that my main light is on wheels. You need to easily move your main light, otherwise it may take root, as I’ve seen in some studios, never changing position again!

Store Front Studio - Eagle

This next group portrait with 6 Adults and one child pushed my new studio to the limit. We’ve moved our studio into our home and made the two-car garage into the camera room, so with groups any larger than seven or eight people we go outside to the many beautiful outdoor Idaho locations.

This is the new studio designed in the garage space…

Home Studio

It does not look very big, but the background displayed is 10 feet wide and 20 feet long and the wall mounted Bogen support poles are 12-feet long. The 7-foot Octodome is placed in about the right position for a group, as is the single background light, to the right, on the little roller stand.

Here’s the group portrait in the new studio…

f11.0 @ 1/600 sec., ISO 200

Lighting: 

• One, 7-foot, Octodome Main Light
• No Fill Light
• Two silver reflectors on camera right
• the usual two background lights and one hair light

The biggest difference between this larger group and the portrait of the girls is the spacing of the subjects—making the group wider—so with more distance between my main light and the people on camera right there’s light fall-off. That creates darker shadows on the people at camera right. 

I do several things to make the light even across a group:

1. Stagger the Group: I set-up the seating so that they are not just lined-up flat to the camera. They’re on a diagonal with the people on the right closer to the camera than the people on the left.
2. Increase reflector efficiency:  Instead of my usual white reflector I used two Silver reflectors to balance their facial shadows.
3. Feather the Main Light:   With larger groups you can’t just point the light at the group or you’ll over expose the near people and underexpose the far people. So, I point the Main Light AT the Silver Reflectors on the other side of the group.

So, that’s all there is to it! Piece of Cake!  No, not really—this is the most difficult kind of studio photography; the more living, breathing, people or critters in front of the camera the harder it is!

In closing, I’d encourage photographers, as I mentioned in my prior Blog One Light Studio Portraits—Individuals, to study lighting outside the photographic community. The classic painters 350 years ago knew how to use directional light to create the shadows that made their subjects three dimensional.

Look up the Dutch Master Johannes Vermeer’s portraits using window light: my favorites include “Woman Holding a Balance” and “Girl Interrupted at Her Music”!  His use of window light has been one of my influences in changing my lighting style in the studio. ( Here is link for you:  http://www.essentialvermeer.com/vermeer_painting_part_one.html#.V2Qs4xIrIlL  or the main site link is: https://www.artsy.net/artist/johannes-vermeer )

To quote another great artist, Leonardo da Vinci,

“The artist who can make his subject appear to be in relivo (made to appear to have elevation, with depth and dimension) is he who should receive the greatest praise.”

Author:  Jerry W. Venz, PPA Master Photographer, Craftsman, Certified

Training site:  http://www.LightAtTheEdge.com

ONE LIGHT STUDIO PORTRAITS - For INDIVIDUALS

A single large main light with NO Fill Light is simply the best lighting technique for portraits.  Our goal as portrait artists should be to create portraits with depth; to make our subjects appear three dimensional.  The only way artists, who make two-dimensional representations of their subjects (be they painters or photographers), can do this is by creating shadows using directional light. Every light we add, that strikes our subject’s face, weakens the directional quality of our main light.  All too often I see photographers add so much fill that the lighting becomes totally flat.  That’s fine if you’re photographing a stamp collection, but with people as subjects I consider that lighting malpractice, Painters know this because the masters they study, like Vermeer and Caravaggio, have left a legacy of their classic portraits that have been studied for 350 years. 

Few photographers study anything outside their immediate sphere of influence, be it the many photographic speciality associations (ASMP, WPPI, PPA, etc.) or going right into the gutter; Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, Flicker, Snapfish, ad nauseam.  Photographers need to break free of these incestuous “educational” influences and study how the masters of classic art saw and used light.

Do a web search of Vermeer — Look how he uses window light, as a large, soft, single source, in his painting titled: “Woman Holding a Balance” (#15 in the Vermeer Catalog) — it’s stunning! Also look at #11 in the Vermeer Catalog “Girl Interrupted in Her Music”, a great example of “short Lighting”. Here is a link to the catalog:  http://www.essentialvermeer.com/vermeer_painting_part_one.html#.V2Qs4xIrIlL

So, my goal these last seven years has been to unlearn the studio portrait lighting dogma I was taught 20 years ago and reinvent my lighting style to emulate the soft window light look of the masters using the largest soft box I could find.  This is how I light my subjects now:

Lighting: One 7-foot Octodome @ 45° — No Fill

1. Notice the soft light that wraps her face transitioning smoothly to a light shadow.
2. Note the catch lights in her eyes (Only One in each eye!) that are large, soft, and round.

This is how I was taught to light my subjects:

f11.0 @ 1/125 sec., ISO 160

Lighting: One-36”x48” soft box @ f11.0 and One-40” silver umbrella @ f5.6 (placed behind & above me).

1. Ten years ago, when I did this, I made lots of money with this lighting set-up: A two-stop difference between the main and fill giving me a 4:1 ratio. Compared to what I do now this portrait looks pretty Flat. At least I wasn’t doing the totally flat stuff the Mall photographers were doing with ratios at 2:1 or even 1:1 !
2. At the time I thought my soft box was adequate, but look how Hard the light is compared to my previous image. (The main here is 4-feet away; it’s all about size and distance.)
3. Her catch lights are small and sharp edged (caused by the rectangular soft box). I particularly hate the pin point catch lights in the middle of her eyes (caused by the distant fill light); I call these “Ice Pick” catch lights!

So, why should our studio portraits be any different than our window light portraits that we do on most weddings? I wouldn’t dream of turning on my hot-shoe mounted speed light when doing a window light portrait of a bride! Would you? Then why use a fill flash in the studio? Is it a lack of confidence? I think it’s a crutch you don’t need. Throw your crutches away!

Another old Master that I study, Leonardo da Vinci, wrote:

“The artiste who avoids the shadows may be said to avoid the glory of the art.”

In Part Two of One Light Studio Portraits I’ll talk about using One main light with No fill light on groups…

“You can’t do groups with one light!” you say? Watch me, next time!

As usual should you have questions please don’t hesitate to contact me.  ’Till next week~!

Author:  Jerry W. Venz, PPA Master Photographer, Craftsman, Certified

Training site:  http://www.LightAtTheEdge.com

REAL NATURAL LIGHT PORTRAITS

There is no need to add light in outdoor portraits when the sun is above the horizon. There is always plenty of light (usually too much) one or two hours before sunset if you place your subjects properly. The key is controlling the excess light on your subject(s) by subtracting light from one side with either natural light blocking features (like trees, bushes, or buildings) or, when doing individuals, using a Gobo—Like my 42” Black Flag - to create a shadow side on my subject’s face.

With the Subtractive Lighting Technique you can create beautiful true natural light portraits—never needing so much as a reflector and most certainly NEVER polluting the scene with flash!

So, let’s go on location…

 f6.3 @ 1/100 sec., ISO 400; Lens @ 125mm

This family portrait was done two hours before sunset on the edge, of the common area, of a new housing development. I like this spot because it has several layers of trees all along this lawn, on camera right, blocking much of the ambient light to that side. Next I have a BIG patch of clear sky creating my key light on camera left. And finally, the icing on my location cake, is that nice glow, from the backlight, of the setting sun as my background. 

NOTE: When I am in control of picking the location, these three elements must be present for me to use a location—especially for group portraits. But, if the backlight glow is absent, even if the other two elements are there, I won’t use the location.  Weddings or other events would be the only time I would be forced to break this rule.

This is exactly the kind of location I teach my students to look for.  I tell them to look for light (sky light; without direct sun) at the Edge of Something to have Directional Lighting on their subjects.

Masters Tip Source: One of my early teachers, Leon Kennamer, THE Master of the Subtractive Lighting Technique, taught me that, “The Light is at the Edge of the Forrest!”

If you take anything from this blog, think about that statement…Now Go out and Look, and Use this simple bit of wisdom! 

I see “Professional” Photographers, ignorant of this knowledge, go marching INTO the forrest, all the time when I’m out on my sessions, making this fatal error in lighting (they say, “well, isn’t that where the shade is?”). When you go INTO the forrest all you get is FLAT DULL LIGHT — You lose proper direction of light, because the dominant light becomes TOP Light — not a good light for portraits.

 f4.5 @ 1/320 sec., ISO 800; Lens @ 155mm

Now it’s 45 minutes until sunset at the same location and the glow is getting nice and warm in the background. We moved their son to get that glow all around his head and I opened up my lens to f4.5 and zoomed to a longer focal length to really blur-out that background.

I moved him a little closer to the tree line (now on Camera Left) for a more dramatic lighting pattern—making sure I had light in Both eyes.  No reflector needed (it would only flatten the lighting) and, of course, no speed lights needed or wanted to pollute this gorgeous light!

Don’t hesitate to ask questions for make a comment…’Til next week…

Author:  Jerry W. Venz, PPA Master Photographer, Craftsman, Certified

Training site:  http://www.LightAtTheEdge.com

CONTROLLING BOKEH: LENS OR APERTURE?

Conventional “wisdom” on the forums is that the ONLY way you can create good Bokeh is with apertures of f1.2,  f1.4 or at lest f2.8 and that you MUST use the 85mm or a 50mm to achieve the best results.

As a professional photographer, with over 40 years experience, I’m here to tell you they are wrong on ALL counts!  Because I really like bokeh, being a portrait photographer, I must control my depth of field to the benefit of my subject.  The Bokeh is not my subject—it is the background behind my subject.  Therefore, I can’t risk using the razor thin depth-of-field I would get using f1.2, f1.4 or f2.8 for portraits.

So, to create really nice bokeh I use my telephoto lens, usually 200-300mm, and proper placement of my subject; keeping my subject far from the specular highlights in the background for the look I want.

 f2.8 @ 1/15 sec., ISO 400 Lens @ 200mm

n the example above I used f2.8 because the small subject requires little depth-of-field. But, what makes the big bokeh here is my lens being at 200mm. In addition that long focal length knocks the background so out of focus the you can’t see the source of the bokeh. 

The following images dramatically show how the focal length affects Bokeh at the same f-stop.

As you can see not only is the bokeh smaller in the left image, but you can clearly see the source of the lights; the Christmas tree.

To further prove the power of focal length over f-stop for good bokeh…

 f8.0 @ 1/1000 sec., ISO 400; Lens @ 200

That’s some pretty nice bokeh for an aperture of f8.0! It’s all about focal length and distance of those specular highlights from the subject.

NOTE:  When outdoors your specular highlights are usually created by backlight. If there’s no backlight (best towards sunset) you’re not going to get bokeh that is alive with light; if there’s no light in the background it’s a dead background, which is useless to me.

So, this is what I make a living doing—Portraits of People (mostly outdoors) by natural light one or two hours before sunset.

 f4.5 @ 1/250 sec., ISO 400; Lens @ 160mm

The most useful aperture for individual portraits that will also give me nice backgrounds is f4.5 . At that aperture I always get both eyes in focus even if I have my subject turn to a 2/3rds view of their face.  In the above image my focal length was only at 160mm, so the background is nice, but not as soft as I usually prefer. 

 f4.5 @ 1/320 sec., ISO 400; Lens @ 280mm

Now this is what I’m talking about!  So, I could really compress the scene—bringing the background and the little girl together—I mounted the Canon 1.4x extender on my Canon 70-200mm f2.8 lens giving me a maximum of 280mm to work with on this session.

My basic rule in portrait photography is to use the MOST telephoto lens I can when photographing people because compression distortion ALWAYS makes people look better than the extension distortion created by any short 50mm or less lens. And, my backgrounds look way better at 200-280mm than those popular lenses in the 85mm range can create.

As usual, have a question don’t hesitate to ask….

Author: Jerry W. Venz, PPA Master Photographer, Craftsman, Certified

Training site:  http://www.LightAtTheEdge.com

WHY PROFESSIONAL PHOTOGRAPHERS USE MANUAL MODE - Part 2 of 2

In Part 1 I talked about why professionals must be in control of As Many photographic variables as possible.  Nothing has changed here in the digital age; when I did all my photography on film for 30 years or these last 15 year as a digital artist—I never used anything but the manual mode and those first 30 years were also using only manual focus lenses!

A Professional photographer often builds an image in layers; it’s called foreground, mid-ground (usually the subject) and background. This is how we create depth, interest, and three-dimensionality.

I tell my students that “I build my portraits from the background-forward.”  It’s our job, as an artist, to direct where the viewer looks in our images. The way we do that in photography is with what is sharp against what is un-sharp (or out of focus). We control that with our point-of-focus and depth-of-field. The most important tool that will effectively control these things is focal length; In my world more is best. I use the most focal length I can given the space I have—usually 200-300mm.

Continuing with my Civil War re-enactment coverage…

 f9.0 @ 1/500sec., ISO 400; Lens @ 200mm

This image was fun to construct. In the mid-ground there is the small replica cannon on a table with the flags around it—the confederate flag in the foreground. In the deep background are two full size cannons that I placed just where I wanted by maneuvering my camera position.

I used 200mm to compress the composition, but in this case I did not want the cannons in the background to be blurry blobs, using my usual f4.5 aperture, so I stopped-down to f9.0 to make them recognizable—I wanted to unite the cannon theme from mid-ground to background.

f5.0 @ 1/800 sec., Iso 400; Lens @ 200mm

The image above is a great example of why I prefer telephotos (200mm or more!) I tell my students and have written this often: “Many times we can reveal more about a subject by showing less.”

I loved this confederate soldier’s canteen and cup and when he leaned on his musket I was ready.I took one image then moved to my right a little to place the other soldier’s rifle in the background-changed from f4.5 to f5.0 to get a little more depth-of-field and got this image. It’s one of my favorites—especially after I converted it to black and white.

f4.5 @ 1/1000 sec., ISO 400; Lens @ 200mm

This is my favorite portrait set-up. I like my aperture at f4.5 (even though my lens is an f2.8) on portraits because no matter how my subject turns his head I can always get BOTH eyes in focus and I still get a nice out-of-focus background because my lens is at 200mm.

If you really want to learn what is possible and progress as an artist, put your camera on “M” and then THINK about each image before you click the shutter.  What is your goal? What are you trying to reveal? Have a point of view! And, use More telephoto!

As usual, should you have a comment or questions please don’t hesitate…’Til next week…

Author:  Jerry W. Venz, PPA Master Photographer, Craftsman, Certified

Training site: http://www.LightAtTheEdge.com

WHY PROFESSIONAL PHOTOGRAPHERS USE MANUAL MODE - Part 1 of 2

What’s the difference between an amateur and a professional photographer? These are some of the traits that define a professional:

• As a Professional you should be the author of your images.
• As an Artist you just be the master of your tools.
• To be regarded as an Expert you must be able to tell how and why you created a given image.
• As a professional you must be able to repeat any successful image techniques, at will, on different subjects, in the future.

The ONLY way you can achieve these is traits is to be in control of all the variables when you point your camera at your subject. In my world great images are NOT created by accident! It’s about planning (“pre-visualization” as Ansel Adams used to say) and control of your tools.

The problem with the camera’s Auto Modes (don’t even get me started on the “P” mode!) is that the camera does not know what it’s being pointed at; it does not know what the subject is. Therefore, it can’t know the best f-stop/shutter speed for that subject—just like it could not automatically pick a focal length for your zoom lens! 

Why would you want your camera, with its little rat-like brain, to make such important artistic decisions. Its worse when you realize it’s a blind rat! So when I’m covering an outside event, like the following images, from the Idaho Civil War volunteers I’m constantly changing my camera settings, along with focal length, as my subject(s) change.

 f5.6 @ 1/640 sec., ISO 400., Lens @ 155mm

Settings rationale:

ISO - my baseline outdoor ISO is usually 400. It gives me the most versatility and with my Canon 5D MKII my images are noiseless when properly exposed.

F-Stop - the aperture setting is my most important variable for creative control for static or slow moving subjects.

Shutter Speed - what ever I can handhold until the light goes away.

Lens - I use the MOST telephoto I can in most portrait situations.

I picked f5.6 for the civil war gun crew because there was a large group of people behind them and I wanted to limit my depth-of-field.

To get more depth-of-field on my gun crew and to compress their group I backed away and zoomed to 155mm.

Trivia:  Backing away 10 feet will double your Depth-of-Field—if you change nothing else.

Because I’ve done hundreds of family portrait sessions at these settings: f6.3 at about 30 feet away with my lens @ 150mm giving me a D.O.F. of 4.6 feet…I figured I’d get about 12 feet DOF if I doubled my usual portrait distance with the settings as this image was exposed.

Note: Checking in DOFMaster.com I later found that my DOF in this image was 15.6 feet.

It also helped that the wind blew much of the cannon’s smoke back to the gun crew further obscuring the audience in the background!

f4.5 @ 1/640 sec., ISO 400, Lens @ 200mm

For the portrait of the soldier I maneuvered myself to get that flag behind him, but because the flag is so powerful I went to f4.5 to really knock the flag out of focus—at f4.5 I focus on my subjects eyes. In addition I used 200mm, as I usually do on individuals, to further blur the background.

In Part #2 I’ll continue with examples of images from this event and talk about my choice of focal length—why longer is better!

As usual, your questions and comments are welcome…’Til next week.

Author: Jerry W. Venz, PPA Master Photographer, Craftsman, Certified

Training site:  http://www.LightAtTheEdge.com

10 REASONS TO DO PORTRAITS BY NATURAL LIGHT - Part 2 of 2

In Part 1 I made the case for Why natural light is best for outdoor portraits. But, that’s not all there is to it. If you are a professional you should be exerting some control over natural light, just as we do in the studio, creating lighting patterns that give your subjects three dimensionality and depth.

I see too many “natural light photographers” just plunk their people down in the middle of an open field or conversely they march their subjects into a forrest of trees looking for maximum shade and they usually get too much of a good thing! In both of the above scenarios all they end up with is FLAT LIGHT; as professionals we should do better than that.

The challenge doing portraits by natural light, two hours or even one hour before sunset, is NOT that there is not enough light—it’s that there is TOO much! There’s light bouncing all over the place and from multiple directions.

So, the solution in controlling this light is NOT ADDING LIGHT—it’s SUBTRACTING LIGHT!

The subtractive lighting technique is simple, natural looking (dare I say organic?) and Way less expensive than using flash.  Most importantly it’s seamless (it’s invisible). This technique does not reveal itself the way flash always does. 

To subtract light I use a GOBO (from: go-between)—a term from my cinematography days. Anything that will block light enough to create a nice shadow side on my subject’s face will do as a GOBO. 

For groups (the most difficult subjects) I use Large Natural Gobos, like trees, rocks, or buildings.

f7.1 @ 1/125th sec., ISO 400

On the family portrait above I created directional, three dimensional lighting using several large trees (my Gobo) on camera LEFT and, by placing my group, NOT UNDER the tree’s canopy (critically important!), but at the outside edge of the canopy. Placing them inside the tree’s canopy is like walking deep into a forrest; you’ll just end up with flat light.  That way the entire group is lit by a big patch of blue sky, while the setting sun provides some nice back light.

The Natural Light Rule: As my first lighting mentor (the late, great, Leon Kennamer) taught me, “The Light is at the Edge of the Forrest”!

Natural Gobo Note: If the Gobo you’ve chosen does to create a shadow side on your subject’s face then it’s a reflector—move your subject elsewhere!

Artificial Gobos for Individual Portraits:

It’s really easy creating a nice shadow for individual portraits; even in the worst lighting conditions.  For individuals our Gobo in a flat lighting situation when there are no natural gobos (like trees) nearby is the hand held flag or black flat (aka your Gobo).

Here Kathi, my wife and partner, demonstrates the proper technique to block side and top light, using a 42” black flag, close to the subject, creating a nice dimensional shadow on the young man’s face.

Here’s the before and after images of the young man. We just sat him on a park picnic table out in the open. The image on the LEFT is just plain flat light—we have equal light on each side of his face.  In the Image on the RIGHT, the black flag completely changed the portrait giving the light direction and creating depth.  The only other thing we did was to turn him—so he’s not posed flat to the camera. This pose is generally more flattering to the subject and it puts more of the face in shadow creating “short lighting”—one of the best lighting patterns for portraits.

In this next example, we have our high school senior model, Jasmine, in a popular alley (called “Freak Alley”) in downtown Boise. The sun is setting on camera left and was striking her face, which is something I usually avoid. The sun was also reflecting off a tall, mirrored, building on camera right. So, I had Kathi block the direct sunlight, on the left, with the 42” black flag, creating a nice shadow side on Jasmine’s face.

 f5.0 @ 1/125th sec., ISO 400

Using true natural light, modified with the subtractive technique, will produce superior portraits that will ALWAYS look more natural than ANY flash technique. In addition, with the money you save not buying speed lights, soft boxes, stands, weights, and radio triggers, you can invest in a really nice portrait lens. How’s that for a WIN-WIN!

List of Suppliers for Gobos:

• Larson still has the 42” square rig that I use and they call them Gobos.
• F.J. Westcott has their Scrim Jims in Flat Black Block or their Illuminators in Blocking Black.
• Chimera has nice Panel Frames (like the old Light-Forms in design except these are made of aluminum alloy)
• Or…you can make your own Gobos using foam-core panels painted black.

Use your imagination!

As always, should you have questions don’t hesitate to ask…’Til next week…

Author:  Jerry W. Venz, PPA Master Photographer, Craftsman, Certified

Training site:  http://www.LightAtTheEdge.com