My Sunday Series on Available Light Portraiture continues today with a portrait of the first model named Kellie that I photographed. It is also Everything You Think Is Wrong Day, a unique and unofficial holiday that aims to make people realize that they are not always right. And boy does that ever apply to me..,
Today’s Post by Joe Farace
Most people are other people. Their thoughts are someone else’s opinions, their lives a mimicry, their passions a quotation. — Oscar Wilde
For some reason, ever since I spent a few nights in the Cadogan Hotel in London, just down the hall from the room where Oscar Wilde was arrested in 1895, I’ve been fascinated with his writings and often quote him here. PS: Billy Zane’s portrayal of Oscar Wilde in the film Tombstone is often overshadowed by Val Kilmer’s amazing performance in the film but is still not to be missed.
I’m not the guy to quote myself but I once said that, “Complacency is the enemy of creativity.” I think that’s still true.
First, Some background
While the studio in my current house is small (11×15-feet) I really like shooting there and like to do so whenever given the chance. Shooting in the makeshift basement studio of my former home, on the other hand, forced me to look elsewhere in the house and that translated into shooting in locations where window light was best. After, I moved, I’ve shot some available window light portraits in my Daisy Hill home but feel like I’ve barely scratched the surface of working with my home’s many, many windows. As soon as get to photograph some new or returning models, I want to create some new available light glamour posts.
I’ve often said it here: I think the best way to improve your photography is by practicing. It’s a good idea to, at least, try to make one photograph each day until you can get to the point where you don’t have to think about how to operate your camera. You just use it to create images that you can learn something when working with different kinds of lighting conditions but it should be fun too. You shouldn’t worry about producing masterpieces every time; I just use the camera as a sketchpad to explore these different lighting possibilities. Sometimes these “sketches” will be successful, sometimes not, but try to learn from your analysis of them.
It may seems obvious but when photographing Indoors, look for where you can find the best light. Yet many portraits are made where the photographer thinks the background looks best even though the light may not be so great. This approach can work for outdoor locations but it’s been my experience that it’s not the best approach for indoor portraits. In my former home, for example, my favorite place to shoot portraits was the kitchen. The walls were white and a bay window provided North light that could be modulated by opening and closing mini-blinds. You may have a similar location in your home and never thought that would be a great place to make a portrait. Think about it.
How I made this portrait: I photographed Kellie, who you may recognize her from Stupid Photographer Tricks in the space that was located between the living and dining rooms of my former home. It’s the same place where I photographed Dusty for Creating Portraits with Minimum Equipment but in this case Kellie is facing in the opposite direction. This portrait was made using a Canon EOS 20D and a EF 28-105mm f/3.5-4.5 II USM lens. The exposure was 1/160 sec at f/8 and ISO 1600 with a minus two stops exposure compensation. A Canon 420EX speedlite was used as fill with a Sto-fen Omni Bounce diffuser attached for fill. Yes, the image is slightly noisy so I used Dfine to partially tame it. The portrait was lightly retouched and layered with the Glamour Glow filter from Color Efex to soften it.
*Right now I’m looking for models who are interested in posing for photographs for this blog as I explore the available light possibilities in my home. If you or a friend are interested, click Contact to lets make an appointment for a test shoot to see how we like working together.
If you enjoyed today’s blog post and would like to treat me to a cup of Earl Grey tea ($2.50), please click here. And if you do, thanks so much.
My book Joe Farace’s Glamour Photography is full of tips, tools and techniques for glamour and boudoir photography and includes information on all of the cameras used as well as the complete exposure data for each image. New copies are available for $36 with used books starting around thirteen bucks.as I write this. The Kindle version is $19.99 for those preferring a digital forma