Assignment 1 - Indoor Environmental Portrait: Final

I came into the location shoot with a clear idea of how I wanted to crop my image, and what lens I wanted to use.

I knew that I wanted the copious light from the windows behind my subject as my main light, and I proceeded to set up a softbox as a fill.

I soon encountered one difficulty -- namely that I had forgotten to get a sync cord from the studio -- which effectively meant I had no way to fire my flash. Thankfully Val was on hand, and suggested I connect one of our sunpaks to my camera hotshoe, bounce it off the floor, and trigger the softbox that way.

I very quickly found that my artificial light sources were way too bright. To keep the ambient light from the windows in the background nice and distinct, and to keep my shallow(ish) depth of field, I needed to set my ISO to around 400, my aperture to 3.2 and have a shutter speed at around 1/125. This meant that the light on my model from the sunpak and softbox was way too harsh and over-exposed.

When I tried without the softbox, and simply bounced my on-camera flash off the floor, the results were much more satisfying and natural. I dropped my shutter speed to 1/60, and the image was much closer to what I'd been aiming for.

Val pointed out, however, that the light was quite flat.

So we took the softbox off the profoto, attached a reflector, extended it as high as it would go, and bounced it off the ceiling above.

This gave a more dynamic feel to the image, and a feeling of airy, lofty space above my model. As Val pointed out, because you can't actually see that there are not windows on the left side of the space, the eye is tricked into thinking the windows curve off out of the picture, and that my model is lit (naturally) from the left.

I took care of my white balance in post production. I did take a grey card on the shoot, but forgot to shoot with it. I always open my images in Lightroom, do white balance, exposure and curves there, and then open the image in Photoshop to do my retouching.

I do feel my shot might be a little bit grainy. Whether this is because of my ISO, or my aperture being just a little bit too wide, I'm not sure. There are other problems, like the blown out area in the bottom right corner, and my retouching is a little bit rough.

I'm also not too sure about the expression of my model. I had other shots where the expression is better, but could not use them, because of problems like: her hair on the right-hand side came up like brush underneath her chin -- it was too distracting, and there was no way I could easily retouch that kind of thing. Similarly with the hand: I had shots where the hand was placed better, but they didn't work for other reasons (expression, hair, etc.)

It just reinforces to me that shooting with Capture One on a location shoot (or any kind of shoot) is crucial. There is so much to think about in terms of just lighting a shot, that those smaller details can get lost in the process. Seeing the images blown up on a computer screen, however, would show those kinds of things right away.

Having said all that, I'm fairly happy with the results. I think it works well for the brief. The picture is definitely far from perfect, but overall, I'm really happy with what I learned on the shoot.

Assignment 1 - Indoor Environmental Portrait: Polaroid

Lighting diagram:

Objective:

This assignment is to provide an image of a businessperson in their environment, suitable for the front cover of Time magazine.

1. What is your intention in terms of how you plan to use the available light (as your main, your fill or even a hair light)?

When I got into the space, I became obsessed almost straight away with the large curving windows looking out over De Maisonneuve.

I knew I wanted to have the perspective, and the lines the windows created, in my shot.

I also knew I wanted to be looking up at my subject, to create an impression of power. At first, I thought I wanted a full length shot. I wasn't sure if I wanted a wide lens shot, or a more closely cropped shot, so I started taking shots to see what my perspective and my crop would be.

Before I came into the space I thought I wanted to go with a more stylized image, where the flash would be my main light. As I took more shots, and started to have a crop that I would like to work with, I realized my main light -- as well as the hair light -- would be the ambient light coming in through the windows.

I will need to use a very soft diffused light from my flash to fill in the shadows on my subject's face, as my subject will be turned towards me, away from the ambient light.

2. What is the reason for your lens choice (do you want the compression of a long lens or the exaggerated perspective of a wide angle)?

In the end, I realized I wanted to shoot with a long lens (70-200mm) because I want the compression and the shallow depth of field -- as I want the background to be a feature: architectural, interesting, structural, but not detracting from the portrait: I want a softer focus for the background.

3. What aperture do you plan to use and why?

I am going to go with something between 2.8 and 5.6.  I want a shallow depth of field, to concentrate on the subject. I want the background to create a sense of perspective and spaciousness, but not to overpower the image. And I don't want it to be recognizable necessarily. I want it to emphasize the sense of power of the subject.

4. What shutter speed to you plan to use and why?

Around 125. With my aperture, and the flash, and all the available light, though, I might have trouble. I will need to experiment and refine on the shoot.

5. Do you have enough available light to achieve these camera settings?

Definitely, if I shoot quickly and as soon as I arrive on location (around 12.30pm) I will have more than enough light. If I don't shoot quickly enough, or it's a particularly dull, overcast day, I might need to set up a hairlight on my subject.

6. Do you have enough strobe to achieve these settings?

Yes, if anything my strobe will be too strong. 

7. Do you have too much light to achieve these settings?

Potentially, yes. If, as I said, I shoot early and quickly, I will have abundant light from the windows in my shot. I might need to look out for flare. If anything, though, my flash will be too bright and harsh. I will need to have a neutral density filter. Perhaps even more diffusing material over the softbox. The light needs to very gentle and natural. I might look at using a reflector also.

In these shots, I'm starting to get a crop that I'm beginning to like.  On the right I still have light from the windows, but the subject is not well lit. On the left I am losing the daylight, and the flash is too harsh on my subject:

8. Are there any technical problems with your test shot that will need to be addressed at the shoot or in post-production?

I think I need to revisit the space and check my settings with the ambient light. I need to check my iso, and my shutter speed. My test shots seem to be a bit grainy, and I want to avoid this.

I have a LOT of refining to do (to think about). I think I will go back to the space before the location shoot. But this is getting near the kind of crop that I want on the day:

9. How will you be addressing color balance?

I will take a grey card reading for the ambient light and adjust from there. I really only want to be using one flash head.

10. What is the equipment you will need for the shoot? Are there any other special requirements or preparation (ie: permits, models, crew, research etc.)?

I will need:

• My model
• Profoto: Two flash heads (I really only want to use one, but might need one for the hairlight)
• Softbox
• Neutral density filter
• Diffusing material
• Two tall stands
• Reflector
• Clips
• Two Extension cords
• Masking tape
• Magazine layout, laptop and Capture One
• Tripod
• Light meter