Playing with Portraits
I have just finished reading a brilliant book on photography lighting. “Light, science and magic” covers the fundamentals of lighting and how to use it to create captivating images. Now I have finished the book I want to practice what I have learnt. This is why I have started playing with portraits.
Portait styles
Over the last couple of months, I have had a play with Hollywood style lighting and creating painterly style portraits. So today I am mixing it up again, and practising my rim light on a low key portrait.
Bouncing the light
For this practice session, I decided to challenge myself by wearing a black velvet top and using black velvet as the background. I wanted to practice getting separation light between myself and the background.
I captured this image using natural light from a window and then used a reflector the other side to bounce the light back onto my face.
My camera was set up on a tripod, and I used my “nifty fifty” 50mm prime lens. Using the canon app on my phone I was able to ensure the focal point was on my eye and snap away.
I am enjoying playing with portraits using myself as the subject, so watch this space! I am sure I will be producing more in this genre soon!
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Photographer
I am a fine art photographer based in the South of England. I enjoy sharing my photographic adventures, hints and tips.
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