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Shadows and anti-shadows
I'm fond of portraits in which clearly defined shadows fall on an otherwise well-lit model, for example: 18+ nudity https://www.modelmayhem.com/portfolio/pic/21673061 18+ nudity I'm also fond of the "negative" of that effect, in which brightly shimmering light falls on a model who would otherwise be mostly in the dark: 18+ nudity https://www.modelmayhem.com/portfolio/pic/39286173 18+ nudity If you've taken (or posed for) pictures using those approaches, perhaps you can post some examples you consider your most successful. If you've developed techniques for achieving those effects, you're welcome to tell about them. Aug 09 16 12:36 pm Link Aug 09 16 12:56 pm Link Looknsee Photography wrote: Yes indeed. It's understandable that your portrait has made it onto so many lists. Aug 09 16 01:06 pm Link So I went to a Kelby seminar. Most of it was geared towards getting people excited, and not achieving perfection. 'The next step', if you will. And in that context, he was an excellent teacher. That said, he shared one trick that I thought was utter genius. He made an adjustment layer to brighten the image, painted it in in semi-random stabs here and there, and then reduced the layer opacity to where you could barely see that he had done anything. Bam. Instant mottled light. And since the effect was turned down so far, the viewer couldn't even tell that an effect was used; it was practically a subconscious difference. I've used that trick a few times. It works well, but no trick works well if you do it a lot. Aug 09 16 06:10 pm Link Zack Zoll wrote: Can you point us to an example or two of that technique? Aug 09 16 07:57 pm Link Honestly, no. I'm too lazy to create, upload, and link video. But Scott Kelby had his whole routine down, fake impromptu jokes and all. I would be surprised if a Google search for 'Kelby mottled light' hit nothing. Let me know if you get nothing. I could do it, but I have a hard time believing one of the tens of thousands that got that tip hasn't already. Aug 09 16 08:43 pm Link I shoot almost exclusively on a white, gray, or black background with lighting as my primary prop and smoke as a secondary prop. When you combine the two, you can add a great deal of depth to an image that would be quite boring if evenly lit. In this example I combined a projection spot mounted overhead and some smoke  Here is another shot from the same shoot where i changed things up a bit.  Simply lighting the background and to create a sharp silhouette. I believe I shot this with a 6in fresnel but I have also used a 16in beauty dish with a grid which provides nearly the same effect. The light is mounted just above and in front of the background and angled backward towards it.  I also like to deliberately create hard shadows on the background which adds some depth. 18+ This was lit with a 10in fresnel .I added a 7' white parabolic umbrella to control the depth of the shadows. https://www.modelmayhem.com/portfolio/pic/37000169 18+ Here is one I shot a while ago. There is a projection spot. A 7in reflector with a grid gel from above. I can't remember exactly what I used as a fill but I think it was a pair of 24x80 strip boxes. https://www.modelmayhem.com/portfolio/pic/34829667 OP, I love the "Reflection on Torso" image you posted. Cheers, Noah Aug 10 16 12:24 am Link Noah Russell wrote: Thanks. I work in nature. At one point along a nearby creek I noticed that at the right time on a clear morning the sun coming through the trees reflects off the water to create shimmers of light. After I realized that, I arranged to go to that spot with a model at that time in the morning to see how the light played off her body. The shimmers kept changing, so I took plenty of pictures, confident that at least some of them would show pleasing arrangements of light. Aug 10 16 02:58 am Link Negative shadows https://www.modelmayhem.com/portfolio/pic/37082577 Positive shadows https://www.modelmayhem.com/portfolio/pic/36287396 Aug 10 16 11:50 am Link Jim Burns Photography wrote: What an excellent picture. If it's not a trade secret, how did you create those patterns? Aug 10 16 02:38 pm Link Visual Delights wrote: A video projector Aug 11 16 05:38 am Link Zack Zoll wrote: Digital smoke more or less? Aug 11 16 11:14 am Link Jim Burns Photography wrote: How did you create the patterns that you projected? Aug 11 16 02:26 pm Link Visual Delights wrote: Some were pictures some were crude graphics made in Photoshop. I put them all Aug 12 16 05:11 am Link Jim Burns Photography wrote: I wonder if there's a battery-operated projector I could take out into dark places in nature. Aug 15 16 06:26 pm Link Visual Delights wrote: They do exist. Aug 15 16 07:59 pm Link This might qualify. 18+ https://www.modelmayhem.com/portfolio/pic/34023142 It's not my best work, exactly, and I've made strides since then, but it worked out OK I think. In this case I didn't really have any plan to use the light like that, it was just pure luck to find a streak of light like that, and I took advantage of it. Aug 15 16 09:13 pm Link  Aug 16 16 03:34 am Link  Aug 16 16 05:15 am Link  Aug 16 16 05:26 am Link  Aug 16 16 10:44 am Link Aug 16 16 03:10 pm Link hbutz New York wrote: That's a good use not only of shadows but of diagonals. Aug 18 16 12:48 pm Link |
