Studio Portraits with Large Format

[SergeiR]

Sergei, could you spare a few words on choosing locations and props? Do your models typically work with a stylist or costumer?

Oy.. thats a huuuuge topic to cover.

In short - its 50/50 - I do have quite large collection of dresses that been donated by people (including photographers, btw) to me or i bought. Same goes for props. Of course if shoot commissions for magazine then typically there is stylist present and props might be provided too.
When I am shooting at home studio it typically would be me and my wife throwing stuff together and playing with concepts. Sometime we would come up with something and just build it. I am extremely lucky that way, plus she is great MUA

Generally speaking as with anything else - it just takes time. Like it takes time to find right people to work with.

I am VERY shy person in real life so its extremely hard for me to just walk to someone and go "hey, can i use your bar for a shoot?", so locations are tough for me, but i do get by , other people helping me quite a bit

E.g

Shot above is basically studio shot with 2 flashes (one to fill in shadows and another bare one to create illusion of light through balcony door),
- couch was found in back alley by other photographer, who brought it in,
- cage was found by someone visiting studio
- doors on the right were scavenged,
- model is wearing chemise i got on eBay for 20$ (i got 3, they are AWESOME to do shoots with), her daughter actually wears bit of drapery, and there is another material bit just layered. She did her own makeup and hair style.
- "wood" on the floor is your typical laminate thrown on the cement flooring for the shoot, panel were pieced together and built

[seezee]

Shot above is basically studio shot with 2 flashes (one to fill in shadows and another bare one to create illusion of light through balcony door),
- couch was found in back alley by other photographer, who brought it in,
- cage was found by someone visiting studio
- doors on the right were scavenged,
- model is wearing chemise i got on eBay for 20$ (i got 3, they are AWESOME to do shoots with), her daughter actually wears bit of drapery, and there is another material bit just layered. She did her own makeup and hair style.
- "wood" on the floor is your typical laminate thrown on the cement flooring for the shoot, panel were pieced together and built

I'd have never guessed that this was not a practical location. Kudos, sir.

[Kevin J. Kolosky]

This is kind of old fashioned, but back when I was shooting portraits I used one main fill light off the back corner between the wall and ceiling, and I also used to string my other main and kicker lights. Made things a lot easier and quicker.

[billie williams]

Oy.. thats a huuuuge topic to cover.

In short - its 50/50 - I do have quite large collection of dresses that been donated by people (including photographers, btw) to me or i bought. Same goes for props. Of course if shoot commissions for magazine then typically there is stylist present and props might be provided too.
When I am shooting at home studio it typically would be me and my wife throwing stuff together and playing with concepts. Sometime we would come up with something and just build it. I am extremely lucky that way, plus she is great MUA

Generally speaking as with anything else - it just takes time. Like it takes time to find right people to work with.

I am VERY shy person in real life so its extremely hard for me to just walk to someone and go "hey, can i use your bar for a shoot?", so locations are tough for me, but i do get by , other people helping me quite a bit

E.g

Shot above is basically studio shot with 2 flashes (one to fill in shadows and another bare one to create illusion of light through balcony door),
- couch was found in back alley by other photographer, who brought it in,
- cage was found by someone visiting studio
- doors on the right were scavenged,
- model is wearing chemise i got on eBay for 20$ (i got 3, they are AWESOME to do shoots with), her daughter actually wears bit of drapery, and there is another material bit just layered. She did her own makeup and hair style.
- "wood" on the floor is your typical laminate thrown on the cement flooring for the shoot, panel were pieced together and built

Thank you for breaking that down, Sergei.

[Rory_5244]

I can't believe I'm chiming in here being the clueless portraiture 'noob', but a p&s digital camera recording black and white jpegs really helps me with lighting correctly. I use continuous tungsten lighting only, however.

[AtlantaTerry]

Sometimes it feels like cheating, but a single lens reflex camera like a Graflex makes portraits much easier, and "f/3.0 Petzval lens with razor-thin DOF" is no problem.

Of course with a Graflex you are limited to 4x5 or 5x7.

Not quite. There are 3¼x4¼" RB Graflex cameras. As I understand it, if you want to use a Kodak Aero-Ektar 178mm f2.5 lens, you need one of these smaller Graflexes. This is because the mirror is larger in the 4x5" and 5x7" bodies which means the rear of the lens can not get close enough to the film to focus at infinity.

For a lot more information on the subject, check out John Minnick's website: http://johnminnicks.com/

Also this thread: http://www.apug.org/forum/index.php?...-4-x-5.100070/

[EdSawyer]

even with the 3x4 RB and an aero ektar, you won't get infinity without shortening the mirror, rebuilding mirror box, etc.

[SergeiR]

I can't believe I'm chiming in here being the clueless portraiture 'noob', but a p&s digital camera recording black and white jpegs really helps me with lighting correctly. I use continuous tungsten lighting only, however.

That is also way to go, instead of polaroids because eye , film , digital - all see light slightly differently.

However. Be warned that digital will see shadows differently from film, seeing as digital will always try to extract details, even when they not there, where film just goes "oh , screw you..." .

[Peter De Smidt]

That's a great characterization, Sergei!

[SergeiR]

That's a great characterization, Sergei!

thanks