Portraits from 2023

[Hugo Zhang]

Woodyman 4x5, Nikkor-W 210mm, FP4+

Stunning! Can you share your lighting techniques?

[FrancisR]

Thank you ndwgolf and Hugo.

The lighting technique is very basic: an Elinchrom 1200S with a square softbox (60cm) on the right at 60-70cm, and a bit of feathering.

By the way: 1/250e and f/45.

[acrobatic_citron]

Thank you ndwgolf and Hugo.

The lighting technique is very basic: an Elinchrom 1200S with a square softbox (60cm) on the right at 60-70cm, and a bit of feathering.

By the way: 1/250e and f/45.

Wonderful shot, how does one feather?

[cgratham]

I agree with all the other comments FrancisR. That's a wonderful photo - love the lighting. Thanks for sharing it.
Chris

Thank you ndwgolf and Hugo.

The lighting technique is very basic: an Elinchrom 1200S with a square softbox (60cm) on the right at 60-70cm, and a bit of feathering.

By the way: 1/250e and f/45.

[Ulophot]

Feathering the light means aiming it so that the center of the beam is off-center for the subject. How much or how little depends on the type of light, the beam pattern (how much brighter the center is and how large it is in relation to the full spread of the light, how rapidly the illumination level falls off toward the edges), the setting (light reflected from nearby walls, ceiling, etc), and the kind of effect you wish to achieve.

The way to explore is with a continuous light. Set your light and willing subject up as usual, then very slowly pan the light in both directions, watching the effect on the shadows, the quality, and the level of illumination across the subject. This can be a subtle art. Note, that as you turn the light away from center-on-subject, the effective size of the light source will diminish. At an extreme angle, even a large soft box can become effectively a very think rectangle.

I should that feathering can also apply to vertical motion and a combination of vertical and horizontal.

Have fun!

[FrancisR]

Thank you acrobatic_citron and cgratham. Happy you like it.
Thanks Philip for explaining feathering. You did it far better than I would have! I tuned light direction as you mentioned, using the model lamp, but this is not an exact science .

Another shot:

[FrancisR]

Last shot of the sequence.

[acrobatic_citron]

Feathering the light means aiming it so that the center of the beam is off-center for the subject. How much or how little depends on the type of light, the beam pattern (how much brighter the center is and how large it is in relation to the full spread of the light, how rapidly the illumination level falls off toward the edges), the setting (light reflected from nearby walls, ceiling, etc), and the kind of effect you wish to achieve.

The way to explore is with a continuous light. Set your light and willing subject up as usual, then very slowly pan the light in both directions, watching the effect on the shadows, the quality, and the level of illumination across the subject. This can be a subtle art. Note, that as you turn the light away from center-on-subject, the effective size of the light source will diminish. At an extreme angle, even a large soft box can become effectively a very think rectangle.

I should that feathering can also apply to vertical motion and a combination of vertical and horizontal.

Have fun!

Amazing, thanks for the info!

[cgratham]

Love all those portraits ^^^ Francis R. You've given me inspiration make some attempts of my own.

Thanks, Chris

[FrancisR]

Love all those portraits ^^^ Francis R. You've given me inspiration make some attempts of my own.

Thanks, Chris

Thank you Chris. Looking forward to seeing your shots .