Lighting
As I said in the flash
tutorial the worst type of lighting is direct
frontal light, such as light from a built in flashgun.
So whatever you use as a light source, it could be
a flashgun a lamp or a window, the important thing
is to make sure that the light is coming from the
side and not from the camera position.
The ideal position for the main light source is 45
degrees from the camera. There is a sort of arc that
runs from beside the camera, but not too close, round
to nearly 90 degrees. As you push the light further
round you will see the shadows on the face becoming
more defined. The same applies to height, aim the
light at an angle of about 45 degrees to the floor
and push it up until it shines where you want it.
If your subject is wearing glasses you will need to
push the light round to the side to avoid getting
a reflection of it in the lenses.
In the picture on the right the main light is at
a 45 degree angle to the left of the camera. There
is also a second light on the right of the camera.
The second light is pointing away from the subject
towards a white wall, giving a softer and less powerful
'fill in' light. The relative strength of these two
lights is quite important as that is what determines
how dense the shadows are. It's quite easy to adjust
the strength of each light just by moving them nearer
or further from the subject. (See my tutorial
on the inverse
square law for an explanation.) If you only
have one light to use you can create the same effect
by sitting your subject as close as possible to a
white wall. I often use large sheets of white paper
to reflect light back onto the subject as this gives
a more subtle effect.
Posing
As with the lighting a pose that is square on to
the camera is rarely the best solution. It can work
quite well if you want the feel of the picture to
be confrontational but generally speaking an angle
to the camera is better. The first position I usually
try is having the sitter facing towards the light
then I get them to turn their head back towards the
camera a bit at a time as I take pictures. Different
faces work better at different angles, some work better
fully facing the camera but still with their shoulders
at an angle. Whatever you do it's important, as I
said on the previous page, to work quickly an be ready
to take a picture as soon as you have adjusted the
pose. |
