Saturday, November 8, 2008

When using a backdrop it can be something as simple as a piece of black cotton fabric! I used a Black reflector here because it doesn't require a backdrop stand and I am limited for space.

My settings vary according to the light. When shooting indoors I mostly use an ISO of 400 if my subject is right near a window. The light was fairly dim here so I used ISO 800, Manual mode, F/2.8, SS 1/60, noiseware applied. This portrait (shown above left) was the result using those settings.

When shooting outside I try to get my subject in any shade I can find to get rid of any overhead sunlight that can cause dark shadows in the eye sockets.

At my home I have a couple of walls I love to use as my backdrops. One of which is in the shade. My house is painted white so it makes a great reflector!

A good example of shooting on an overcast day and using my sandstone wall (X marks the spot) as a backdrop as shown below.

As you can see, I don't have the nicest of gardens so I make the best of what I have. My subject was positioned where the green cross is. My house is behind me here, which, remember is white, and so provided my subject with some lovely catchlights in her eyes.

Again in my garden, but this time, using my Breeze Block wall, in the shade, as my backdrop.

I placed my subject where the green cross is and shot directly at him.

Here is another one of my subjects using my Breeze Block wall again but this time from different angles.

I am shooting with my white wall behind me here...

This can be very bright for the subject when the sun is shining on it, so, I tell my subject to sit with their eyes shut while I adjust my camera. Then after 3 I tell them to open their eyes. This helps prevent squinting.

Leaving my subject where she was I moved to the other end of the garden shooting toward my white wall. This created a great hair light!

It also lit my subjects face, furthest away from me. This lighting compliments the fuller figure ladies. Or people with round faces. As it did for this subject because she doesn't like her square jaw. The angle of her face also reduced her square jaw.

Another location in my garden is my beautifully overgrown Fuchsia Bush. I love it overgrown, that way I get masses of pretty backdrops for girls.

My subject is sitting on the corner of the wall with her body facing my "white" house so it acts like a reflector. I then placed myself at the other end of the wall causing my subject to turn her head. You'll notice the catchlights in her eyes, from the white wall, are to the right of her Iris, leaving the pupils clear.

I am a firm believer, though, that you should let your lighting be what you want it to be. You can use a street light, at night, for your lighting.

Even something as cheap as a £10 (approx. $17) desk lamp can be used for still life as well as portraits.

For more of Alison Greenwoods fine portrait photography, you must see her website.