So many people post selfies on social media. For those not in the know of this new phenomenon its quite simply posting a photo of one’s self on the internet usually taken by the mobile phone. Some pouting and such like is normally included. Recently I received an email from a lovely man called Geoffrey who wanted to know how he could take better home portraits of loved ones but he lacks the any studio lighting. So I figured I would start with this as my first tutorial photography post.
so just for Geoffrey I went hunting around my house!
Given that house is in post holiday season I have oodles of packaging from presents and new sale purchases in the recycling bins in my porch.
So I had a go at my first photography tutorial….
I deliberately toned down my kit:
- 1 x unwilling model (Steven)
- 1 x white packing box about 45cm but something bigger than your model’s head is best. The bigger the better, the box that is.
- 1 x stool (for model to perch on).
- 1 x plastic sheeting. Mine was a plastic bag that a gift was wrapped it. Opaque is best.
- Nikon D90 (my old back up camera)
- 50mm 1.8 lens Nikon.
I sat Steve in the dining room area where I have the large patio doors looking out onto the garden. This allowed the most amount of natural light into the room as possible. Shooting at midday is when the light is strongest so I used the plastic sheeting to soften the light. Softer light is more flattering to portrait work generally. Obviously it is dependent on the overall look you wish to achieve. Taping the sheet to the windows, acted almost like a softbox so the light was softer.
Seating the model at 45 degrees to the window meant the light fell nicely onto his face.
I shot facing the window so Steve was in the middle.
The light on his face was enhanced by merely placing the white box parallel to his face to bounce the window light back onto the other side of his face. The white box is the stand in reflector. My shoddy diagram below attempts to show you:
See! Nothing special. Just some tatty packing sheet taped to the window.
My super swish reflector…a packing box. Complete with designer dent. lol
Front facing
I always work with the rule that the nose should not break the cheek line when you turn the model away from the camera. It tends to keep both eyes in the photo.
The photos have been edited into monochrome and the contrast tinkered with. I like the effect. Not bad for a ‘free’ studio set up.
Please note that you really need to be getting that DSLR out of auto asap and be in manual. You wont learn unless you push yourself.
