 Rebecca C. Barnini |
Portrait Photography I was asked to do some headshots for a Realtor for his business cards (in addition to photographing his home). I will have a Nikon D100 and an SB-80 Speedlight. Should I bring along my tripod? How can I avoid shadows if I photograph him against a wall? What settings should I use? help!! :)
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Pete H |
Hello Rebecca, "How can I avoid shadows if I photograph him against a wall?" Answer: Don't photograph him against a wall. If there's enough light, shoot the pic without flash. Meter directly from his skin tone, set camera on manual, back up, re-compose and shoot. Unless you are shooting slow shutter speeds for the house (you didn't say interior or exterior), you don't need a tripod. All the best, Pete
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Tareq M. Alhamrani |
If you can be more smart then, use widest aperture to eliminate the background including shadows or whatever. or, place your model or subject little further away from the wall or background so you don't see shadows, if you place your light from above the shadows will be down, and if you really can't avoid shadows on walls or backgrounds then the best way to get rid of those shadows is to light the wall itself with another source of light if possible.
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Dale M. Garvey |
I often shoot my head shots outside with a background such as a tree that I can knock out of focus. I use a 80-200 mm lens wide open. For the ladies I look for a place that the sun can highlight their hair. A little fill flash is also nice. If you shoot raw you can correct many errors in photoshop.
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Devon McCarroll |
Hi Rebecca, I've done headshots for a realtor, and for their business cards they generally need a solid background to look good. I have a portable black backdrop, but you could also tack a solid colored sheet (or any solid fabric) against a wall. Just be sure to position him about four feet or so from the background to help eliminate shadows. For light, I use my speedlight on the "wireless" mode and shoot into an umbrella with a reflector on the other side. If you can't do this, you may have to do some editing in Photoshop to adjust the light, so shooting in RAW would be a good idea. Alternatively, use window light on one side with a reflector on the other side. If you don't have a reflector, a white foam core board or even a white sheet will work. Hope this helps!
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Ken Kerruish |
Hi Rebecca, While I'm not familiar with Nikon products, you should be able to tilt the head of the flash unit so it is facing straight up. Depending on the height of the ceiling, it should bounce the light, and avoid the harsh shadows you are concerned with, or at least change the angle of the shadow so that it is not directly behind your subject. If the ceiling is too high to get an effective bounce, you can tape a 3x5 index card to the back of the flash (with about 3-4" sticking out past the edge of the flash, and the reflection off the card will provide a nice, soft fill while letting the rest of the light bounce from the ceiling. You may want to look at a 10-15$ 'Omnibounce' head to diffuse the light. One last thing - take a few test shots, and if it looks like he's being too washed out by the flash, look at changing your flash's exposure compensation (either via the flash, or on the camera itself). It's an option on many flashes/cameras and reduces the amount of power used to generate the flash. The above methods have been used for years, and most times can eliminate the need for an umbrella, stand, etc. The suggestions regarding using available light to help fill one side of the subject are excellent - but be careful of harsh shadows on the other side of the person's face, or discoloration due to tinting or objects near the window... Good luck, and enjoy!
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