Welcome!

ok, so i'm an amateur photographer, and enough people have asked me about my photos that i decided i'd pick one photo from the previous week and discuss how it was done. at some point, if this ever gets enough exposure, i'll start a poll and use reader-selected photos. but until then, i'll use whichever photo was the most popular. and the first one is:





























this is a really simple, static set up. the idea behind this was asymmetry... since i was shooting her facing forward, i didn't want a flat, seen-it kind of photo. so instead of shooting her entire face, i decided to only get one side.

i also wanted to get a high fashion kind of look, so i went with REALLY bright lighting, positioned closely, so that:
1. i could get a wide range of light and dark in a short distance
2. i could use a tighter aperture to get everything from the tip of her nose through the back of her shoulders in focus
3. the texture of her skin would be more pronounced

so here's the set up. she standing straight up, about 3 feet away from a bright white seamless sheet of paper. there's only one light, shooting through an umbrella, at 1/2 power, positioned to her right, just inches from her right arm (you can see it in the lens of her goggles). one thing to notice is that you can see the ribs in the umbrella.

this isn't typical, but it's in this photo because the light is so close to the subject. normally, when you see catchlights in the subject's eyes, the ribs are still there, but the catchlight is so small, you can't make them out. this brings up an interesting technique that you can use in your own photography:

no matter how dim or bright your lights are, they'll seem bigger the closer they are to your subject. one way you can test this is to look around and find something, like a picture or a plant or a television... anything. extend your arm straight out in front of you, close one eye and "wrap" your hand around the object. notice that the object, whatever it is, takes up the space in your hand. now, without opening or closing your hand, bend your arm so that you bring your hand close to your face. the opening in your hand is the same, but notice that you can see SO much more... the space inside your hand, while it's stayed the same, seems bigger. you can use this to your advantage... place the light closer to your subject, and it appears to be a bigger light. move it away from your subject, and it seems smaller.

there's a caveat though... the farther you move your light, the more power you'll need to get the same brightness. or put another way, a light 1 foot from your subject will need significantly less power to light your subject than the same light positioned 10 feet from your subject.

so to review, the closer your light is, the less power you'll need and the bigger it appears... but you'll get less coverage. the farther your light is, the more power you'll need and the smaller it appears. but more of your subject will be lit.

but wait, it gets better (i've saved the best part for last)... light loses power faster the closer it is to its source. it sounds confusing at first, but think about it a little... it'll make more sense. take an ordinary flashlight and hold it about 6 inches off the floor. hold it straight down and notice that it's pretty bright. now tilt the light up so that it starts moving away from you, but still pointed at the floor. notice that within a few inches, the light's gotten quite a bit dimmer. also notice that as you keep going, it gets dimmer, but it gets dimmer SLOWER. this is the effect... i don't know what it's called, but it's VERY useful, and it's this effect i was trying to exploit (see point #1 above).


i wasn't really planning to go into so much detail about why i chose the lighting i did, and i don't claim to pretend to know the physics behind what i've explained, but it works.