It's not about whether the light is "available" or provided by the photographer. It's about the direction of the light and how much it differs from shadow to highlight. Subtle shadows and texturing may frequently require some fill light in addition to what nature or room lighting provides. The texturing you see is the result of a mix of shadow and highlight. Getting the right mix takes practice. The camera tends to make the difference between shadow and highlight much more extreme than does your eye. That's because your eye and brain combine to balance he difference. The most difficult part of photography is learning what the camera will see and how it will differ from what you see. Paul
On Dec 12, 2010, at 8:49 PM, Walter Gilbert wrote: > Thanks so much for the wonderfully informative answer, Tanya! > > Not only did it tell me everything I need to know, but everything I wanted to > hear. I much prefer to use available light whenever possible, and I was > afraid it was going to turn out that I'd need to use external flash with a > Fong diffuser, and all manner of gewgaws and whirligigs to fully achieve the > look. And, yes -- the style is really similar to yours, save for Monique's > lower-key rendering. I can see where both would be beneficial, depending > upon the actual skin tone of the subject. > > What I loved about the contrast/depth in the third image is that it seemed to > make the shot more expressive by a long shot, and that's a quality I've > noticed in a lot of shots that really "grabbed" me. But, I was never able to > put my finger on the particular quality until now. And, now that I've > discovered the virtues of shooting in RAW, I just might stand a chance of > achieving that quality. > > Thanks again for the helpful reply. Now, if I can just get some cooperative > weather and subjects ... > > Best, > > Walt > > > > On 12/12/2010 7:23 PM, Tanya Love wrote: >> Hey there Walt, >> >> I know the effect that you mean, and it is very easy to do, in fact, it is >> almost my style exactly. The key lies in the light and the texture. >> >> Firstly, it must be shot with available light, in full open shade, and late >> in the afternoon, with the child facing into/toward the sun, or with the sun >> to the side of the child, depending upon where you want the shadows to fall. >> Don't add a reflector to fill shadows. You must also shoot RAW because in >> the post-processing, you will need to increase the dynamic range by >> reworking the shadows/highlights to achieve the depth that you need. >> >> Next, you have to make sure that the image contains a good mix of textures, >> that way, when you do your post on it, it will have a lot of contrast and >> that "depth" that you speak of. >> >> I can only see one shot of Moniques on that page that looks as though she >> may have added some artificial light to it, and that is the one with the >> violin, but even it may have been shot with available light too, depending >> what the original location/backdrop was, it is hard to tell with that shot >> due to the post production work (btw, I LOVE that shot!). >> >> Here is a quick example that I just did up for you. I processed it to >> achieve a similar feel in the sepia to the example that you showed (although >> the skin tones are a bit more high key as I prefer them this way), but also >> included a colour version as that is how I originally intended it to look >> when I shot it. >> >> http://www.lovebytes.com.au/files/waltsexample.jpg >> >> I do all of my main post in Lightroom, and then tweak the final >> levels/curves in PS CS5. >> >> Hope that helps! >> >> Tan.x. >> >> >>> >>> ----- Mensaje original ---- >>>> De: Walter Gilbert<[email protected]> >>>> Para: Pentax-Discuss Mail List<[email protected]> >>>> Enviado: dom,12 diciembre, 2010 04:53 >>>> Asunto: OT: Photographer Monique >>>> >>>> Hi all, >>>> >>>> I stumbled across this link the other day looking for something >>>> interesting to post on my Facebook page, and was just struck by some >>>> of the images. There are a few that really stood out to me and I >>>> was hoping someone might be able to tell me how to go about >> approximating the effect: >>>> http://smashingpicture.com/photographer-monique/ >>>> >>>> Here are the particular images: >>>> >>>> http://smashingpicture.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/moni4.jpg >>>> http://smashingpicture.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/moni5.jpg >>>> http://smashingpicture.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/moni7.jpg >>>> >>>> I just love the overall tone of the images, and especially the skin >>>> tones -- the third image being the best exemplar of what I'd like to >>>> accomplish. There just seems to be so much depth to it. Any ideas >>>> how I might go about achieving that? >>>> >>>> Thanks! >>>> >>>> Walt >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List >>>> [email protected] >>>> http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net >>>> to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above >>>> and follow the directions. >>>> >>> >>> >> >> -- >> PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List >> [email protected] >> http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net >> to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and >> follow the directions. >> >> > > > -- > PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List > [email protected] > http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net > to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow > the directions. -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List [email protected] http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
