Thanks for the clarification, Paul.
I guess the gist of what I'm saying is that I'm just happy to know that
use of flash isn't required to get that kind of effect; something I'd
*suspected* was the case, and was hoping would be confirmed by people
who've been at this a bit longer than I have. Given that I'm just not
adept at using flash due to having very little experience with it, I'm
always happy to know it's not required.
And, boy, am I ever aware of the fact that the camera sees things
differently from the way I do. I've managed to get a fairly decent
handle on positioning for best results in available light by just
shooting from different perspectives and adjusting the camera
accordingly. And, I'm perfectly happy to return to a particular scene
when I think the available natural light will be more advantageous at a
different time for a specific angle.
Of course, I'll eventually have to come to terms with using flash if I
ever hope to make any money taking photos. But, for now, I just employ
the "shoot, CHIMP, adjust, shoot, CHIMP, adjust, shoot..." method until
I develop an intuition for it.
-- Walt
On 12/12/2010 8:18 PM, paul stenquist wrote:
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
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