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Photo

Some strobe B&W portraits...

b&w strobe portrait d800 yongnuo 560 iii

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16 replies to this topic

#1
greatscott94

greatscott94

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Here are a few B&W portraits of my family and friends I took last night. All strobe work was don't with 2 Yongnuo 560 III flashes and 2 umbrellas using their reflective backs. All photos were processed in LR5 and converted to B&W using NIK Silver Efex Pro II

 

A self portrait using only 1 umbrella and strobe directly in front of my face...

11003923533_1b7d6e0e41_b.jpg

 

Same strobe just turned me head facing the camera...

11003795366_a9bc74cc4d_b.jpg

 

Now my wife...

11003792076_02e4487d78_b.jpg

 

Now facing the camera...

11003793736_2ea2c65860_b.jpg

 

My friend...

11006081546_a5384ce2ea_b.jpg

 

My friends wife...

11006146014_0ca1d97e62_b.jpg

 

Now it's time for 2 strobes and umbrellas... It's my friend again trying to look intelligent...

11005976835_01dd55707f_b.jpg

 

A little demonstration on how to eat wings...

11006151994_e6a755e2d8_b.jpg

 

And now one of my daughters showing off her puppy...

11003705015_d42b681d45_b.jpg

 

 

Hope you enjoy the photos

 

Cheers



#2
Thumper

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Very nice. Great shots.

#3
greatscott94

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Very nice. Great shots.

 

Very kind of you Thumper :)



#4
alden

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Excellent work. Do you do this professionally? 



#5
greatscott94

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Excellent work. Do you do this professionally? 

 

Thanks alden.

 

I'm not a professional by trade as I earn my living outside the world of photography, but I on occasion do get paid for my photography. Photography's what keeps me sane, my job's what makes me crazy ;)



#6
greatscott94

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Would love to hear some more feedback. Do you all like the strobe work? Would you have done anything different?

#7
K-9

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Hi, the last one came out great, but it looks like the flash settings were set too high for the two above that. The strobes may also have been too close.

As for the first several with only one strobe, I think the lighting is a bit harsh for my liking. I tend to prefer softer lighting, and less contrast. The same effect could probably be achieved with a continuous light source and may not look as harsh and suit the low key look better. You also may have had the strobes too close.

#8
greatscott94

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Hi, the last one came out great, but it looks like the flash settings were set too high for the two above that. The strobes may also have been too close.

As for the first several with only one strobe, I think the lighting is a bit harsh for my liking. I tend to prefer softer lighting, and less contrast. The same effect could probably be achieved with a continuous light source and may not look as harsh and suit the low key look better. You also may have had the strobes too close.


Great feedback, thanks.

The umbrellas were very close in all the photos. I was trying to achieve a high key and harsh look look on the latter photos.

I wasn't to happy with the shadows created by the glasses in the second to last photo. I had one umbrella above his head at a 90° angle pointing down at 1/2 power and the same below him. To avoid the shadow should I have reduced power on the lower strobe or moved it further away?

Cheers

#9
K-9

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Lowering the top umbrella and moving it back a little may help, but you should also try shooting through the umbrella (if you have that type) rather than bouncing it against the reflective interior.  It gives softer lighting with less shadows.  Shooting through can allow you to keep it close and it won't look so harsh.



#10
greatscott94

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Lowering the top umbrella and moving it back a little may help, but you should also try shooting through the umbrella (if you have that type) rather than bouncing it against the reflective interior.  It gives softer lighting with less shadows.  Shooting through can allow you to keep it close and it won't look so harsh.

 

That wicked input. I do have shoot through umbrellas as well and will try that next time :)



#11
Stas

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greatscott94

 

I just became your fan! Photos are very good! Even greate! Don't you mind if I will ask you few question about process of taking photos, that you post here?



#12
greatscott94

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greatscott94

I just became your fan! Photos are very good! Even greate! Don't you mind if I will ask you few question about process of taking photos, that you post here?


Thank you and ask away my friend.

#13
Stas

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How you get so textured skin and bristle of your models? What was the main to get it? Lighting? Lens? Any thing else?



#14
greatscott94

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How you get so textured skin and bristle of your models? What was the main to get it? Lighting? Lens? Any thing else?

 

To be honest I don't have a specialized method to getting skin textures to look the way they do. Perhaps the best thing is for me to explain the whole process used to create these images.

 

Here's the breakdown for the first 5 images:

  • The camera used was my D800
  • Lens used was my 70-200 2.8 VRII
  • Mounted on tripod
  • 1/50
  • f20-22
  • ISO 50
  • Only 1 flash used, a Yongnuo YN-560 III put on 1/2 power
  • I wireless Yongnuo RF-603 trigger
  • I umbrella using it's silver reflector back placed about 1 foot directly in front or beside of the models head.
  • Imported into LightRoom 5 but very little editing done.
  • After LR5 import I convert to B&W using NIK Silver Efex Pro 2. I keep it on the normal preset with only a small amount of structure added, I then use the selective adjustment tool and brighten the eyes (with a very small radius and only a small amount of brightening). After the eyes I continue to use the selective adjustment tool to do enhance hair and other area's that have a distinct texture (rarely use on faces or skin) and increase the brightness, whites, and structure but making sure to not go to heavy on the levels as it's really easy to overprocess and have things look unnatural. 
  • Once the Silver Efex process is complete I cringe back to LR5 to level, increase/decrease exposure and add sharpening if needed (rarely needed).

Last 3 photos:

  • All the same gear but changed lens to a 24-70 2.8 for a few shots.
  • 1/50 - 1/200
  • f2.8
  • tripod
  • 2  Yongnuo YN-560 III's with reflective umbrellas. 1 directly in front at the models knee hight at 1/4 power, the other in front and about 2 feet above the model's head at 1/2 power.
  • Same post processing as the other photo.

 

As you can see by the list above it's tough to pin point 1 thing that creates the skin texture, in fact I don't think it's just 1 thing. I think it's the whole process that creates it. 

 

Have fun and try lots of things. With current technology it's really easy to over process photos so I try to make sure don't go to crazy, like most things moderation is the key ;)

 

Cheers and feel free to continue to ask question.



#15
greatscott94

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Here's one of my glorious mustache before I shave it off...

11128745996_bf4e2430ed_b.jpg



#16
Stas

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Thank you for answer. Your last photo is also really good) Why did you shave your mustache?)



#17
greatscott94

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Thank you for answer. Your last photo is also really good) Why did you shave your mustache?)


My wife hated it and my friends started to respect me... can't have that now ;)





Also tagged with one or more of these keywords: b&w, strobe, portrait, d800, yongnuo 560 iii