David Bailey weds Catherine Deneuve

21 March 2010

Studio Equipment, Lighting




Bowens 500 and 1000 flash are two of the lights used in the college studio.

Technical Data

Both of these lights are the same apart form the power, they both work in the same way.
They have a very short freezing flash duration of 1/2900 sec which is able to freeze movement so is highly suitable for fashion portrait shots. This helps if you are trying to get movement in your picture, for example if your model is jumping in the air or flicking her hair.
The lights have three different standby functions;
1, the main lamp is on all the time whilst shooting and the flash goes off when the shutter button is depressed
2, the main lamp is off all of the time and only the flash goes off when the shutter button is depressed
3, the main lamp goes off once the flash has been fired for a couple of seconds and then returns to being constant
These different variations create different types of images, if the lamp isn't constantly on then the person who is being photographed eyes will appear dilated as their eyes will be adapted to the dark.
Once the flash has fired there is a beep which indicates that the flash has recharged to full power and is ready to be fired again. On the side of the unit there are two dials, one changes the power of the flash, if this dial is changed the flash has to be fired once to defuse the flash that's if you have reduced the power and increased power to charge up, the other dial is for the brightness of the constant lamp.
On the back of the light there is a switch which syncs more than one flash light together. So if you attach one flash to the camera via a cable then once the shutter button is depressed the signal is sent to all flash lights to fire all at the same time.













The above three pictures are all attachments which attach onto the flash guns. They all have different effects on the subject in which you are taking shots off. Firstly is a soft box, this softens the light on the subject and creates less of a shadow or none at all. For example if you were to set the studio up with two soft boxes either side of a model towards the back of the studio pointing at the backdrop this will prevent any shadow and make it look like there is no back drop in the photo.

Secondly is a reflector and this creates a softer light and ensures that the light is more evenly spread across the subject. This is a useful tool to use in portraiture to soften the light on the models face.

Thirdly is a grid diffuser this again is highly suitable for portraits. It contains a perspex outer opal diffuser with a removable honeycomb grid in the centre, this gives a direct pool of light in the centre surrounded by a soft-diffused light.







Above are some of the backdrops in the college studio which can be used to create a different mood in an image. These can all be painted in what ever colour you require for your shots. There is also a roll of black thick paper like material which can be hung from a stand as a back drop.


This can create either a really sharp edge to the model in the photo or a seamless edge, and if only one light is used to the side then this will only highlight one side of the face thus creating a totally different image and the side which isn't lit up disappears into the background. I really like this way of taking pictures it gives the image a real mystery and it really draws your focus straight to the models face and what the face is saying, its so simple!










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Techniques, materials and resources used for portrait photography 1.1

There are many different formats and techniques that can be applied to portrait photography.

Framing is a technique where by you draw attention to one element of an image by framing it with another element of the image. This gives an image depth and draws the eye to a point of interest in the image.
You could do it by placing your subject in a window or doorway, have them look through a small gap or even use their hands around their face.

Shooting with a wide angle lens attached to your camera can help create some memorable shots when you’re doing portrait photography.
At very wide focal lengths you can create some wonderful distortion. Using these focal lengths will enlarge parts of the face or body that are on the edge of the frame more than what is in the centre.
It can also give a wide open and dramatic impact when your subject is in an impressive setting.

The person in your portrait is the main point of interest – however sometimes when you place them into different contexts with different backgrounds you can dramatically alter the mood in a shot.

Having parts of a portrait in focus draws attention on certain parts of the face or body, or a completely unfocused portrait can add a dreamy effect and make a picture quite abstract.

Black and white portraits can be just as dramatic as colour. By adding a shot of colour can draw attention to certain parts of the photo.
"When we shoot in color, we do not depart from what we see everyday, so our eye expects certain details in order to fill out the image. Black and white photography gives us the opportunity to diverge from this norm, and in a way view reality as an abstraction."

Equipment I have at home and what is avaliable to me at college 1.1

I have at home the Canon 450d camera which comes with the standard 18-55mm lens.


At college there is a wide range of lenses avaliable to use along with higher quality cameras. There is a studio which contains a wide range of backdrops, studio lights, reflectors and soft box.

Canon 450D

Canon 450D

Canon 450d

This is the camera which I have started out with, the basic entry level canon 450d.  For specification details click on the image.
I don't really have any experience of digital SLR's, the only cameras I have used previously are point and shoot digital and film SLR's.  
I don't have an opinion on my camera yet as I haven't really used it enough to comment other than I find it fairly easy to use and understand. 

Standard 50mm lens

What makes this lens ideal for portriture is its angle-of-view is the closest to our own eyes and the easiest to use to get the most natural looking shots. You can even visualise shots without putting the camera to your eye. This doesn’t mean this lens is boring compared to the extremes that a telephoto or wide-angle will give. On the contrary, it’s just a lens that works well and keeps your photography simple. It is also ideal, as long as you remember not to get too close to your subject, which will lead to unflattering distortion to your sitters face. It works especially well with full-length portraits, but you can get some very nice head and shoulder shots.

Standard 50mm lens

70-200mm Lens

The telephoto lens allows you to take tightly composed pictures of subjects where it is impractical to get any closer and to use a wider lens, therefore they are useful for candid photography, this lens is small, lightweight and unobtrusive.
Short telephoto focal lengths are widely used in portraiture for their unnatural, non standard view makes objects at different distances appear closer together than they are in reality. Using a wide angle lens for head and shoulder close ups makes people's noses and other facial features more prominent - while a slight telephoto focal length flattens the features a touch, to give a more flattering result.
Telephotos are also useful in portraiture because when used with largish apertures, it is easy to throw a background out of focus thus drawing the viewers attention to certain parts of the scene.

70-200mm lens f/2.8 IS