[TWiTCHY]

I'm doing a mini-photoshoot with my friend soon and wanted to work on my portraiture skills...since all I shoot nowadays are cars

I found this photo while looking up pics from Hasselblads and this one caught my eye, not only because it looked great but because I recognized the actress from Zombieland Great movie by the way, all of you have GOT to go out and watch it!

http://l.yimg.com/l/tv/us/img/site/9...0411122209.jpg
The photographer did a series for all of the actors in a show and I thought it'd be cool if I did the same thing for my friend...maybe I'll do it for all of the PNW E90Post'ers

Anyways...let's talk lighting. I'm looking at the EXIF info and it just doesn't add up, it's as if it was shot in a studio and heavily edited in Photoshop. The reflections of the street lights can be replicated easily, but when it comes to lighting the subject, things get ugly.

I'm limited to a single external flash with stand and shoot-through or bounce umbrella. That's all I've got to replicate this photo. Is anyone skilled enough in lighting to know what to do?

Oh, and what would I do for the background? Obviously I can't park a car in the middle of the street and set up my tripod and stand. Not going to work!

[spectrumphoto]

That background may be a lit duratrans and the light reflections on the windshield could be string or 2 of lights (think Christmas lights) if it was an in studio shot. You could get somewhat close if you parked a car on the side of the road with the tail inching out a bit. Id suggest putting up a few cones to be safe though and hope an officer does not come by or better yet find a road with no traffic that has street lamps and enlist a friend and their car and put it in the the road a ways back from you with their lights on.

As far a subject lighting I'd need to see the image larger, but I'd suspect its a single light source wither with a small sliver umbrella or a small soft box perhaps with a grid in it then possibly a negative fill card on the other side of the subject so that the fall off is not so drastic. There is a shutter drag involved and either another light from outside and behind the car or an ambient light source (street light) that is giving her hair some framing but not so much as to act as a rim light. All in all, pretty simple and clean lighting. There are several ways to go about and recreate this shot.

[rodi]

man, that image is ALL chopped up.

you can see the poor masking job around her hair, arms and the rear window. better viewed in really small resolution.

anyway - you've got a 5D2, right? set that sucker to ISO 1600, put your iPhone (you have an iPhone, right?) in the Flashlight app on full brightness somewhere in the dash display to the left - this will be your model's key light for his/her face. if it's too low, set it up so it lights the face in a way that you're happy with. put your camera on a tripod outside the glass to take three or four shots - don't move the camera, obviously until all your shots are taken.

get some green material to drape over the outside rear window and hit it with your flash from the outside. if you don't have a wireless trigger - set it up for a 2 second delayed exposure and run back there and fire the flash manually. (your model needs to stay as still as possible). this green frame will be keyed out later in photoshop. for the street scene, just take an out of focus frame of your choosing. using this chroma key method will prevent that harsh mask look that this photo has - and it'll look more real/natural.

for the windscreen light reflections, as stated above, string some lights over the car - these should be visible when you take the shot of the model.

for a kicker, get a wired PC sync that runs from your camera's hotshoe to your flash and set the flash up in the backseat so that it'll highlight the model's rear side and the back of the front seats. this will be light coming from the street outside the rear of the car.

for the long exposures, you're going to need to test out an exposure that works so that the highlights are not too much brighter than your model's face. trial and error here unless you've done this before.

there are many ways to do this type of shot - this is just one. there are easier ways, but you'd need to get some gear that you probably don't have. the method i've described here will have a more natural feel to it - not like someone took a studio strobe and set it up in front of the model's face just outside of the car.

[1013mm]

time to read up on Strobist 1 flash will suffice. oh and +1 on what rodi said...

[TWiTCHY]

I'm liking rodi's technique...Haha I never thought about using my iPhone as a light source. That's genius!

I've never done "keying" or whatever it is with the green drape. I'm assuming it's going to be replaced with the out of focus background image?

[1013mm]

Originally Posted by TWiTCHY

I'm liking rodi's technique...Haha I never thought about using my iPhone as a light source. That's genius!

I've never done "keying" or whatever it is with the green drape. I'm assuming it's going to be replaced with the out of focus background image?

the green makes it easier to select out in photoshop.

[jpsum]

Softbox might work better than an umbrella. Also, if the dark side turns out to be too dark, you can use a bounce reflector to brighten it up.

[TWiTCHY]

Originally Posted by jpsum

Softbox might work better than an umbrella. Also, if the dark side turns out to be too dark, you can use a bounce reflector to brighten it up.

Hmm I don't have any reflectors but I'm thinking the set up will be like this -

• iPhone to light up subject's left side
• External, wireless flash to light up green drape
• Tripod holding camera from outside
• Portable power station to power Christmas lights

Then take -

• Initial photo with green drape lit, subject lit, Christmas lights lit
• Second photo, at the same height, out of focus, photo down a road

Then in Photoshop -

• ???

Let me look up some tutorials

Also by lighting up the green drape, don't you run the risk of lighting up everything around it? I'm not sure if it's possible to light it up from the outside.

EDIT: Added a link to a higher res photo in the OP in case you need it to find out the set up. After looking at it it looks like the background was blurred in Photoshop...I'm guessing blurring it with the lens will yield better results.

[spectrumphoto]

Why photoshop pieces together when it is a lot easier to really capture it in the camera. You just have to think it through. Thats how we all did it before the days of digital and even in the days of drum scanning and the first few PShop versions, you'd shoot for it in the can and not piece meal it together in post.

Just remember that less is more....

If you are thinking of using a "green screen" technique, be careful of color cast from the green screen on to the subject. An iPhone is not going to give you enough light out put and the longer the exposure the softer your subject will be seeing that it is a person and people can not hold completely still unless they are dead. Thats why still guys use strobes mostly instead of hotlights with people. Also an iPhone will not give you a proper color temperature with its light output.

[TWiTCHY]

Originally Posted by spectrumphoto

An iPhone is not going to give you enough light out put and the longer the exposure the softer your subject will be seeing that it is a person and people can not hold completely still unless they are dead. Thats why still guys use strobes mostly instead of hotlights with people. Also an iPhone will not give you a proper color temperature with its light output.

I'm mainly worried about everything you've mentioned here besides the iPhone being too weak - I know that raising the ISO will increase the intensity of the light, but the color temperature is the problem here. Chances are if I go this route, the background which is going to be lit by street lamps will be ORANGE .

But I guess that's why we piece it together so we can individually treat the photos?

Here's the EXIF info for the photo -

• Camera Model - Ixpress 132C - Hasselblad H1
• Creation Software - Adobe Photoshop CS2 Mac
• Shutter Speed - 1/405 sec ()
• Lens Aperture - f/17.8
• ISO Speed - ISO 100

Take a look at the ISO and shutter speed. That's impossible to do in the actual night environment without a strobe. I may have to get a traditional light-bulb lamp to light the subject and put the strobe behind the green drape.

[rodi]

I wouldn't go by the exif from that image. it's only pulling from shot of the model.

compositing has been around long before Photoshop and the digital age. but if you don't have the equipment to pull it off, you might as well composite.
you'd need more than two strobes, with ND filters, modifiers and a way to trigger the flashes. the key will need to be a separate shot as well, unless you can control the spill when you key it out.

again, there are so many ways to do this. try more than one!

and the iPhone definitely has enough light for iso 1600 and up. I'll post some examples tomorrow.

have fun.

[TWiTCHY]

Originally Posted by rodi

and the iPhone definitely has enough light for iso 1600 and up. I'll post some examples tomorrow.

have fun.

Thanks, looking forward to them. My lack of free time is forcing me to put this project on the side for now. Hopefully if the weather is good this weekend I'll be able to play around or actually do the shoot.

[rodi]

iphone lighting. :]

about 8 to 12 inches away from subject.
these are a bit over-exposed in some areas, but here are the equivalent exposures:
1/50 f/1.4 ISO 1600.
i say equivalent because i like to shoot at ISO 6400 with some of the in-camera looks that i've made for myself - the shots are actually 1/200 f/1.4 ISO 6400. you'd get the same outcome (albeit with less noise) with 1/50 and ISO 1600.
straight out of the camera:

[rc'Z]

Look in the eyes, they show if and where the key, highlight, fill or accent lights were used/where used.

[jpsum]

Here's how to shoot with one light.

[u2b]<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/uH84-pA7p-c&hl=en&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/uH84-pA7p-c&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>[/u2b]


Check out his other tutorials. They are pretty good.

[TWiTCHY]

Originally Posted by jpsum

Here's how to shoot with one light.

[u2b]<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/uH84-pA7p-c&hl=en&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/uH84-pA7p-c&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>[/u2b]


Check out his other tutorials. They are pretty good.

Thanks that was helpful, but how would I constrict the light to only light up, say, a subject's face without lighting everything else around them?

[UdubBadger]

Originally Posted by TWiTCHY

Thanks that was helpful, but how would I constrict the light to only light up, say, a subject's face without lighting everything else around them?

bouncing it off a few things would probably do the trick. lighting up the inside of a car is pretty tricky cuz it doesn't look very natural. I'd say stick with small subtle lights when possible.

How you'll do it... I have no fricking clue, but I'm sure you'll figure something out.

That video was cool, some good ideas. Model was pretty hawt too

[TWiTCHY]

Originally Posted by UdubBadger

bouncing it off a few things would probably do the trick. lighting up the inside of a car is pretty tricky cuz it doesn't look very natural. I'd say stick with small subtle lights when possible.

This is slowly proving itself to be a difficult shoot

[jpsum]

Originally Posted by TWiTCHY

Thanks that was helpful, but how would I constrict the light to only light up, say, a subject's face without lighting everything else around them?

If you want to light up just the driver's face and not others, you might not want to use an umbrella. Use a remote flash with a snoot on it. It would be a harsher light, but it's the only way to do that.

Or you can always darken everything around the subject's face in photoshop later.

[TWiTCHY]

Originally Posted by jpsum

If you want to light up just the driver's face and not others, you might not want to use an umbrella. Use a remote flash with a snoot on it. It would be a harsher light, but it's the only way to do that.

Or you can always darken everything around the subject's face in photoshop later.

Hmm I'll have to get one of these or try to make one out of cardboard

[jpsum]

Originally Posted by TWiTCHY

Hmm I'll have to get one of these or try to make one out of cardboard

Yea, you can definitely make one with black cardboard.

[1013mm]

make a snoot with a thin white cloth at the end of it to cover it up a littler so that it does not wash out the face and youre good to go.