Lesson Info
32. Natural Light & Alternate Light
Lessons
Class Introduction
06:15 2Introduction to The Environmental Portrait
06:51 3Environmental Portrait Purpose
13:06 4Personal Work
18:36 5Find Your Process
20:20 6Tethering
18:35 7Purpose For Action Editorial
05:19 8Prepare for Shoot
06:10Action Editorial Process
11:27 10Set Up Action Editorial Shoot
12:43 11Shoot: Action Editorial With Athlete
29:32 12Studio Portrait Shoot Overview
05:58 13Shoot: Athletic Studio Portrait
15:39 14Shoot: Manipulate Light to Mimic The Sun
12:11 15Shoot: Change Background Color With Light
18:09 16Shoot: Create Soft Light with Umbrella
07:31 17Shoot: Create Intentional Shadows
04:28 18Shoot: Action Shots In Studio
04:00 19Review Images in Capture One
14:54 20Raw Processing
05:24 21File Handling
05:19 22Retouching & Color Overview
05:45 23Retouch Images in Capture One
11:37 24Retouch Images in Photoshop
07:00 25Retouch Images With Presets
27:40 26Advertising Vs. Editorial
04:49 27Indoor Location Shoot
13:12 28Indoor Location Shoot Process
11:19 29Get to Know Your Subject
13:12 30Test & Frame Your Shot
10:44 31Create Natural Light
24:33 32Natural Light & Alternate Light
11:05 33How to Shoot Indoor Location Portrait
11:53 34Indoor Shoot Results
19:00 35Outdoor Location Shoot Goals
16:51 36Indoor/Outdoor Light Setup
17:27 37Studio Light On Location
09:56 38Create Location Portrait
11:41 39Outdoor Shoot Results
13:26 40Post Processing Overview
08:42 41Choose Selects & Sort Images From Indoor Shoot
14:11 42Edit Raw Images from Indoor Shoot
10:47 43Finish Images in Photoshop & Alien Skin
17:06 44Portfolio Management
28:13 45Importance of Website
17:55 46Marketing 101
18:51 47What About Reps?
05:54 48Bring it All Together
10:52Lesson Info
Natural Light & Alternate Light
Now that we've kind of seen a little bit about the process of what goes into making this indoor location shoot happen as far as all the thoughts that I go through, the checklist, the working with the subject, the initial framing and lighting, even seeing a little bit about the first shot and how that works, once you feel comfortable like you've nailed that first shot, you have a good feel for how the shoot's going, there's always room, or hopefully, there's room to be able to experiment and try something that's not, not exactly what you planned but to push it a little bit further. And like I said, I'm always shooting with lights, whether it's the Profoto strobes or whatever it may be, but occasionally it's fun to get back to where we all started which was with natural light for the most part. And I like to try and build room for that within the shoot to see just kind of what happens. It lets you shoot a little, a little more quickly. Sometimes I will unplug from being tethered. And jus...
t kind of see what happens. And, that's what we did here. So we were able to move Alisha from, you know, her area at her workspace of staging all the, the work she does with the wax and everything. And then moving her over towards that big window because it just was asking to be used for the natural light, especially on a nice cloudy day with that big warehouse style window. So you know, don't be afraid to use what the location gives you. You might have that plan in your head. You might have that shot list. But again, things happen for a reason. And a lot of times when you get to the location there might be something that's so obvious that you can't ignore it. And in this case it was, she had a workbench set up right along the window. I'm sure she loves to work there just because of that bright light. And it being an overcast day, it was just like this giant soft box right in front of her. So, I thought why make this more complicated than it is? We already have the shot that we had planned. Now let's move forward and try something like that. So trying alternate lighting methods when the location allows is definitely something you should do because who knows what will happen. In this case, I've already looked through all the images obviously and one of those portraits turned out great and it looks exactly like the lighting which is why I light the way I do too. It's kind of a more polished version. Her sitting this close to the window there was no need for even a reflector at all. It was, it was that easy. And this also let me change up the frame a little bit as far as working, focusing on her hands, focusing on her face. Pulling back and getting some wider shots and letting the, the studio kind of fall off into darkness and keeping that focus on her. So you'll see how we do that. And this might also let you expand your shot list. Again, adding those detail shots of her hands. You'll probably notice that she has these panels and they have blue painters tape on the side. Well that's for all the wax that falls over the edge as she's working. Before she puts them on the wall, or sends them to a gallery or a client she has to remove that wax. And I thought, well that's part of the process. You know, it kind of just looked like a fun time to get those detail shots of her stripping the wax off the sides and removing that blue tape. And that's exactly what we did. So, the next video focuses more on using the natural light. It's not so much about the lighting. It's more about the content and getting those additional shots. And those details. So we'll take a look at what goes into that. There isn't a lot of technical info there. It's more just shooting by feel. And seeing what happens. So let's take a look at how we move from our strobe lights to our natural light. So what I'm doing for this shot, we obviously used strobes to recreate sunlight for the first one. Well now I've moved Alisha much closer to the window. I'm gonna be physically closer to get a tighter frame. And we're also using only natural light for the first part. So I'm gonna do two shots here, both, one of them just natural light. And then one where she's back lit with natural light. And we're gonna counter that with the strobe as the fill. So, we're just gonna start off. She's gonna be scraping the wax from the paint, edges of the panels, using the torch and the other tool there. And I'm just gonna be letting her do her thing in this nice pretty window light. And I'm just gonna shoot. The only difference is I'm not shooting with a strobe. So I went down from five six to two eight. But I'm leaving all my other settings the same so that way when I go back to strobe I don't confuse myself and it's an easy transition. So, all right. (camera clicking) I could scrape more but I don't know that I want to do that. Okay. Yeah. Just kind of inspect it as if you're, seeing if there's any other work that needs to be done. Maybe, yeah, there we go. Okay. So now just some with you looking straight to camera. At the lens. And then I'll just keep moving around. Keep your head, nose just this way a little bit towards the windows. Yep. Right in there. And expression. I'll give you a three count. So you know when I'm gonna take it. That's kind of the difference between action shots and you know, eye contact portrait so, one, two, three. And I'll be taking a bunch so. Yeah, that's perfect. Do you want me to move? No. I like how you're sitting right like that. Yeah. And I might even have a couple where you're holding that. Like you had just finished, like you were just doing this and then you just glanced up to the camera. So maybe holding the tool in the one hand. And, I'll give you a three count. So one, two, three. Perfect. Let me do some verticals of that same thing. Looking down to start. All right, eyes right up here. Perfect. And then maybe one with the, a kind of a smile. All right, one, two, three. Perfect. I'm good with that. Now we'll switch to the back lit one. Okay, so you just continue on. Although you will be holding it. So I can do one like this? Yeah. That's perfect. I do have to soften that up really quick. Okay. So maybe turn just a little bit more towards me. Yeah. Right in there. Yep. And now you can do your thing. Okay. (camera clicking) When you're done with that row I'm gonna have you glance up to camera once. Perfect. I'm awkward when I don't actually normally work in this position. Yeah. We can. Before you do that, I'm actually gonna have you move your chair this way like six inches. Just so you're not, there's a weird. There you go. That's perfect. There was a bar going right through your head. And I wasn't really loving it. That's good. Yep. So I'll let you do that and then I'll have you face this way again just for the lighting. And then we will call it good. (camera clicking) I'm sure to get the verticals. More kind of looking as if someone came into the studio and was down by that hallway. Yep. Like you just glanced up there. There we go. Perfect. Um, last shot right here is the same thing. I just gotta have you face that way again. Um, no you can just sit there. Tool. Torch. Whatever. Maybe like you're adjusting the torch intensity of something with that little dial. There we go. Looking over this way real quick. Perfect. (audience member speaking faintly) Arr. All right, so you kind of saw a little bit about how we did some alternate looks. The first one was all natural light. And then obviously I went in to using the strobe. That wasn't working out exactly how I wanted. But sometimes that'll happen. That's why at some point I thought, ah, we'll just move on because I had that safe shot. These were some alternate looks. The natural light version was working great. The last version of this back lit, I couldn't quite balance it out. And I didn't want to totally reframe because we still had another shot on our list to get this portrait. So sometimes when things aren't working and they're not going to work, I thought, ah, we'll just, we'll get rid of it. We'll move on to the next thing. And you probably saw when I was shooting natural light I looked over my left shoulder towards the ground. I don't know if you noticed it but I did that about 10 times. It's because right next to me was a pot of that molten wax. And I could literally feel the heat on the side of my face so I didn't wanna dip my elbow into that. But I remember that. And then when we were watching this video that's the first time I've really paid attention to that part of the video and I noticed myself looking over there. So, some of those elements like that can get a little tricky too especially around hot wax. But I loved how the images with the natural light turned out. Again, the detail shots of her hands. I wasn't planning on doing that when we started. But when we got over to that light, and all the sudden her hands were the focus, it just seemed too obvious not to capture.
Ratings and Reviews
Julie V
I had the chance to sit in the audience for this class and absolutely loved it. Watching Dan create amazing images from start to finish in front of us was so inspiring. I've learned so much from this class. It actually gave me the confidence to start playing with lights in my studio. It was really useful to see how he sets his lights and how he can easily mix ambient light with artificial. I also love how he focuses on getting the image right in the camera to only do light edits after. I recommend this class to anyone wanting to learn more about lighting, shooting tethered and editing efficiently!
a Creativelive Student
I love this guy! I so appreciate his honesty while he is explaining his thought process, admitting that his “shoulda/coulda/woulda’s” - which I experience ALL the time. I am now going to dust off my light meter and start using it on location as I’m convinced that it works now that I’ve seen Dan’s class. I enjoyed the detailed way he sets up each light individually, checking to make sure it adds the amount and quality of light he wants. Definitely recommend this class - especially for those people who have experience using studio lights and want to see how they can be used to get specific results. Dan’s clear, simple explanations, his unabashed humility, and his sense of humor made this a truly enjoyable way to spend my time learning his methods.
a Creativelive Student
Dan is an excellent instructor! He's completely transparent with his thought processes, from technical to creative. He doesn't waste time horsing around or getting off topic, but is structured and sticks to his outline. Every minute watched is on topic, and is understandable. He's sincere and likable. The course is great for anyone interested in this genre!
Student Work
Related Classes
Portrait Photography