Lesson Info
5. Dramatic Portrait
Lessons
Lesson Info
Dramatic Portrait
So for my next shot, I'm gonna have both Richard and Rhonda together, interacting a little bit. Guys, I'm gonna have you back here. We're just using ambient light, and I kind of love what's happening here cause we have these three windows, and I, quite often, will light a set with three soft boxes going all the way across cause it creates a really nice even light all the way through. And because we have this huge corridor, it has this great depth of field that, when you look at the picture you can really, things begin to really disappear and get really really milky and kinda muddy, so. I'm gonna have you guys up front, facing each other, and kinda interacting with each other. Soft, gentle, the reverse of the sci-fi look, kinda more intimate but not too intimate. Okay, now I am shooting at an ISO of 1600, my shutter speed is 125, my f-stop is 4.5, and I am using the 24-70. You know what? It's interesting what you're doing, just stand still like that. (camera shutter clicking) Come toget...
her. And you can touch one another, if you don't mind. (camera shutter clicking) Get a little closer, a little tighter. Now how would you really hug one another? Twist your body. This way? I wanna see the face a little bit more like, Richard, bring your body around. Okay Richard, here. Step out for a second. Now, I don't normally do this, but. You're gonna watch me for a second, okay come here. So when you were in the picture, your legs were really bolt upright. You gotta just, earlier I said to kick your legs out a little bit and relax them up a little bit, just try and do that. So when you hold one another, open up to camera, the legs are a little bit more relaxed, a little bit more bent, and you always move your waist. Just always move that waist, because if you don't, and you twist, and the leg stays stiff, that's what happens. So, what I'm looking for is that kinda little moments like that, slight little gestures. You can play off one another, that kind of thing. Okay. Cause I know you're much taller than she is, so don't try and get Don't try and get low. Alrighty. Took me back there to my old modeling days. Love it, that's nice. Relax guys, breathe, breathe. Like that, you know what, I love that. Now Richard, you look at me. Eyes to me. Relax the hand. What's your other hand doing, just drop that hand, just drop it. Boom. That's nice. Bring your hand up, just hold, there you go. Maybe hold him across his stomach, there you go. That's nice. Maybe inside his shirt? There you go. You're looking at me. (camera shutter clicking) Beautiful. That's nice. And almost look straight past me, right above my head. (camera shutter clicking) Nice Rhonda, both looking at me. Shake it out a little bit, that's nice. Hold the middle tighter. Don't even look at me, bring your legs closer too. Okay. Both looking off here. I'm gonna shake you up a little bit. Relax a bit, and when she's working with you, and when you're playing with him too, you can be a little bit more like, pull him a little bit, little bit, little bit, like that. And react to her, literally for a moment, think that you're a couple. It's not a smooching moment, it's just that kind of intimacy of like, we're together. You could even be brother and sister, it's just that kind of like, here we are together and we're alone. Not, there's a whole crew of people looking at you. Nice that, yeah. That's nice, lose the smiles there. There you go, eyes to me. Boom. Beautiful. Nice that right there. Put your head on her head, like that. (camera shutter clicking) Nice. Beautiful there. Gorgeous there. That's really nice guys. Cause of the color of your nails, I wanna bring them down. Nice, both, all looking up that way. (camera shutter clicking) Beautiful there. I think that's nice, really nice guys. Put your back to her. There you go, exactly. Took a while, go all the way round. No, no, you're good, you're good, just like that, put your back to her, and then you just play over your shoulder, onto that one shoulder. Like this? Yeah, exactly, that's nice. You can look towards her almost like that. Richard, eyes here. Follow my hands, there you go. Rhonda you look at me. (camera shutter clicking) Hold that, I just wanna drop this, give me even longer neck, there you go, beautiful that. Relax the mouth, Richard open the mouth a little bit. There you go. Chin down a bit. Gorgeous that. (camera shutter clicking) Eyes to me, both of you. Nice. Okay, I wanna do one more. Richard come here, you're here, and you're gonna almost, like you're pulling him along. So you're gonna be in front. Oh. Just pulling him along, yeah, little bit like that, almost like you're leading like that. Back up a bit, back up too Richard. Just like you're walking together but you're pulling him along. (camera shutter clicking) That's nice, alright wait a second. Relax, this is beautiful. And pull. (camera shutter clicking) Gorgeous there. (camera shutter clicking) Eyes to me, both of you. (camera shutter clicking) Gorgeous, we got it, that was nice. Really really pretty. We got there in the end, it worked. Sometimes this is a little tough, especially when you're doing a shot with someone and you don't know them that well, and you're trying to be intimate, but you know it worked, that was really pretty. So, with that being said, I'm gonna light this up, you guys are gonna become sci-fi heroes, okay? So give me a moment. Wonderful. Okay, we have completely redone the light in this room. Although you will still see the ambient, which I'm just gonna be using as my modeling light, we've set up a whole bunch of strobes. In fact, we have eight heads going, and, let me talk you through them. This is the key light, and it's the Profresnel Spot, once again, with the chocolate gel, coming straight through here, creating a beautiful light around here. We have, in each nook all the way down here, we have red and blue, and then we have, I believe blue, and then red again at the end. Cause, I'm not sure if you remember when I first described this room, it's this great tunnel, it's kind of nostalgic and romantic and what have you, and you're not sure where the tunnel leads. Then I had another idea, which is my sci-fi idea. I imagined it as a sort of, a tube that an intergalactic space ship would shoot through as you might see in a movie, out into the galaxy. So that's what I tried to create. And I have a backlight at the very end, she's a beauty dish, which is also, not just is it lighting the models and giving them a little rim around the side, it is actually creating a white light all the way across the lower walls. So you're gonna really see that effect. It's kind of cool, I think we should shoot it. Richard? Rhonda? Hey guys, alright, you're gonna be right where I am. I'm literally standing in your spot. Let's get the modeling light on that for one moment. Okay, again the two of you together, less intimate this time, little bit more stoic, little bit more serious. I think with more purpose. If you were in the middle of a tube and there was a plane about to come flying down, of course that would be crazy so. I think have that look as if you're going somewhere. Heading somewhere, strong look in the eyes, piercing. Alright? Great. Eyes wide open, and again don't lean into her, stand up tall. There you go, relax the face. Look right here. Amazing, boom. Hold that. I'm gonna show you, so you get an idea of what we're looking at. Completely different to how we had it before. Yeah. Really strong, really tough, and with the whole face and everything. You can move your body, and pull, it's almost as if you're fleeing a space ship. I want you to have that, sort of, thought in mind. Have a look at that. Here we go, I'll show you. So what we have here, is that's the beauty dish in the background, creating this white light across the background. We have Profresnel lighting them up, giving them this nice, warm, bronzed glow. And then we have our, I guess our sort of side back lights, the blue gel and the red gel, creating this interesting effect and you really get this tube, and they look like they're straight outta Bladerunner, or another sci-fi movie. Very cool. Alright. Yeah. I kinda like that, I kinda like the half run thing. Kinda do that, can you see what he's doing? He's kind of like, you're both gonna move. But you're gonna have to kind of fake it a little bit okay? So don't stay too still, slightly rock a little bit. And look straight through me and past me. There, nice. And actually both eyes just off to this direction. Nice. (camera shutter clicking) Eyes to me. That's nice. Little bit further apart now. Yeah just like that. Maybe even just completely bolt upright, kinda like I'm standing, like this. Two, like your legs, like this. Yeah, really strong. Tight. Boom, okay. (jacket fabric rustling) Perfect. That's nice. Hold that. (camera shutter clicking) Amazing, hold that. Eyes to me, breathe out. Really strong. We're just a bit mad. Nice. (camera shutter clicking) Nice. Nice. Back up a bit, tiny bit. Same thing kinda like that, pulling there you go. (camera shutter clicking) Nice, beautiful there guys. Even go further back, further back, like that and the same pull, relax the fist a little bit, just relax it, shake it out, as you would. (camera shutter clicking) Look to her. Almost there. Okay right behind her, and grab on to her shoulder. Relax your legs, bend your legs a little bit. Almost like you're coming around her a little bit. There you go. (camera shutter clicking) Beautiful there. That's nice. Richard, eyes here. Rhonda, you look right into the lens. Beautiful there. Nice. Grab her. Strong, stronger, tight. Not too cuddly, more like, there you go. Don't go down though, don't go down to her height, stay tall. Maybe your face there, that's good there, strong. Nice, like that, hold that. Relax, drop everything. Yeah, just like that, just like that. Don't move. (camera shutter clicking) Nice. (camera shutter clicking) We got it. Great, I loved it, I didn't even need to speak, I can't even speak, I'm losing my words. That was amazing, I loved it, I was in the moment, you guys were in the moment. That looked amazing, that looked really good. Fantastic. Great.
Ratings and Reviews
a Creativelive Student
I think this is a great class for a photographer who is interested in fashion and editorial work. Nigel shows you what it's like behind the scenes and how he invokes the looks, stances, and poses from his models to get the story of his images. This class isn't about the why's and how's of what camera and strobe settings he uses on set. He does show you the different gels, reflectors, and strobes utilized but really just plants a seed so you can explore on your own. He mentions that it's important for the photographer to own their style and lighting. I love how Nigel shares how he creates the environment for a story. For editorial work, I feel one of the most important elements of a shoot is the experience you create for your model. It is the magic ingredient for capturing images with impact.
user-f37802
Nigel is a good communicator and excellent photographer. However, you won't learn too much from this class. It is a Behind The Scene footage showing Nigel at work. That's all. Nigel doesn't measure ambient and artificial light, and won't tell you the light values you need to achieve the desired effect. Recommend to those who look for motivational support; certainly do not recommend to those who look for technical knowledge. For that reason, I feel like the tutorial is a bit overpriced. Thank you
Margaret Lovell
I prefer natural light, but want to learn more about studio light. Nigel is an excellent instructor, and photographer. He can explain lighting concepts in easy to understand steps. He also gives plenty of excellent and useful tips.