Lessons

Lesson Info

Lighting Image Critique

I enjoyed this image like the black and white treatment here that the lines on the edge of the pattern of the leaves here I'm not so sure roy it's in the lighting category and I can't tell if this was a natural later or the way it was a studio session or what I'm just like the tones and just like the composition of it I see I actually see it in the lighting category and I like the soft it looks like they've used soft light and you can tell it's soft light because of that beautiful soft rim right through the center of that top leaf see how that how it's very it looks like velvet almost it's absolutely beautiful I think the maker did an artful job of making these leaves look interesting they look there's dimensionality to the photograph I love that white the way that they illuminated the lining on the edge of the leave and it's a beautiful it's very poetic I think this could be absolute something that hangs in your home and I love the fact that they treated it in black and white because ...

then it gives us as the viewer I think that we have to feel it more I'd be curious to see what it looked like flipped upside down just curious that's um yeah I think you said it also great I from ah line perspective I kind of like this image um you know, the rays coming through the window look a little bit kind of yeah manufactured or a bit but kind of has an interesting feel to it afraid the razor interesting but I mean that means there's atmosphere behind him that they're hitting but there's this bright light on the other side of his face that there's no rays coming two ways they're not atmosphere on that side so that's what I agree maybe that those rays were headed in later and maybe should be a little more atmosphere you're starting from here so john what would you do to alter this image? You know, if you were taking this picture what would you do to that right side of the face? Cause I group because I kept thinking well what's going on over there and why is that as bright as the other side of his face? I think there's a very compelling image you know what would you do differently? Probably toned down that the brightness of that side the face I do still like to see the highlight there and maybe just open up the shadows behind there a little bit so we could see that why there's something coming from that side because it's hitting his shoulder to down the arm so there was definitely a light on that side but why isn't it matching? This is a very popular style of lighting what they do is they shoot him in the studio with two sidelights and then drop them in the background. But when you do that, you have to make sure that the light is believable. And so, in this case, that all that right that light on the one side but there's no light on the wall doesn't make it believable. And so that's with lighting, you always have to make sure it's believable. Wow! Nice. You know it's, isn't it amazing how you can have a completely dark environment and how lighting can set the mood and that's one of the things I think that's so powerful about our career and our craft in photography. And if you learn your craft well that you have the ability to create mood that impacts people emotionally. I mean, this is just fabulous. I love the fact that he got this go look at the expression on his face. It's just amazing. I love the fact that he's, you know, using a lighter you could it really all feels very mysterious and I think is done quite nicely. In fact, now you can translate this concept to a wedding. For instance, let's say you have a bride and groom and their and let's say it's pouring down rain outside like it is this weekend. What could you do using this kind of concept and that's, what I try to do, I try to bridge concepts said that I could apply them in a variety of different ways, so this isn't just a portrait of a guy with a lighter, this could be a groom with a light or this could be a bride and a groom with candles on the table. They're lighting a candle together or something like that. On the technical side, some people may say that thumb has really blown out there, but but I think that's what's going to happen with the lights the way we see it, so I'm not going to knock anything down for that, I think to going back to basics of portraiture chew that slight smile that he has there it's kind of there's a connection there with the camera that really makes it and gives it that extra there to really make it a great image. John sports images like the guy in the windows here, you know, it's it's, the hard lights on each side coming forward, leaving a dark strip down the front of the face, effective very popular lighting style. Now I for myself, I tend to like more more open faces I'd probably in another light in the front stripe distracts me, but other people may enjoy it yeah, I think that this this stripe on the face of the strip either this is what I would have done. I would have either made that that the strip lights on each side of the face narrower so that it just highlighted a portion of his face and then left this front part a bit darker to me that would give much more mystery to the photograph and then it would kind of be offset by that by that soccer ball. But I will tell you I love them. I applaud the maker for doing something different. Looks like a high school senior shot on dh even even if it's not a high school senior shot is somebody who's really interested in that sport? I think it's interesting. One word of caution when you have a ball or anything coming straight out from the body like this, it makes the arms look for they look for shortened so it looks like he's just got a nub. You know, it doesn't look like there's an armed there, it looks a little awkward, maybe that's a she I think, and that means that maybe a little more room with there's so much from lighting on the face, why is the hair so black? And going into the background, those lights should have probably separated the hair a little more there, too um the uh I would like to see a little bit more detail on that blown out of the water in the back and it just looks like a like a white clump there so you know that's the thing I would change also more water I like it when people incorporate water in their photos I think it's really interesting on day one of the things I like about this particular image is that the maker has found a different way a little bit of a different twist on water you know there's nothing more annoying and seeing twenty five pictures of somebody in the water I mean, we've seen that millions of people especially in the wedding industry you see this trash the dress bride sessions and stuff and you know they're always in the water and such and and then this comes along and I like the way that they treated this photograph I love the way they let her that they rim that her arms and the side of her face I think it looks very dramatic and the motion the movement of the water to me is in harmony with the portrait this does go back to the last one we were talking about how there's dark strip in the middle of faces wider and it's not is distracting and it actually works here a little better I like it it's good fun I love this I personally love working with I don't know if this was shot with natural light but it looks like it wass it's kind of it's a very soft light source she looks like she's you know, trying to hide from someone almost in her face and the pot's fits that kind of feel um yeah, I like that I think it's interesting I think I love it tio just a lot of times when you know um use natural light like that the face is so close I won't talk about inverse square law, but theo faces so close to the light source there's going to be a dramatic fade off down towards the other the body because the face is so close to the light source um and so I would like to see a little bit more opened up down towards the bottom and take that hot spot down by the window a little because if you squint you're going to your eyes going to tend towards that window. So now what would you do to correct for that thing let's take that I was going into the emotional aspect of this one so if you want to just talk about well, what you can do is if you move the face away from the light source uh if possible right and you can do it in your composition then is going toe evenly light your subject better um, I know it's a hard concept to understand, but you're going to create less contrast because the light source is not as strong and then you will get more even light flow or you can just simply add another light in there too. Phil are like this takes me back to the fortunate category with the rifle one where she's in a straitjacket here on the people who picked him up in that may be, why are you getting a feeling of her hiding from something or pulling back here? But the light on the face is done really nice. Yeah, and I like it when people do things that are that are more editorial like this and that they try to create an emotional response, and I think that the maker has done a really fine job of giving us, you know, he or she filled in all the details and I think that's important, sometimes we get a great idea, but such an abstract idea, we don't know how to make it happen, and so we'll say, oh, I want to do something and it's going to really amazing with the rose and then all they do is get a rosen put it somebody's hand and that's supposed to be the great shot instead of following through with something that completes the idea in a more creative way. I also like the tone ality of this picture because it works in harmony with the environment and the way she looks well, that guy's got some serious that looks like me look familiar? Yeah, actually, I was gonna say that looked like me. Well, I just love like the photographs with dark skin and getting that lighting right. And but bodies like that it's really cool. Um it's a very striking image and that's beautiful. Okay, I don't have anything to add to that. What do you think about the eyes? Are they retouched? Are they? Did they look? I mean he's, obviously very dark in the way that they treated this is very dark. Yeah. There's the center lady. Their beauty dish is small. Ah, soft bucks right over that's lighting the pecs and that's probably what's bringing out the eyes too. There may be a little bit of bleaching the I think there was. I tone that down. Yes. Ok, so let me ask you gentlemen this in this particular photograph, how how is this litte? Can you tell for me? It's, as I said, either beauty dishes, soft bucks straight over on that's lighting the face, getting the nose there that the pecs and then too hard lights from the sides there strip lights from slightly behind that defining the edge and you could see it in the veins where it catches light a little more on the arms and even up on the chest but there's also highlight under the vein on the chest there may be another light on the floor coming in to fill a little bit in order to seal that definition on the muscle tone you've got a kind of side light it so on the two silent I'm not sure if it's exactly back behind it because I don't see a highlight a real strong right now on edge yeah yeah his next it looks like it's just off to the side and not slightly back I like to place mind slightly back so I can see that outline a little bit better can we talk for a moment about exposure you know this is a darker skinned individual that we were talking earlier about dark skinned individuals and how you you expose for their skin when working with someone of color you have have to what gives their body shape and definition are the highlights what gives someone who is a caucasian person like myself dimensionality are the shadow areas so you want to think about that when you're lighting someone of color that you want to highlight us you wantto like them in such a way to create those nice highlights on the skin is your thing bambi I know I think this is really really interesting um normally I would say that the light is a little bit too high above the eyes because we're getting a shadow underneath the ice and you can see that the catch look well actually there's it's there's some underlying yeah said they've got under light going on so that's going to give that to catch like the bottom part of the eye however, this does not follow to me the traditional route of portraiture the reason for it is that that light we want usually in the eye we want at least you know, be closer to the eyes and not create that dark, sinister look under the eyes but it fits this subject because with that the way that they've lived her eyes from below, she has that kind of sinister look and I think the way that she's been decorated in the way that she's been coughed and also the smoky appearance around her kind of lends itself to that and it kind of makes it feel believable they're definitely doing a clamshell type of lighting here and so the reason why they had toe ad that under light is to get that catch light and I there I would probably prefer a little bit more shadow on the cheeks to kind of go with the mood of it but I can still live with that yeah the interesting thing for me is the shapes of the shadow under the nose there the shadows seem to be coming across from the sides, not from the top of the bottom line. Yeah, you know, this is when I started in photography, one of the first books that ever drew me was a book written by george terrell was called carell's hollywood, and his lighting by today's standards would not be considered great lighting, but it was really dramatic. And it was the number one book that really inspired me to start incorporating some dramatic looks in my portfolio. Because, again, I was so hung up on trying to make perfect pictures that I photograph or seriously off the charts. Boring and boring is the kiss of death. It's much better if you have to make a mistake, err on the side of craziness, go that direction versus go and try to make these two perfect people. Take your photos. That's. Great. If people love your photos that's great. If people just look at him and flipped the page to the next here's where you've gone wrong. Yeah, scott, I think it's a very interesting photo using the reflections and the blue tone I really like, um, and kind of the mirror image. I wouldn't probably prefer, um, the subjects are too far on the edge for me, for my tastes, um, I would kind of like to see a little it might be they're not sure, but I would like to see a little bit more detail instead of just two heads floating out there um and if possible some maybe a bit more separation between how would you achieve that in what in regards to the well would you create more separation between them and or even to have a bit more detail down below? What is your recipe for that? Well, I don't know how he did it or what was going on there or what he used to light it maybe it's a flash or something like that but you would not probably maybe need to defuse the light a bit mohr or have the angle spread of it like it might be a grated life from below so maybe uh ah wider grid with a piece of diffusion over just get a little more below the lips just get the chin line to find a little more done they could add a backlight I mean by his neck it's there's some blue dots that do help separate but as you get to the top it's all blending in I mean it's an interesting you could commercial image the you could perhaps throw see it all depends on what like he's using if he's using a delight to do this it's very easy to achieve backlight because you can just add another video light because it's low level light if you're using a flash then you're using a light source that's very, very powerful and so if you add another flash without controlling that light it just might spray like all over the place and you can't control the light um so love love crazy amazing picture what a beautiful job this maker this this it hang in any gallery this reminds me of norman rockwell and I love the way they let this and you know it's really clever because it looks as though the only light sources that that little tiny lives all it is yeah, I light idea yeah, yeah I mean the room on the face on the intensity of the boy reading there it would make a great portrait and make a great advertisement and confused in so many ways, but and we're on the lighting class here and as you say that just using that one light I'm assuming that there may be a flash or something hidden in the book that cass a little more light to get the posters on the wall and the light but but it's not overpowering and it's not obvious so how would you expose for that? And this is a real important concept because there's a big difference between the highlights on this little boy's face and the background and you know, the other areas how do you expose for that? So what would your suggestion being from mine is to get that highlight? Right? And for the other stuff there even could be a larger late on the side. That's just a very low power. I know some photographers talk about setting the ambient light first and get that exposure for the rest of the room just where you want it and then bring in the light for the face to bring that out. So you're under exposing the rest of the room as your base exposure, but just enough to see it. And then they had the light on the face. Um, I guess I'm not sure there's actually another. Maybe there is another life because it looks like maybe there's some reflections in sort of a shadow. Yeah, to add another light on top of there, but yeah, you definitely would expose, you know, for the face first and make sure that's all cool. And you know what the other things you can do to in exposing for the face, the background is gonna go really dark that's one of the benefits of working with a raw file. If you work with a raw file, you can expose the first process the image first for the face and then process that same file again for the background to to bring up a little bit of that detail and then basically put those two files together and then you blend them you know you can paint through through the through the darker layer to bring in a few those subtle highlights and it really will give your image so much more dimensionality it's a really terrific tool I have to say I use that literally all the time is sandwiching a couple expose maybe three times once for the shadows once for the highways high was once for the highlights and then once for the mid tones and then blend the two constitute extremes together first and then add the third one for stalking balance out of it this is gorgeous that's called bracketing so and you can actually automatically set that on your camera you could decide how much underexposed and overexposed you want and automatically think when bambi's case you're doing it in camp I'm doing it wrong bracketing bracketing the boy may move a little bit beat, right see, I prefer to do it all with the same well they're just doing with one file and then I don't want to mess with that stuff you know something to be it's about it's about speed and it's about first on getting the shot and once I've got the shot that's why a liberal you have four stops of exposure compensation with raw two over and two under so I know that as long as I'm not over, you know, two stops on in pretty good shape so it's a great way that least get the the to get things in my ballpark and I don't like the bracketing idea because people do tend to move just a whisper and you know, so I just prefer to do it this way, okay let's, talk about on this one I love the light coming down on the face nice and soft the hand is nice, we got the side of the hand, it doesn't look like a claw, their person doesn't have the back or the front of the hand facing the camera. The only real distraction for me is that hot spot on the tattoo and I don't know if the light could be pushed slightly back and still get the face or even some powder or something and maybe a little little make up there. I mean, we want to show the tattoo, but right now or I goes to the hot spot and that's almost in the center of the frame and it's just drawing my eye back away from the face I'm tryingto it's fighting to go back and forth for me well, what if he used barn doors on that on your light up above her to kind of keep the light off that shoulder or just a soften that light on the shoulder little usually think of born doors on hotter on smaller lights, right? And I don't think that's so smaller light on her face but maybe a car to go below a little flag so maybe maybe that's like a sixteen by twenty soft marks on her face and if it's going straight down put a black cord just feathering in off the shoulder sometimes you can just physically feather the light off into do you guys know what a go bo is? Ok, something that goes between the light and your subject so these are the lights right here if we just held up a cardboard let's say that we only wanted to illuminate, you know, the face let's say we want to photograph john, we only want illuminate his face, then we're going to put something that's going to go between the light and his face to keep the light less of less intensity on that shirt. Sometimes you can use things like a black suit as a go go I can't type of times have used people is go bows and it's something he's really big, you know, if I have like, if I'm if I'm working with like somebody and I want to add a little bit more like I didn't I just say, hey, take off your jacket it's a bigger guy I'll say and take off your jacket we have your white short you could be my reflector too so it works just the office and way um I would probably like to see a tad were little separation on the hair there and for me that um my taste that the she's looking to straight up for me if I could just bend her head down a little bit I think I'm, uh would buy into it a bit more this is a good feel on a lot of times we do this for groom shots and whenever you want toe uh light smoke or water you have the light it from the side or behind so just when you have grooms and cigars make sure you have some backlight their seacon actually see the image I kind of like this feel it's got that film the rats boys wouldn't get ready guess rat pack feel to it were ah madmen for younger people, right? Yeah, yeah yeah we're all about the same age. So this kind of photographic there's so many genres and so many ways you can use this conceptually this concept with this picture you can use it in the wedding arena with grumman groomsmen you can use it in the portrait worlds we've seen a little earlier today but this also is an awesome concept when you're photographing you know, even something like like children? Well, you saw the picture of the little boy just a few minutes ago. This is a similar concept, so learn to think conceptually. And then you're gonna be able to use a lot of these different elements to create images that really have a great deal of impact. Yeah, I don't have anything to wear to that can very beautiful. What? There are a couple of things I like about this photograph. I love the harmony, the color harm any between the background and the subject it works it's very, very beautiful. I think it just is absolutely lovely and I love the way that they lit it from the side because that love that main light coming from the side makes her look curvy. Look at that beautiful line down her back to see how she got a little dark shadow down the back. If they had just flat let her from from behind, then it would flatten out her back and it would look very just static and one dimensional but as it is, because the light coming from the side is mohr is more intense, it's stronger then the film like that they've got going behind this subject you really see those beautiful shadows and the special the shadow on the arm is really important her arm turned away from the camera angle if you were in the same camera position as that main light, see how are her arm is closer to the light would be closer to the lens. Would you would look large for me? I'm looking at this no shadow and I like that it doesn't come down and hit the lip. Uh, so the light is wouldn't want to be any higher than maybe slightly higher than it is wouldn't want any lower because that would go up. I noticed the lighting, but compositionally I'm a little distracted by the texture on whatever she's sitting on and possibly between her arm and the dress there's maybe a flower is something that's dressed there there that cz glowing because it's light from slightly behind it's, fitting that directly and maybe just slide the sleeve of the whatever you call them cal there this over where taking out later, this kind of falls that same rule that we're kind of talking about what you have the nose towards light and makes everything work, I hear maybe I would like to take that that's a little bit hot on the arm from my taste, so that would kind of bring that down a bit, I just like I'd like to see just a little bit more space. On this one arm I would like I think I need to see it may be down on her hip or something you have to be really careful when you're cut where you cut the parts off the body parts because it can look like a little bit of a nub and it's it looks more finished if that line were continued down on the on that um fabric or the carpet we're looking at each other I mean lighting it's looks like it's just pretty much let from directly above which works for this fruit dropping in tow water a little distracted by the hard line just above the green pepper there maybe the edge of the water and then aquarium tank or something like that I probably would have taken that out but then this lighting class again there's some phil coming from below there's definition of the bottom of the peppers they don't go into total black the green pepper does separate from the background so there's been pretty nicely I especially like that let's soft subtle highlight on the bottom of the peppers to give them to met depth of dimensionality I like the concept here just for me aesthetically it's not um compelling enough for me but the lighting and the concept of school what would make it more compelling to you maybe just the the arrangement of the um the vegetables or maybe I mean they seem to have all the same size or something? I'm not sure thiss type of shot is one of them that you do have to do, you know, ten thousand images because it's so random where they were in the land, you know? And sometimes we say people shoot too much, but this is the time we probably need to and, you know, I think because they are all the same size, and there it becomes a bit, you know, it's not it's exciting, it's a little bit on the boring side, so I too would love to see, you know, maybe some other kinds of textures, some sort of maybe some other fruit or something or a cz john said, if you just waited and delayed just a little bit more that one bell pepper drops into the water because it is very static, it go straight across, right? I'd love to see something up a little higher than that cool that actually looks like a real sky to not one of those drop that's beautiful, and I think that the maker did a really lovely job of separating that that I guess it's a church is a church separate the church from the from the background, and I especially like the fact that it's got there's highlights on the ground the foreground, so it doesn't look like there's just a church and then darkness below andi I really think there's there's a great deal of harmony and I think for if they're telling a story about this church man I'll tell you what if I were that church I'd want that building I'd want that in my in my church to showcase it yeah is this is in a lighting category I'm wondering if they did ed any more lights in the front to get those highlights on the building the highlight on the cross compositionally like that with the crust is not uh that's tangential to the church without touching or crossing over into it but I'm just wonder if maybe they did add some some up lights or something in the front there for the well I think category but we won't know that I kind of would like to see it cropped back I mean see a little bit mohr that crosses a tad close to me to the edge for I just kind of want to see a little bit more room right there love it I'd love to have this in my house my husband's polynesian and he loves surfing and stuff that's a great picture I think they've done a very clever job um of making it making this photograph work and I especially liked the way that there is separation between the back arm and head so you actually see what it is the fingers standout nice silhouette theirs it's nothing really filling in the face. The line of the wave coming into the feeding and up into the body just makes this certainly keeps me within the frame. Um, and for lighting yet a silhouette on mean it's probably all natural later that they had their studio behind the wave, but so, john, you know, for those that aren't familiar with how to do a silhouette, because there are some young folks, some folks out there that maybe are newer and photography, how would you? How would you describe how to do a silhouette? Well, you're you're exposing from the background for the highlights and getting getting them just under blowing out and with no flight from the front and we, we don't know for sure they may have done some burning, dodging and photo shop or something to their maybe because of water tends to reflect, so there may be some highlights on the body that were taken out later, but it's basically exposed for the bite background and don't get any light on the subject. You have to start with a high contrast situation first, so there has to be a lot more light in the back and in the front to create, um, silhouette, um, interesting concept the follow through is I think they just drop the ball just a little bit it's a little overexposed. And we can tell that it's over exposed because if you look at her hair that whatever is going on in her hair there's no detail on that so it's a little bit overexposed on in that area and then also on the face, I really like the idea of working with the apples and the way that they've done it. I think I might even her head. I had her lay her head down, but I think ultimately number one issue got control your lighting a little bit better. Yeah, I'm wondering what that edges of the door or something that's just by your hip there for some reason my eyes going to that he's laying down shots are always difficult to light and to pose. I think he's kind of the the artist is kind of caught in between where is tryingto highlight both the face and both the apple. But maybe if you chose one and did the lighting better on that one, it would kind of pull off better I almost chrissy this, then lighting the apple and then yeah, maybe putting her face down and having their face almost underexposed, um and see it that way I want to see your ability to bite into the apple this is interesting, trying to figure out, where is that the sun that's behind the tree? Or but I mean, the sky so bright above it that it feels like the sun would have been hired by looking at the shadows of the people is saying that the sun was probably hires that maybe it's a mirror in the tree, maybe it's a, the photo shop technique, you know, what's interesting, if you hear the way were communicated, the way that john is communicating ceo is trying to figure it out and there's something about it that doesn't make sense, and that that kind of gives you an indication of of an area that you might want to think about when you're capturing images. I find it an interesting photograph from an editorial standpoint, um, I keep looking at it going, and it makes me wonder, I kind of expect to see a caption in the front of it because it does have that really interesting editorial field it's like two people, it's like, looks like the tree of life to me, or something like the high key it's kind of it makes it really interesting composition, but you had the lighting to me, um, maybe you're not buying, and that bright spot in the middle, a tree kind of confuses me a bit, so her shadow goes to the left his shadow goes to the right so it could be light from back during that then there's shadow over the tree to s so it's there's a lot of the economy's going on there that keep us looking at it on that level it it's a definitely interesting photo you know, I think that a can a different camera position might be in order in this photograph a low camera position would have done a couple of things first of all it would have changed the horizon line on the tree and on this the two subjects and I think that either get a high camera position or a low camera position on dh then it's going teo change where that light is in the tree that is the son of a tough situation for lighting um the folks on the far side there is that right side uh getting kind of lust there's some shadows on the faces there that don't happen on the left side there I'd like to see him or even I mean it's nice to do a dramatic lighting but when you have twelve subjects or something like that you want to give them all a chance yeah I think that's really a good point because those girls on the right hand side or really getting lost in the back and I do I will say I like the fact that the maker is making these women look really strong, and the low camera angle really gives them power, it makes them look really, really strong. So how would you correct for this? For the lighting areas that that aren't needs some work? Well, on a group like this, I'd lighted flatter. I mean, it's it's not going to be a super interesting something that I'm gonna put in a competition thing, but, you know, when I'm shooting someone like this, I'm thinking about I'm shooting for them, I'm not shooting for me, we're shooting for the competition, so I'm going to flatten this out a bit and get him or a little more light on that side and, you know, and I'll shoot another picture for a competition, you know, when this is a group shot, right? And obviously, like, if you were the parents of that girl that had the shadow on the face, you'd be a little bit disip pointed. So sometimes we do a group shot like that you can't get to cute sea or fancy with it, you've just got a literally show it everybody clearly. Now, john, you mentioned earlier flat lighting it for those that don't know what that means, you know who aren't necessarily technical, explain what that means, either. Getting the light around to the front or even copy lighting which like I call it having a large umbrella on either side of the camera just for the group again and it's kind of boring but it's going to make people look good it's you know, everything in photography is is a competition, I guess between itself aperture versus the other speed versus I esso light versus shadow on sometimes to get what you want for the client it's not going to be the most exciting shot but it's going to make them look good? Yeah, flat light is flattering. So it's a great way to photograph a lot of people that's what? We will look so good. P d I want to just take this home with just killing all the correct. Ok, scott, when you think about this, um I like the composition of it. Um I think the lighting is a bit dry with it. I would like to see a little bit more drama by getting it a little bit more off camera and creating some interesting shadows on the shapes. I just think it's did its to direct it to kind of on camera lighting feel to it and I just it's kind of missing some draw right? This goes back with the other one that's, another group shot but it's for a different purpose you know, we're not trying to sell the tin as a porch of this more of an editorial, an advertisement or something like that where we can add some drama to it. I mean, the guy and on the on this site is does feel like he's slightly because there is a shadow on the the front of his face, but everyone else gets flattened out a little bit and it's a it's a tough one. Unless you have a lot of lights and and have the time to set up, it has to be a stage shot. You're not just going walk into a restaurant or barnes and do a photo like this. I mean, it takes a lot of work to put into this. I can't tell from here that people in the front look a little soft, but it may just be the resolution of the image here, there's a lot of depth here, so you need a lot of light to stop down. You really want to be eleven or so on this just if you want to get everyone in the background or really focus on the folks up front while the people linebacker lit, let them start dropping off in focus if you have to. And if those back people weren't looking in the camera that it becomes quite acceptable there just kind of interact and we don't expect them to be sharp what do you how do you gentlemen feel about the darkness that's behind the girls it doesn't bother me too much just seems to be um some highlight on her hair but it well it regards to that I think the the background in the back that's brighter is too bright and so it should match a little bit there's too much contract and also whatever's above his head a lamp fixture something I'd probably take out but I didn't notice it to you said it that those two girls in the back are looking right into the camera it's you know a really they're looking at each other he's looking at her she's looking at the camera I'm great with her looking at the camera being the main subject but those two girls in the back looking at the camera you're distracting me and it doesn't work we're going there smiling and happy and then the rest of the couple serious and trying to give a like a you know cool look so it kind of doesn't work okay you guys spent quite a bit of time on the last one I must say I mean that's a good sign for that oh yeah actually there were a lot of prints in that in there that were really quite interesting on we bring up all twenty images and then maybe we could take some questions from our in studio audience if there are any all right, I have a question thie one that was pretty early on with the woman with the smoke and the fingers that had like the sort of claws coming off of it not that one the one where it was the smoke was in their left you do you think that would be a stronger image in black and white? Not necessarily you know this one is de saturated a bit and they were taken the life saturation or the whatever what's another one someone semi saturation I can't remember the sliders name on there, so they have taken it down. This isn't full blown color here it might work in black and white, but I'm thinking maybe the nose might get too bright then in black and white and become the white stripe where we're talking about the dark strike before and this hand the one that's square in the glove actually, that was the one element in this photograph that I felt was they kind of dropped the ball a little bit because her hand is there obviously for a reason to kind of you know, to put it up higher here and such but I feel like they just kind of they let everything else and then they just is there I don't feel that there's like I'd love to have seen some sort of sliver of light on that hand right unless this was an ad for that glove with those silver fingertips on it but then it's not shown enough right? Yeah I thought that was an airing I did too until just now when I really there's no other hearing and it's in front of you what does that tell you way see that's where and that's that's how important lighting is because you know if that were you know an advertisement for those fingertips or something whatever the case there should we should be able to see and identify what it is you could say now that they're her index finger is actually going up yeah yeah any other questions about the lighting segment right? I was curious about when during a uh competitions how specific does the lighting competition get like natural light and and studio light? Do they separate that out? Our our images all judged on just in the competitions that I've judged and I've been a judge at v p I for many years they don't separate it into lighting they separate into categories like like portrait illustrative commercial and so forth and then lighting is a component within those elements so some of them you would be judged either you know it'll either go in your favor because of the way you lived the image or it'll go in your it'll go and you're just a disfavor depending on that lighting is really important thing for us to master that's. One of the things that separates us from an amateur is that we understand how to control the light and how to tell an effective story with the light and even a photojournalist can still take even though they're photographing their subject unaware lighting still is an important element and knowing where their camera position needs to be in relation to that light, I mean, you can take the most amazing pictures of a mother of the bride with her beautiful daughter, but she's in shadow or she's completely flat lit and you're there you're made the lights all over the brides back and you don't see anything or you can change the mood of that by moving your camera position so that maybe you see just the room light on the mom's face. So you want to think about, you know, think about the way that a photograph is lit and the way that you're going to capture and tell that story. One of the things I do when I shoot weddings is the first thing I do when I walk in the room is I start walking around the room to identify where my spot's gonna be, where am I gonna photograph from what is the best angle for me? In relation to the camera position in relation to the subject so let's say the brides getting dressed so she may be getting dressed like she would probably be facing the light source just like this now I have a couple of options I could photograph this end but guess what's gonna happen I'm gonna have that makeup artist right in my pictures or I might be able to tell a better story by moving my camera position either to the left and photographing this way or from the right you know, photographing into the right side this way so it really depends on the story that you're telling and on the way that you wanted to be if I'm doing bridal portrait on the other hand from photographing the bride in her mom then I'm going to tell you I want to be flat lining if I can because flat light is very flattering to mom she's the one who's going to need to fill in those cracks. If I'm working with just the bride and there's your main light, then you could just turn the bride a little bit and let that light skim across her and then show detail on the dress thank you for her body, some cleavage and some shape yeah flat lighting I mean we're all taught on camera flashes right up at the camera don't do it but a big light above the camera all of a sudden changes that it's it's not kick the flat that's not being on camera access that's bad it's being small and hard just casting all these shadows air not casting any shadows but if you get the soft light above it is baby said turn the body a little away from the light face back into the late chin, out on down you know one of the other things you can do with a small light source like your little like I used the nike honest bee ninety eight oh yeah that's a very small light source and if I turn that light source of I'm photographing you kathy on die turn that light stars towards your face I'm going to get very hard shadows because it's a little bitty light source. However, if I take that flash and I turn it towards this wall behind me, guess what? I've all of a sudden taken that little tiny light source and turned it into a giant enormous light source so that's the way that I generally would like to put her I like to have that light a little bit crossing the body and I like big life sources, so I start looking around room for light colored walls like that big brick wall would be like seriously crazy fantasize bounce to the side bounce behind you to any people put the the bounce up in the ceilings either too high and doesn't ever come back. Or if the ceiling is low, you get this light that just lights a top of the head. And then the shadows shadows the eyes because of the eyebrow relies on general rule. When the light is mme, or in front of the subject, the biggest the source it has to be. But if your side lighting and you can get away with more, hide, hard light. So the maurine front it is. Try to get the biggest light source possible and it's going to be very pleasing.