Last night we had our first portrait shoot at the camera club since 2019, some of the members forgot how to use their light setups from being so out of practice. For me it was quite difficult to be there because this time the room was a lot smaller and it was very crammed in there, my anxiety was getting a bit high and I didn't "get in there" as it made me feel very uncomfortable, so I ended up taking opportunities wherever I could, I didn't make a lot of pictures and fewer keepers still. I also did have any control for the lights (most of the lights were set up for Canon and Nikon DSLRs) so I had to work with whatever ambient light I could get.
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We had a very cute couple but it was difficult to get enough DoF for both of them with limited light and limited angles, this was the only decent picture I could get.
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The only other model we had was a professional model and very popular with the crowed, we had almost a lineup of photographers to make pictures of her.
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I wish I didn't clip the tip of the guitar but I am quite happy with this one.
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I wasn't sure about this one, I don't think I got the right angle for her nose, maybe I should have been a step more to the right, I still have a long road ahead of me when it comes to portraits of people.
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I am on the fence with this one as well because her attention is so obvious on the opposite side.
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I like this one a bit more because she looks more attentive with playing with the guitar, though she was just pretending of course.
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This one is probably my favourite of the entire evening, though the light is not very ideal, the shadow on the left side of the face (apparently the ones who set up the lights left the right one twice as bright as the left side).
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I missed most of the "action" shots on the black backdrop, a few jumps and a few poses, but I did get 2 last shots. This setup was made with strobbing flash only so I had only ambient light so my ISO was high as a kite.
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I tried to get that backdrop into the shadows to see if it was to distracting but I could only do that in post, not sure if it was a good idea.
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Towards the end of the session I asked her if I could make a few pictures of her eyes, she has very beautiful green eyes with rusty orange on the inside. I forgot how difficult it is to focus on the right spot on the eye, especially hand held with one hand (I had a small LED light on my left hand). This was at 1:1 macro with my Laowa 60mm f 2.8.
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This was as close as I could physically get, at 1.5 to 1, and note to self: need to replace this lens with a longer one for this kind of subject because I was so close to her I couldn't get the light in very well and I was casting a shadow from them lens on 1/3rd of the image. I need more working distance.
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One of our longest acting member of the camera club (joined in 1984 I think, one year after the camera club being created) and his trusty old Taz, I very cuddly little furrball.
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I wanted a B&W one but with something a bit more different to the image, a High Key, so I pushed the highlights and the white as far as it would go. I am white happy with it to be honest.
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Taz is such a good boy for posing for us and he was quite popular with the members as well. I cropped in the image because I like how the hand and the lead in the back adds to the story.
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And a B&W version with a bit more of the owner to add a bit more context. I am very happy with this picture and I am thinking of getting a print of it because it makes me smile every time I look at it.
What I've learned is that I have a looooooong road ahead of me to learn about lights, working with models, thinking of composition, posture and angles but it's difficult since I don't have a studio setup or space for it (unless I want to give up on having a living room, which I may have to do in a few years). I will try to practice outdoors instead ... If the UK weather lets me of course ... "Pray to the urinating cloud"