Something Different From Me

Landscapes are my thing. Always have been, but sometimes I like to do something different and last night was one of those times. I’m a member of my local Camera Club and each week we do something different. Last night it was portraits using a studio set-up.

For me, who’s used to working outside, being in a low-lit dark room and getting up close and personal with a complete stranger is not my idea of  photography. But I treat it as something new to learn.

My portraits are more about me than they are about the people I photograph. 

Richard Avedon

We had two studio set-ups in the club. One using flash and another with just a side light and reflector. To get decent photographs I had to change my camera settings from what I would normally use for a landscape photograph. I understand how to use my camera and I know the basics of portrait photography, regarding shutter speed, white balance, aperture, etc, but it was good to have a a professional photographer on hand to give advice.

Without knowing the basics, one cannot get a good image. Basic is nothing but understanding the camera settings, its possibilities and limitations.

Lakshman Iyer

So lets get on with the photographs. I should say before hand that neither of our subjects are professional models. First up is Katie, this was taken with the flash studio set-up.

Studio session with Katie at Prestatyn Camera Club

I took several more of Katie but they were all pretty much the same. This is down to my lack of knowledge of portrait photography.

In the other set-up Toni was being lit from her right hand side with a silver reflector on her left. Here, the pro photographer was giving some advice about props and posing, so I think I done a lot better here

Studio session with Toni at Prestatyn Camera Club

Initially I took some photographs with Toni having no props and to be honest they were pretty boring. Then we added as simple scarf and the results you can see above and below. In the photograph below I got much closer to Toni. I also changed my camera setting to spot metering and moved the reflector to light Toni’s face more. Her eyes are stunning and personally I prefer the photograph below

Studio session with Toni at Prestatyn Camera Club

Change of prop, we gave Toni a coat with a hood and I think these are my two best photographs from the evening

Studio session with Toni at Prestatyn Camera Club

Final photograph, playing around with some led lights. The idea was to put the lights close to the camera but focus on Toni’s eyes. That way the lights would be blurred and Toni would be perfectly sharp.

Studio session with Toni at Prestatyn Camera Club

That’s it I hope you enjoyed the photographs. I know I enjoyed the night. Now I must remember to put my camera back to my usual settings for landscape photography.