Use Effective Size For Soft Contrast Portraits | Mark Wallace | Exploring Photography
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- čas přidán 29. 06. 2024
- Mark Wallace explains the Effective Size of light and then applies the principles. Mark shoots some high-contrast soft-light portraits with a giant octobox. This is a great episode to watch and get some new ideas for your next shoot.
Model: Destany
/ destany_savannah
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✘ PRODUCTS USED:
Elinchrom 69" Rotalux Octabox
www.adorama.com/el26649.html
Elinchrom Rotagrid for 69" Rotalux Octabox
www.adorama.com/el26780.html
Elinchrom 27.5" Rotalux Deep Octabox
www.adorama.com/el26650.html
Tether Tools TetherGuard LeverLock Plate
www.adorama.com/tttgllp.html
Tether Tools Pro Tethering Kit with Tether Table Aero Master, LAJO-4 ProBracket, Aero ProPad and Aero Cup Holder
www.adorama.com/ttptkmstr.html
Elinchrom Rotagrid for 27.5" Rotalux Deep Octabox
www.adorama.com/el26781.html
Sekonic Speedmaster L-858D-U Light Meter
www.adorama.com/skl858du.html
Canon EOS R5 Full-Frame Mirrorless Camera
www.adorama.com/car5k1e.html
Canon RF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM Lens
www.adorama.com/car241054ak.html
Canon RF 70-200mm f/2.8 L IS USM Lens
www.adorama.com/car7020028.html
Canon BG-R10 Battery Grip for R5
www.adorama.com/icabgr10.html
Elinchrom ELC 500/500 Dual Kit
www.adorama.com/el207372us.html
Elinchrom 24x31.5" Rotalux Rectabox
www.adorama.com/el26640.html
Elinchrom Skyport Transmitter Plus HS - Version Flash Transmitter
www.adorama.com/rlhsstxc.html
Matthews Hollywood Baby Jr. Triple Riser Stand
www.adorama.com/mth386020.html
Sekonic RT-EL/PX Elinchrom & Phottix Transmitter Module for L-858D-U Speedmaster Light Meter
www.adorama.com/skrtelpx.html
Sekonic RT-GX Flashpoint and Godox Transmitter Module for L-858D-U SPEEDMASTER Light Meter
www.adorama.com/sk401628.html
Sekonic RT-BR Broncolor Transmitter Module for L-858D-U SPEEDMASTER Light Meter
www.adorama.com/sk401629.html
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/ jmarkwallace
/ jmarkwallace
/ jmarkwallace
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MORE ABOUT MARK
Mark's Travels: www.markonabike.com/
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BOOKMARKS
0:00 Introduction
0:36 The Qualities of Light (animation)
3:14 Two Octoboxes compared
4:07 A look at the setup
4:38 Setting up a high contrast soft light (small)
6:30 Using a very large octobox for more options
9:30 Using a window screen as wardrobe
10:12 A high contrast soft light photoshoot
11:28 Final Images
11:52 Closing thoughts and more info - Jak na to + styl
Loved those last shots!!! I feel the need to go to the nearest Home Depot and get that window screen right now!!!
go get it!! Get the biggest screen for more options. I want to see what you create!
Mark is channeling Gavin Hoey when he introduces his models.
hahahahaha. I've spent too much time around Gavin, it's starting to show
You're an awesome teacher Mark,I've learned so much from you over the years. Thank You!
I appreciate that!
That animation cracked me up good 😅 Great explanation of a concept. Beautiful model and shots. Thanks for sharing
Damn good job with the larger softbox! Really loved the look
we love you Mark! Thank you for sharing your knowledge with us
I appreciate that!
I learned lighting from a master, Monte Zucker, as his apprentice in 1972. His reputation was built in the early days of color wedding photography in the late 1960s by deciding to use light from a north facing widow for all his posed portraits using a Reflectasol silver reflector for fill and innovating the use of two electronic flashes in an overlapping key over CENTERED fill to control SCENE RANGE and fit it to the limited range of color print paper which is very similar to the range of digital sensors.
I had gotten the job with Monte because I’d learned and master the Adams Zone system with B&W which is based on fitting scene contrast, sunny or overcast, to the range of #2 print paper by altering development time of the negative [affecting highlight density] according to the EV range of the scene to always fit the #2 paper.
What I realized Monte was doing with his key over CENTERED fill lighting strategy was similar to Ansel Adams except he was using the flash to make the SCENE RANGE AT SUBJECT DISTANCE match the fixed range of color prints and the same strategy needs to be used with digital camera to record a full range of tone and detail similar to what is seen by eye.
What amazed me about Monte’s flash technique using two bare flashes was how ‘soft’ the lighting looked. Being an INTP wanting to know WHY my brain was seeing HARD light as being SOFT. The answer was the centered fill which falls off front-to-back on faces according to the inverse-square law which decreased the intensity by 1/4 or two f/stops each time the distance from the light is doubled.
You can see this cause and effect buy using a “butterfly / paramount” lighting strategy where both key light and fill are kept centered vertically on the camera axis. This is the most commonly used lighting strategy for full face photos of models who have PERFECTLY SYMMETRICAL NARROW HEADS which that symmetrical lighting pattern complements. If the face is very close to the lights the rapid inverse-square fall-off makes the shadows get very dark very close to the highlighted front of the face. But if the same centered strategy is used but the model’s face is 10-15’ feet from the lights the GRADIENT of the highlight-shadow transitions front-to-back will be buttery smooth!
I realized the reason window light produces such smooth gradient isn’t just the fact the light is diffuse but because the atmosphere the light is bouncing off of is much further away that you can put an artificial source.
What Monte used as a baseline for shooting with bare reflector single power flash was a shooting distance of 11feet. Then with a bracketed exposure test you find out what f/stop will produce SHADOW DETAIL with only the fill directly over the camera lens.
Then the ‘key’ light is added 45° to the side of the nose (wherever it is pointing) and high enough to keep the brow from shading it from the eyes and causing the shadow from the nose to fall over but not beyond the top of the nostril on the shadow side modeling the 3D shape of the nose perfectly with shadow and SPECULAR HIGHLIGHT clues the brain uses to SUBCONSCIOUSLY discern 3D shape in 2D reproductions.
Monte simply moved the key light in to the subject until the delicate details of the bead work on the brides dress were reproduced exactly as seen by eye with contrast between the white stain and bead and the SPECULAR HIGHLIGHTS ON THEM WHICH PROVIDE THE IMPORTANT CLUES TO 3D Shape!
I had always only focused on the shadows the light sources produced, their tone and the CONTRAST of their transitions front-to-back but I realized that made the use of direct PARALLEL RAY sources (like the sun and direct flash) obvious wasn’t the tone or contrast in the shadows it was the CHARACTER of the specular highlights!
Specular reflections are the reflection of the light source. If the relative size of the source creating the specular reflection is small the specular reflection will also be small and perceived as being HARDER than a larger light source at the same distance, creating the same front-to-back inverse fall off and shadow transition contrast! It is the appearance of the specular highlights flash creates which trigger the brain of the viewer to perceive the lighting as HARD or SOFT or NATURAL or FAKE.
The reason Monte used a bracket which lifted the flash 16-18” above the lens was to hide the shadow from the head directly behind the subject and eliminate ‘red eye’ reflections from the retina, but it also placed the SPECULAR HIGHLIGHTS on the 3D shape of the faces similar to natural downward lighting. That explains why flash in the hot shoe in Portrait mode looks fake. The specular highlights the flash creates on the face are UNNATURALLY low which the viewer of the photo will react to on a subconscious level to the fact it doesn’t match the pattern they are accustomed to seeing in natural lighting.
The takeaway here is that that distance or the flash sources and the angle they come from relative to the face or 3D object affects the PERCEPTION of lighting being SOFT or HARD as much or more than the relative size of the light sources. If you understand how to use FILL DISTANCE to control inverse-square shadow transitions what the apparent size of the sources does is change the perception of the specular highlights as being HARD (small and distinct) or SOFT (large with more gradual transitions).
It is possible to get SOFT looking lighting with HARD (Parallel Light Ray) sources with a combination of distance control and feathering of the source to the subject using the umbra / penumbra cause and effect of how light sources spread which is how photographers back in the days of fresnel lights did it. It is a lost art worth learning.
You should write a book with some photos and illustrations about this stuff. It sounds interesting.
Thanks Mark and Destany. Great tutorial. Love the use of the screen material.
Our pleasure!
i don't like horizontal shadows across the nose. maybe make the sb higher and down a bit. Nice video though. It's been a while since i last your videos Mark.
Yep! I agree about the shadow. We were in a bit of a hurry to finish filming and I didn't even notice till I was editing a few days later. Grrrrr. I totally agree with you.
Thank for the video mark and Destany! Nice explanation and amazing shots.
Glad you enjoyed it!
Excellent Video, Thank You for imparting your knowledge of Photography & Lighting Techniques. I enjoyed the Video, and learnd a lot.
Awesome, thank you!
Another great tutorial Mark
Glad you think so! It was lots of fun
Excelente!! Great!! Interesting outfit idea. Thanks!!
Thank you! 😊
Awesome!! The jewelry on the model looks great.
Thank you! Cheers!
Thank you for sharing ❤
I learned Sooo much from that animation years ago...still relevant today!!! Gracias Maestro Wallace!!!🙏🏽🙏🏽👍🏾💯!!!
Glad it was helpful!
I remember this animation from your Digital Photography 1 on 1 series!!
Great video Mr. Wallace. It's always a pleasure learning from you.. you and Mr Mr hoey have an enthusiasm and spark which is quite infectious ❤
Awesome, thank you!
as always @markwallacevideos nice work 🙏
Thank you!
What a great video. Just want to ask why you didn't you use TTL mode with face exposure priority to save time?
two reasons: 1. TTL mode (even with face priority) just isn't as accurate and 2. not everybody has face priority TTL and I want to make sure the video is useful for as many people as possible. :)
Mark i don’t have a large box would two small ones give the same effect with one on either side of the model? Love all you videos I learn something from each one.
You can stack the softboxes - keep them on the same side if you want the high contrast look. If you put them on opposite sides you'll lower the contrast and have flat images. But stacking softboxes is something I've done for many years, a big light is a big light, even if it's made up of several smaller lights. Or you can use umbrellas, I stacked those in a recent video:
czcams.com/video/HxaS3MVZ6O0/video.htmlsi=dMiX1KIFyj-Y8sj_
Hey mark, thanks for all the videos. I am new to photography and will be mainly doing product shots indoors. I have heard conflicting opinions on if i should get a strobe or constant light. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated . Also since I am new, budget setups would be beneficial .
I have a (very old) video that should help with that. I need to refresh it since there is a lot of new tech now. But, the bottom line - if you are shooting things that move (people, pets, water, etc); get strobes.
czcams.com/video/SBUT8gwwoi8/video.htmlsi=e2GH6OmFHv61om9G
Thanks for sample images of camera and how to use lighting system. This would be great for quarterly updates for E Commerce site.
Thanks!
Mark do you use mechanical shutter or electronic 1st curtain as i get black banding at 1/200 on my R5 using Godox lights?
I use the mechanical shutter. I wonder what the flash duration is on those Godox lights, they might be a bit slow. Hmmmm. It would be interesting to meter the flash duration and see what's happening. czcams.com/video/gmyLHWtyCHM/video.htmlsi=Cnj5rgz4erqILGwL
👏👏👏👏
Thanks, Carlos!
@@MarkWallaceVideos anytime buddy and thank you for showing us how to get better at photography.
You have change my life and made me a better photographer I really appreciate all your hard work my friend.
Thank you for your videos. I have learnt a lot from you.
2/3 of the large octabox is below her eyes. Isn't this a little bit low? I have heard we should avoid uplighting, because that could look a little bit unnatural.
With a modifier this large, it isn't an issue. There's still about two feet of light above her head. That light is wrapping around her, and plenty of light from above is illuminating her face. With a modifier this big, the vertical contrast is almost eliminated; we're focusing on horizontal contrast with this setup. You are absolutely right, though. The position of the light really matters.
@@MarkWallaceVideos Thank you!
Where have you been Mark , are you back in the states?
I've been around. :) czcams.com/users/shiftydrifty
How affective will LED lights used with soft boxes work?
They are great. You won't be able to freeze motion with LED lights, but for portraits, they are great. Here are a couple of videos I've made with LED lights, and I have an entire CreativeLive class that is hours long about constant lights. I highly recommend the CreativeLive class if you're looking to invest in LED lights. It could save you some time and money in the long run. :)
Is Tethered Shooting Worth It? (shot with LED lights)
czcams.com/video/O_-RGeJHSr8/video.htmlsi=3kNGeDGGZaHQRNes
Shooting Portraits with Nanlite Forza LED lights
czcams.com/video/Dw9wXcK1JrU/video.htmlsi=4wmhoIWEWyZEaqTE
My in-depth class on constant light
czcams.com/video/2_lqtTtyyYw/video.html
www.creativelive.com/class/lighting-with-constant-light-mark-wallace
I can never get my black backgrounds to look as black as yours no matter if I use a grid or control bounce from white surfaces with negative fill. What's your secret? Are you doing something on the important side of things as you load into Lightroom?
Make sure you have enough distance from subject to background. Also - check your exposure to make sure you are eliminating all ambient light. If you take a photo without your subject, the frame should be totally black. If not, something is off. I'm assuming you're using strobes.
czcams.com/video/l8RRgA7tQ9o/video.htmlsi=5Xdsuc15xsfluQth
SUPER. SUPER , THE BEST VIDEOS , VERY NICE
நன்றாக இருக்கிறது வாழ்த்துக்கள் ,CHENNAI
-R.MANOHAR(MGR) INDIA,*
Thank you!! I spent a week in Chennai, it's a fun city! Thanks for joining. அடுத்த முறை நான் இந்தியாவிற்கு வரும்போது நாங்கள் சந்தித்து தேநீர் அருந்துவோம்! ஒருவேளை நாம் நகரத்தை சுற்றி ஒரு புகைப்பட நடை செய்யலாம்.
I think you could have achieved the same result with the small octabox if you had removed the grid as you get with the large one, maybe even better results with softer shadows.
I did a video with that exact setup 7 years ago: czcams.com/video/gn1rnKk1fHw/video.htmlsi=nOIYWPstz8-AvLWl
The grid Knocks down the levels , but has no effect on the "softness"
@@robinprobyn1971 It does reduce softness, but it will also create a gradient in the shadows that can add to perceived softness when it's positioned asymmetrically like in this video.
@@olindamedia how does it make the image softer , you can only achieve that by making the source bigger in relation to the subject , there is no other way , thats science .
@@robinprobyn1971
Next time you are in a studio walk to the other side of the room and look at the grid, you'll likely be able to see almost all of the diffusion beneath it. Now walk towards it until your face is only a few inches from the grid - You'll find you can only see the diffusion beneath the grid directly in front of you. As you turn your head to look across the surface of the softbox the grid will obscure more and more of it as the angle between you and the softbox narrows from perpendicular. This effect reduces the effective size of the source the closer you are to it but also creates a gradient falloff that has it's own quality.