Painting a portrait

Experimenting with Black and white can add a different feel to your photographs. This shot combines accessories to 'paint' in additional features of interest. Taken at 1/200 sec f8 and ISO64 against a black studio backdrop with subtle softbox lighting.

Shadow to create mood

Taking the opportunity to experiment with black and white in post processing can be fun and is simple to do with the likes of Lightroom but as you can see from this shot that was originally red as seen from this project, the black and white really does add a different mood to the shot.

Accessorise your shots

This next shot was part of the same photo shoot as the first in this project. My daughter is a competitive swimmer and wanted to capture a shot of her in her swimming hoodie and goggles. The close crop, expressionless pose with these accessories makes the shot speak of concentration, the athlete in the zone!

This shot was taken at 1/250 sec f7.1 and ISO64 with a softbox from the left of the camera.

A little bamboo for that Amazonian feel

My final shot in this project is trying to create that Amazonian feel, this shot was taken in the garden with the bamboo leaves framing my daughters face, she had wet hair from an earlier shot in the hot tub (I may post that in another project). Taken at 1/250 sec f1.8 and ISO64, I really like this shot, particularly in black and white as it complements the serious facial expression.

Getting ready to race!

The combinations in the following shots are aimed at creating a mood, or telling a story. This first shot is trying to convey the intense concentration, nothing is going to distract this swimmer from her goal of winning! Taken at 1/250 F7.1 at ISO64

Combining Black and White with colour!

The combination of black and white with a painted in colour using the training edge of the paint brush to give the effect of the subject painting colour onto her face gives an interesting arty type feel to this shot. Of course some photoshop skills are needed to recreate this image, but the effect is fairly simple to achieve. Two copies of the same shot, one in black and white, one in colour and simply overlay in photoshop and mask out the areas where you want the colour layer to show through.

Combining colour and wonder

This next shot was trying to create a feeling of wonder. The combination of the dark background, thoughtful pose and the blue light reflected on her hair creates a really interesting and thoughtful shot.

This shot was taken at 1/200 sec f8 and ISO64 with two studio strobes, one with a blue gel.

How it was done

I thought that it would be worth sharing my set up for these shots, as you can see I'm using a shoot through umbrella to cast an even diffuse light on the left and a reflecting umbrella, in the previous shot, with a blue gel and all set against a black backdrop. A little Heath Robinson I know, but it works.

A few extras from the shoot

The last couple of shots show how you can also have a little fun, combining blankets and in this case a heart shape and in the second shot, using water and flash to create bright eyes set in a dark watery pool. This one could probably do with a little photoshop work to get rid of the over exposed areas but you get the idea. And this proves that not every picture works out!