Case study 05

DPI 2 case study

studio lighting basics


Step 1: Setting Up the Still Life

1. Create a random moment in time – arrange objects and forms which make sense together. Then think about how light and shadow will play a role in the still life.

2. Elements & Principles of Design – think about color, shape/form, texture and the other elements. How will you create Unity, Harmony, Variety and Emphasis? Arrange objects with elemental characteristics which accomplish the higher principles of design.

3. Space – use space specifically. Negative space is as important as positive space. Have objects overlap and show distance in space by arranging objects in front of one another. Avoid objects “kissing” one another.

4. Line and Pattern – create visual interest using leading lines, perspective lines and patterns. If your objects do not inherently show this, then allude to it.

http://0.tqn.com/d/painting/1/0/2/C/2/Still-Life-setup-lighting.jpg


Step 2: Still Life Composition

1. Levels, Height & Space – use vertical space and horizontal space. Some of the strongest compositions are based on the triangle. Have your focal point rise towards the top while your heavy, larger and more cumbersome objects should sit at the base.

2. Open & Closed - Decide between an open or closed composition. Closed compositions have all elements completely contained by your frame, whereas open compositions have items extending outside the visual panel. Both have their strengths.

3. Symmetry – A perfectly symmetrical composition often looks forced. Although asymmetrical still lifes can look uncomfortable. Think about balance – is one side too heavy or have too many objects? Find a middle ground between symmetry and asymmetry.

4. Rhythm – lines and objects should lead the eye. Create a rhythm in your still life by repeating various elements within the composition. The eye will automatically locate and move to each instance within the piece where shapes, colors and patterns are intentionally repeated.


Step 3: Setting Up the Scene

1. Simple Backdrop – Wrinkles and ridges in a still life photograph – unless a part of the setting – will be distracting to your main subject. Be vigilant about keeping your backdrops smooth and simple.

2. Vary your Lights – to create contrast, it is important to use different types of lights and different directional lights. The main light should be strongest, and the second light should simply provide a nice fill. Also, use side lighting, underlighting and overlighting to enhance the mood.

3. Use Angles – lighting from varying angles is only half the battle. We see life 3 dimensionally. For this reason, the most dynamic photographs are the ones in which the audience could walk into the scene, or reach out and touch the subject. Also think about perspectives - a photo is most interesting when you give a new perspective to something that is ordinary.


Step 4: Positioning the Lights

1. Light Setup: Key Light – The key light is the most important light. In a two-light set up the key light is generally placed above the camera and at about 45° angle to the subject. For flatter, less directional lighting, you might want to place it above and directly behind you camera, with a diffusing filter in front of the light.

2. Light Setup: Fill Light(s) - The fill light is placed opposite the key light to soften the shadows. Either the positioning of the light or the relative wattage of the two lights can be used to make the intensity of your fill light less than that of your key light.

3. Light Setup: Additional Lights - Your third light can be uses in a number of ways. It can be used to increase highlights. It can also be used as a background light, to separate subject from the background. Try this effect when shooting on a small set, to add the illusion of more space. Aimed directly on the background, you can brighten your shot, add separation between the subject and the background, or use color effects gels on your background light to create any color background you like.


Useful Hints & Tips

1. The Flash – a camera’s flash is a useful burst of light. The flash built in most cameras today are fine for quick snapshots from 3 to about 10 feet away. This built in flash gives good (not great) results. The problem with the flash alone is that the image will appear flat. Studio lighting helps counteract this issue.

2. Textures - If your subject has a rough texture you want to show, set the main light off to the side more. This will create shadows along the edges of the texture and enhance the lines.

3. Glass - Clear glassware works best if the main light is coming from behind subject. This emphasizes the shape and defines the object so that it does not blend into the background.

4. Backgrounds - White, gray or blue backgrounds work well with most subjects. Remember, simple is key!

5. Details & Small Objects - A silver reflector or mirror is helpful for showing more detail on small objects.

6. Shadows – to soften shadows position lights closer to the object. To increase shadows place small directional lights around the object. Or one or two very strong lights from above and below.

Key light = flash Fill light = box light and Reflector

Key light = flash Fill light = box light Umbrella (reflector)

Key light = flash Fill light = box light Umbrella (reflector) Back light = small light or slave


Case Study

Unlike a tutorial or step-by-step walk through, a Case Study presents a different sort of challenge to the student-artist. You are given the final outcome and asked to develop steps in order to recreate that outcome. For instance, you are given an image and you will have to try and figure out how you can make a copy or mimic this image. This is a great way to challenge your skills and force you to think about steps and procedures (instead of just winging it!). Good luck!

1. Create an image showcasing backlighting

2. Create an image showcasing overlighting

3. Create an image showcasing directional lighting and multi-directional lighting

4. Create a silhouette

5. Create an image showcasing the rules and methods for creating a still life

6. Create an image showcasing form, shape, vertical/horizontal space, positive & negative space and the interplay between lighting and shadows

7. Create an image showcasing texture

8. Create an image showcasing perspective, linear qualities and a sense of “entering the image”

DPI 2 case study

portrait lighting


Step 1: Lighting the Model

1. Light the Background/Backdrop first

2. Aim the light at the backdrop behind the model

3. Overlight the hair from above and behind the model

4. Use a softbox to diffuse some of the light

5. Use a “kicker light” (also known as the accent light) to highlight the opposite areas highlighted by the main light or key light(s)

6. Use the main light to add dramatic shadows and highlights to the subject

7. Aim this light to flatter the model’s natural beauty

8. Use a fill light to soften shadows, soften hard edges and control negative space

9. Setup all five lights together so that the model is completely lit


Step 2: Posing the Model

1. the ¾ turn

2. 45º angle head-tilt

3. projecting the chin out toward the camera

4. using a slightly higher camera position

5. avoid “football shoulders” by having the subject turn to a 45 ⁰ angle

6. have the subject sit tall – no slouching!

7. never tip a man’s head to the high (feminine) shoulder as he will look feminine

8. women's heads can be tipped toward either shoulder, but the feminine shoulder is more appealing

9. make the pose look natural

10. the legs are almost parallel to the camera plane

11. the shoulders are nearly perpendicular to the camera plane and are turned at a 45º angle

12. the head (and therefore the face) are at an angle slightly off of the shoulder, pointed to the camera left

what not to do what to do


Step 3: Cropping & Photoshop

1. shooting portraits from a distance will increase your depth-of-field and blur out the background (also can be achieved in Photoshop)

2. when cropping an image, there are several things to keep in mind: a) crop above or below joints to avoid “amputated limbs,” b) leave some background to avoid “claustrophobic pictures” and c) do not crop tops of heads

3. Photoshop Touchup Checklist:

• Blemishes • Wrinkles • Stray hairs (fly-aways)• Odd shadows or hard shadows• Color tones • Hair color • Levels• Brightness/Contrast• Hue/Saturation • Softness• Lighting/Highlights


Photoshop Tutorials“Compositing Exposures”

1. Open a photograph in Photoshop 2. duplicate the layer twice and rename the layers in

from top to bottom: COLOR | BLACK AND WHITE | ORIGINAL

3. turn off the COLOR layer and edit the BLACK AND WHITE layer using: Black and White, Levels, Curves, Bright/Cont

4. duplicate this layer and rename it EXPOSURE 15. IMAGE ADJUSTMENTS EXPOSURE, adjust the

sliders to create an underexposed, dark image 6. then use the ERASER on a SOFT ROUND brush and

erase all of the highlights (bringing them back)7. repeat steps 4 – 6, but duplicate the BLACK AND

WHITE layer and instead of a dark exposure, make a bright overexposed version

8. MERGE all three black and white layers (B&W, EXP 1, EXP 2) rename this BLACK AND WHITE

9. IMAGE ADJUSTMENTS GRADIENT MAP, use a BLACK to WHITE map

10. turn the COLOR layer back on change the BLENDING MODE to COLOR

11. IMAGE ADJUSTMENTS use the color adjusters: COLOR BALANCE, HUE/SAT, PHOTO FILTER etc.

12. Drag your ORIGINAL LAYER to the top13. Experiment with BLENDING LAYERS and OPACITY

(this brings back any details you may have lost in the editing process)

14. FLATTEN the IMAGE 15. SELECT ALL EDIT COPY (CTRL+A then CTRL + C)16. UNDO or use the HISTORY to go back to the step

right before flattening then EDIT PASTE (CTRL+V)17. Rename LAYER 1 EDITS | Change LAYER OPACITY

to 65%18. FILTER BLUR GAUSSIAN BLUR (to taste)19. Use a SOFT ROUND ERASER and erase in details,

highlights or any areas of importance20. Then CROP your image


Photoshop Tutorials“Blemish & Wrinkle Fixer”

1. Open an image that needs “touch-ups” 2. Enter QUICK MASK MODE3. Using a DROPSHADOW BRUSH (I prefer

the seventh brush down) paint over each of the blemishes you would like to fix – this will also work for wrinkles, moles and other imperfections

4. Be sure to use DIFFERENT sized BRUSHES for those LARGER areas that need correction

5. FILTER BLUR GAUSSIAN BLUR, use anywhere between 3 and 5

6. EXIT QUICK MASK MODE7. On the TOOLBAR find the “band-aid

icon” which represents the HEALING BRUSH

8. HOVER over an area of skin that is not a highlight or a shadow and has no blemishes – ALT-CLICK with the mouse

9. Then “paint” over any area the GAUSSIAN BLUR tool didn’t fix

10. Use a combination of the two methods to select areas that can use color correction – IMAGE ADJUSTMENTS COLOR BALANCE or while on the LAYER click the “half circle icon” at the bottom of the menu, this creates a FILL ADJUSTMENT LAYER over your current selected LAYER


Photoshop Tutorials“Magazine Edits – Part 1”

1. Open an image that needs “touch-ups” 2. SELECT ALL EDIT CUT, EDIT PASTE3. Then: LAYER LAYER STYLE COLOR OVERLAY SOFT

LIGHT Color 7f5747 4. CLEAR LAYER STYLE5. Turn the DUPLICATE layer back on. Using a DROP

SHADOW ERASER, erase all of the flesh tones on this DUPLICATE LAYER. The person should get an instant “tan.”

• Using Magazine Airbrushing: Magazine Photo Editors often use a technique called airbrushing to alter and improve a “model’s look.” There are many ethical dilemmas when it comes to such edits. However, learning how to do it will help you edit your images.

• For the most part, airbrushing is similar to Photochrome. Here are the steps:

1. Create a NEW BLANK LAYER 2. Use a SOFT/BLURRY PAINTBRUSH at a LOW

OPACITY (30% or so)3. PAINT over areas you would like to alter 4. Use a SOFT/BLURRY ERASER at a LOW OPACITY

to clean up areas that were not precise 5. Areas most often airbrushed:

• Cheekbones and forehead• Hair color (tinting) • Eye color (enhancing)• Lips or other areas that might need

makeup touchups


Photoshop Tutorials“Magazine Edits – Part 2”

6. Here’s a trick that comes in handy: LAYER FLATTEN IMAGE, SELECT SELECT ALL, EDIT COPY.• This trick will allow you to have a flatten image

which is easier to edit, yet keep your layers in case you want to go back or you make a mistake.

7. Then go to your HISTORY and undo the last few steps so that all your layers return. Create a NEW FOLDER and place all of your LAYERS in the FOLDER. And turn the FOLDER off. Then EDIT PASTE.

8. QUICK MASK the hair 9. EXIT QUICK MASK and SELECT INVERSE 10. COPY & PASTE11. FILTER SHARPEN UNSHARP MASK 160 30 1012. MERGE the HAIR LAYER with the FLATTENED LAYER13. IMAGE ADJUSTMENTS CURVES. Drag the top

corner down and the left corner to the right (clipping the edges). Then bend the middle to create slopes. This should create some dramatic lighting effects.

14. DUPLICATE LAYER: FILTER GAUSSIAN BLUR 5. 15. LAYER MODE MULTIPLY, LAYER OPACITY 45%16. DUPLICATE your FLATTENED LAYER: IMAGE

ADJUSTMENTS DESATURATE: LAYER MODE OVERLAY. LAYER OPACITY 25%.

17. Use a DROP SHADOW eraser to remove some of the blurriness on these two new duplicated layers.

18. LAYER FLATTEN IMAGE19. Adjust colors, levels, brightness and contrast to taste


Photoshop Tutorials“Lomo Effect”

1. Use the FLATTEN/COPY trick from STEP 29 & STEP 30.

2. Click on the CREATE NEW ADJUSTMENT LAYER (the half black/white circle at the bottom of the LAYER MENU)

3. Click on LEVELS PULL DOWN MENU RED 39 1.00 223

4. PULL DOWN MENU GREEN 26 1.00 232

5. NEW LAYER6. FILL BUCKET WHITE. FILTER RENDER

LIGHTING EFFECTS have the directional light come from the top and the shadows on the edge

7. FILTER BLUR GAUSSIAN BLUR 208. LAYER MODE MULTIPLY


Photoshop Tutorials“Retouching – Part 1”

1. Open the Image Provided for you labeled

2. Follow the BLEMSIH & WRINKLE REMOVAL TUTORIAL • Use this to trim the eyebrows at

the end and in between, remove blemishes and moles, remove the bags under his eyes, and the wrinkles from his nose to his lips

3. DUPLICATE layer 4. CTRL-T or EDIT TRANSFORM SCALE

and shrink the image about 80% - 75% (so that it is in the center)

5. On the bottom of the LAYERS WINDOW find the VECTOR MASK (this looks like QUICK MASK and is a circle inside a rectangle) • This tool works sort of like a

mask and an eraser and uses the PAINTBRUSH

• When the BRUSH is set to BLACK it erases

• When it is set to WHITE it brings back what was erased

6. Use the VECTOR MASK to isolate the hair so everything else is erased

7. Move the hair so that it covers up the model’s receding hairline

8. Use our FLATTEN IMAGE trick by FLATTENING the IMAGE, COPYING, UNDOING the FLATTEN, and PASTING

9. To remove the fly-aways and trim up the hair, use the POLYGONAL LASSO TOOL to select a portion of the background


Photoshop Tutorials“Retouching – Part 2”

10. COPY & PASTE this “chunk” of the blurry background

11. Use the MOVE TOOL to slide it over the top curl/cowlick and use EDIT TRANSFORM to ROTATE if you need to

12. Then use a SOFT/BLURRY ERASER with a LOW OPACITY and begin blending the “chunk of background”

13. Repeat STEPS 10 – 12 until you have covered all of the fly-aways

14. MERGE all of your COPY LAYERS to the FLATTENED LAYER

15. FILTER LIQUIFY • Use LIQUIFY to “push and pull”

portions of the image • This is an easy way to enlarge,

shrink, taper and smooth areas of the face and form

• The trick is to use a LARGE BRUSH and click SLOWLY

• You can use this to bring in the model’s jaw, smooth out his hair, and thin his face

• You can also use it to widen his smile, and open his eyes more

16. Once you are satisfied with the retouching of the model’s face edit this photo for quality. Use:• Brightness/Contrast• Levels & Curves • Hue/Saturation• Color Balance • Photo Filter • Channel Mixer

BEFORE AFTER


Photoshop Tutorials“The Super-Enhanced Portrait”

1. Annie Leibovitz is known for her super-saturated, enhanced imagery. To create this effect, start by opening a portrait image.

2. Use the ADJUSTMENTS LAYERS to edit this image. Remember the ADJUSTMENTS LAYER can be found in the bottom of the LAYER MENU and look like

3. Edit this image with the standard adjustments: • Brightness/Contrast• Levels & Curves • Hue/Saturation• Color Balance • Photo Filter • Channel Mixer

4. REMEMBER, you can use the BLACK/WHITE BRUSH to alter the adjustments just like in VECTOR MASK

5. Create a NEW GROUP and place all of your ADJUSTMENT LAYERS in the GROUP make sure to place them in the same order

6. Use our FLATTEN IMAGE trick, by FLATTENING the IMAGE, COPY, UNDO FLATTEN, and PASTE

7. DUPLICATE LAYER 8. FILTER BLUR GAUSSIAN BLUR and

blur so you barely see the facial features or hair detail

9. LAYER BLENDING MODE MULTIPLY10. Use a SOFT ERASER and erase parts

that are too blurry (eyes, hair etc.)

BEFORE

AFTER


Case Study

Unlike a tutorial or step-by-step walk through, a Case Study presents a different sort of challenge to the student-artist. You are given the final outcome and asked to develop steps in order to recreate that outcome. For instance, you are given an image and you will have to try and figure out how you can make a copy or mimic this image. This is a great way to challenge your skills and force you to think about steps and procedures (instead of just winging it!). Good luck!

Complete 10 Studio Portraits, each one must:

• use studio lighting with a two-light or three-light system minimum

• be posed using the guidelines concerning head tilt, torso and leg positioning, angles and perspective, and composition rules

• edited in photoshop for levels, color, contrast, and blemish removal

• edited in photoshop for magazine quality images and cropped accordingly

Create these portraits:

1. Posed Male Model - use a male model for this image

2. Posed Female Model - use a female model for this image

3. Posed Group Shot - use at least two or more people

4. Headshot and Upper Body ONLY

5. FULL BODY Sitting

6. FULL BODY Standing

7. FULL BODY Laying Down

Business

Case study 05