January 2008 Tech

As one year passes on to make way for another, I want to thank you for the words of encouragement and beneficial advice offered to me in 2006.  I sincerely wish that 2007 brings you good health and success in all that you do.

IMPACT, to stop the eye and set the mood. This should be the goal of any glamour image, or actually any image!  As photographers we  need to use the visual sense of the viewer to get their imagination rolling. This could be for a product shot to create a must have feeling, or in a fashion or glamour image to start the “I can look like that”.  My belief is the more thought provoking the image the more powerful the capture.

The goal was to create an image that would raise the question of … before, or after the seduction. I also wanted to direct the viewer towards the subjects face. So with that in mind lets get started.

Since a viewers eye will go to the lightest part of a picture first I decided to use a grid to light the face. I had Rebecca get in place and positioned the light so that just her face was illuminated. So far so good BUT the rest of the image would be black because of the way a grid concentrates the light.  Time to fill light the shot.

I placed a 36x48 Chimer Soft box directly behind the light head with the grid. The reason for the is that both lights are on an identical axis and position. The Soft Box fill will envelope the grid light and blend well.  Now time to meter the shot.

I assumed that the soft box would fill the image evenly so my concern was to make sure the darker area would stay just on the edge of detail and that the highlights would not wash out.  I took the first meter reading at Rebecca’s face and that would be my setting. Next I took a readings at the chest, elbow closest to the camera, her hip and knees. I lucked out and the power setting I selected for the soft box was 3 stops less than the face.

All I did from there was let Rebecca work, create the character in her head, shoot and shut up. When a good model starts to work they may not say what is going through their mind to build the character but their expression and body will speak volumes. Don’t break the mood.

I finished the image with a light Diffuse Glow using CS3 Photoshoop

See nothing to it. See you next Month in the Online Studio and may you always

Chase your dreams not you competition, Jack Cutler”

Lens: Sigma 17-35 Zoom Meter: Minolta Auto Spot

Flash: Calumet Elite 2400 with 2 heads, output 400 ws & 40 degree grid on 7 inch reflector main and 100 ws fill with a 36x48 Chimera Soft Box.