Using Gobos to create "New Spaces" in your studio

This technique covered over at DIYphotography is one I’ve been exploring a lot lately. It’s actually how I set up this shot, from about a year ago:

copyright 2013 * Tim Lewis Photography

It’s fun, but hard to do well with speedlights. I’d recommend either continuous lights or something with a modeling lamp in it if you want to explore this idea further. It helps you see what you’re doing right away, instead of having to chimp in closer and closer with each picture.

DIYphotography did a really good job explaining it and showing all the possible effects, so I’m just going to leave it to them… check out the whole article, it’s pretty great.

 

Using Gobos to create "New Spaces" in your studio

Headshot for Jon Davies

Copyright all Rights Reserved 2014 Tim Lewis Photography

I was hired recently to build a website for a psychologist here in Eugene, Dr. Jon Davies. Of course, he also needed a headshot for the site, and luckily I was able to provide him with one. Jon wanted something a bit more casual than a formal headshot, so I set up something like a big white box for him to stand in. Really big, soft light bouncing around from every which way was the key to this shot, which came out really nicely. The finished image has an almost ring-flash type glow to it, even though I didn’t use my ring flash at all. I’m very pleased with how it came out.

Headshot for Jon Davies

Shutter-Drag the Landscape

Looking for a more abstract way to capture your surroundings? Check out this post by ePhotozine! Basically the idea is to set up a shot with a long-ish shutter exposure and then move the camera while the shutter is open. This usually results in a dragged-out-streaky image, which can be really cool and evocative (like the one above). I used a variation on this technique in this picture, with very controlled continuous lights being shutter dragged to create all of her “necklace-sparkles”:

It would be more of a challenge to create something in a broader landscape with a portrait worked in there. So the background is abstract, but the figure is (mostly) sharp. That could be quite a challenge, for sure. It’s something to think about.

Shutter-Drag the Landscape

Camille Veil

Copyright all Rights Reserved 2014 Tim Lewis Photography

I was playing around in the studio, trying to find ways to add motion to my shots when I started shooting a dropped piece of gauzy veil-like material. The light coming through it was interesting, and I thought I might be able to use the material to create some leading lines within my composition. So when Camille came over to shoot, I set up a fan and had Camille’s friend drape some material over her head. The fan added a good deal of motion to the shot, and the fabric wound up framing her quite nicely. It’s a fun trick, and one I’m definitely going to revisit sometime in the future.

Camille Veil

Grandpa

Copyright all Rights Reserved 2014 Tim Lewis Photography

This is a picture I took of my grandfather last week. I had a very clear idea of what I wanted to make before I went to take the picture. He’s always been a very central figure in my family, and I wanted to convey strength and resolve with this image. So I waited until the sun was setting, then I had him look toward the sunset, knowing this would make him squint (and look more determined). Then I dropped down for a low point of view (making him seem larger than life and imposing), and shot two frames with the sky and clouds as the background.

I wanted to use the same ideas going through the post processing, so I chose a square format which often creates a very locked-in feel. Then I cropped to include just his head and shoulders, which created a triangle effect:

Triangle

This is a really old painting technique. Kings were often posed into triangle compositions, since a triangle is a very stable visual element. Using it in this way emphasizes that he’s stable, indomitable, and immovable — All of which were related to the idea of strength I wanted to get across with my picture.

This picture means a lot to me, I’m glad I got a chance to make it.

Grandpa

Camille Shine

Copyright all Rights Reserved 2014 Tim Lewis Photography

Another shot from last week’s session with Camille. I really liked this shot, I used some christmas lights to create a sparkly effect, and my dirty lens helped to make it even more pronounced. I’m getting to a point where if there’s nothing between the camera and the model I start to get bored. And Camille gave great attitude for this one, which really put the whole picture over the top. More to come.

Camille Shine

Golden Spiral in Photography

Golden Spiral at work in the Ukraine

I found this great article on the Guardian about how some quick pictures of a brawl at an Ukrainian Courthouse has amazing composition, rivaling the composition of renaissance artists like Michelangelo and Da Vinci. An artist named James Harvey explained why the composition is so strong by overlaying a golden spiral onto the picture.

It’s difficult to compose a picture with the golden spiral in mind, since there’s often a lot of elements to carefully arrange in order for the spiral to make sense…. but why not emphasize the golden spiral in the post processing stage? Use it as a compositional / cropping tool? I decided to play around with this image I took the other day that I was having a hard time finding a suitable composition for:

Overlaying a golden spiral onto it, I wound up with this:

Then I used Dodging and Burning to darken and brighten areas according to the spiral:

And I wound up with this, which does have a much better sense of flow and composition to it:

All in all, I like it. Using the golden spiral in this way is a fun and simple way to vary up your composition from the usual rule-of-thirds that most photographers stick to. I might have to work the spiral more in the future. I think it could be especially useful in really layered compositions and multi-image composites. Fun stuff.

Golden Spiral in Photography