my usual photography routine is: i'll set up some lights, take a test shot, adjust lights, take a test shot, adjust some more, take a test shot, decide i liked it better the first way, adjust everything back, take a test shot, decide that's good enough, i guess, and then shoot and shoot and shoot, hoping that in one of these pictures i'll magically capture myself from a good angle, or with a decent expression, or something. then i'll pick up the camera, move to where i can see everything that i set up, take a picture for my setup shot, and then i'm done.
joe mcnally has recently been talking alot about how important the "contact sheet" is. how photo editors don't want to see your greatest hits, they want to see your thinking process during the shoot. how in the contact sheet you can see "well, the first picture was too dark, so he pumped up the light for #2, but then too many shadows on the left, so a reflector was added for #3......."
anyways. i thought that might make for an interesting blog post. more stream of consciousness, less "so i came up with all this in my head, and it all worked, because i'm super awesome like that". so buckle up, because this ride is about to roll right into my head and into what i was thinking when i was thinking it.
my first idea was to hang up a green sheet behind me as a backdrop. i got to stop shooting my couch just because i'm too lazy to move it. so i taped up the sheet, and set up a white umbrella high camera right with my strobe at 1/8th power, mostly going into the umbrella, but with some light pouring past it into my new white reflector i set up high camera left to provide a bit more fill on the subject (me).
#1.
thoughts: well, allright. that's a little dark. the sheet i hung up as a background is nice and black. maybe we'll turn up the power on the flash a little, eh? that might help.
#2.
thoughts: that's more like it. looks like nothing is getting blown out, no overexposed areas. it's a little boring though. the sheet looks black still. maybe a rim light camera right will help make this more interesting. and maybe angle the reflector to throw more even light on the subject (me).
#3.
thoughts: oh yeah, i like that rim light. it's a little subtle, i'd like the rim to be wider. more immediately evident, i guess. maybe if i move it forward, more even with the subject (me) it'll be more prominent in the picture.
#4.
thoughts: yep, that's more like it. this picture is starting to come together. why did i wear my moby shirt? now people are going to think i like his recent (terrible) output, and not know that i only like stuff he did a decade ago, up through the "play" album. damn. and hey, why is that background still black? i thought the sheet was green?
#5.
thoughts: oh yeah, setting a flash on the floor behind me aimed up at the sheet really helped. now people can see how it's all wrinkly. i kinda don't like how it's centered so low in the photo, though. maybe a grid spot will focus it up higher, more behind my head-ish.
#6.
thoughts: oh yeahhhhhh. that's much better. draws the eye right up to my head, where i want people to be looking. this picture is looking better and better.
#7.
thoughts: this is the time on sprockets when we dance.
so yeah, that's about it. i hope everyone enjoyed this twisted journey through my thought processes. i'm not going to be doing this alot (or maybe, ever again) but i thought it's a good way to see what decisions were being made in response to what, and how the picture gets assembled. notice that in this case i worked front to back, i set up the main light and reflector first, then the rimlight, then finally the background strobe. working front to back is usually the best way to do it, since your subject is usually in the front of the picture, and less important things are in the back. it's something to think about when approaching a complicated lighting setup. i also try to really nail each light source / device before moving on to the next one. that way i won't wind up trying to solve a problem that has more than one contributing factor. this way i am faced with just simple problem after simple problem. and simple problems are easy to solve.
late.
one more thing - tako saw me taking pictures of her and decided it was time to play:
setup shot:
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