Black Diamond Productions

 

So this portion of the site is slowly growing and changing as I go…. I have had several requests to talk more about how to become a photographer in the Glamour market. As I have said in the past I am by far not a "pro" but more of an advanced amatuar. "Pro" is a person who makes money shooting…. I am clearly not that..just ask my bank account.. as in most cases I hope to make enough to pay for equipment let alone buy a yaght and drink umbrella drinks on the islands.

That said this week we will begin the trek to attempt to cover the basics…..

So rule number one for this site is there are going to be photos of beautiful nude girls here… sorry its a glamour photo site… its what both we as photographers do and what the great models we work with do… I will not get into a huge debate on the topic of nudity but my take is that the site is not password protected so all images displayed to the public will be covered in some way as to not make them "porn".. Ah porn another debate not worth having right now…. maybe later thou… We can let the models answer that when we start posting the interveiws with the girls we work with - I think most will be amazed as to the answers.

So to sum it up… the photo of Lux Kassidy above is an example of the type of photos you will see here. And please no comments that she is not topless, or that little diamonds on her nipples does not make it kid safe etc. I am a huge beliver that you can see more nudity than that on regular TV or in a copy of most magazines these days, and more power to you if you have any pay channels….

(soapbox over)

On to photogrpahy… The plan is to have a photo edit explanation and some tips each week. But more than likely there will be much more than that. This week we are going to start with tips for the Nikon D100 - Yes its 3 generations old and yes I still use it but remember the budget minded aspect we are going for here… So there will be an entire new section about D100 Tips and Tricks on a seperate page of this site by later this week…And yes I want a D300…

Actually seeing I am running out of time to type this evening… let me do this… I will post the Nikon D100 Page tonight and then write up the Lux shot tomorrow to get it out to everyone. I get alot of questions about the how behind the why I do edit photos the way i do and I will happily talk about that here if anyone wants to hear the reasons…

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Photo Tips….. For the photographers out there that are looking to get into the glamour business I am happy to help however I can. I have spent most of the past four years learning about and developing my style of photography and also have learned the hard way all the legal and other issues that can go right along with the glamour and photography world in general. Feel free to email or post questions and I will do my best to at minimum give my opinions and maybe save you some money and time…learning from my mistakes.

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Steven Lott  - Author of "Pro Tips for Photographers"

Exposure & Lighting Techniques

Selection of type of lighting equipment

A. Start with the basics

1. Main light

2. Fill light

3. Background light

4. Hair light

Determining the correct Exposure Index

A. It is not always set at the ASA suggested on the box

1. Test with the film you plan on using and stick with that

2. Use of a Kodak Grey card and or gray scale (NOT unlike Zone system)

3. What you are looking for is a consistent "Thickness" Density of your film

III. Understand & Use the appropriate Lighting Technique

A. The success of a photographic portrait depends as much on the artistic and creative use of lighting as it does on skill and use of the camera

1. Lighting creates the impact, style, mood.

2. High-contrast enhances strength, character

One method of creating High Contrast is to use a single Specular Light (a flash light beam is a very direct type of light, very specular and harsh) and no Fill, in fact on the normal Fill side, use Subtractive lighting

3. Lower-contrast lighting produces a softer image

Use Broad even illumination, with little or no exposure difference between the measured sides of the subject.

IV. Apply the Incident Principle to Create Impact

A. As the incident angle of light is increased away from the camera axis, the reflective quality of that light becomes BRIGHTER

1. All lights that strike the subject should have the same Incident volume as the fill light The exception to this is the principal (Main) light.

2. The main light should be One to One and a Half f-stops brighter

3. All meter readings are Incident and the camera should be set based on the light measured from the Main light.

V . Profile

A. The profile is a study of only one side of the face from the chin to the forehead.

1. The widest, most fullest side of the face is most suitable because it usually has the most contours.

2. Watch out for the white eyed look, avoid it by having the subject look at an area Three to Five degrees closer to the camera position instead of straight out in front of them.

3. The top of the head of a male subject should be tilted Three to Five degrees towards the background. For female it’s toward the camera Three to Five degrees.

Main Light

Main Light  shown at position # 1

1. The Main Light is what sets the density of the film (the exposure setting)
2. We place our Main light closest to the subject, but just outside of  the camera  view.
3. Our subject should be facing the main Light if we wish to photograph the other side of their face, move the light to the other side.
4. Meter the amount of light falling onto the subject (incident metering method) using a hand held meter with the light dome over the sensor.
5. Take this setting from the meter at set the aperture of the camera to it.  Our reading is f 5.6 based on our film speed and the power from our flash.

Fill Light

Fill Light  shown at position # 2

1. The Fill Light fills the shadows or softens them, the fill light causes the contrast or lessens it
2. A good fill light source is broad (large) and diffused. It is behind the camera. We two light heads bouncing off of the white wall that is behind our camera, causing a very large light source (the whole wall) and very diffused.
3. The fill light again fills the shadow areas with light and softens the ratio and the shadows.
4. Meter the amount of light falling onto the subject (incident metering method) using a hand held meter with the light dome over the sensor.
5. You need one to one and a half less light falling onto the subject from the Fill light as compared to the Main light meter reading. We want a reading of  f 4  for one stop difference.

Hair Light

Hair Light  shown at position # 3

1. The hair lights job is to add some highlight to the hair
2. Do NOT use a hair light on Bald headed guys, or bright bleach blondes.
3. This light should be thru a snoot and should skim over the top of the hair.
4. This light should measure No Stronger than the fill light
5. If the Main light is moved to the other side,  because we face the subject the other direction Then the Hair light should be moved as well.
6. Be careful that the Hair light does not illuminate the ear,  it just skims the top of the hair.

Back ground Light

Back ground Light  shown at position # 4

1. Also called a separation light. Because the background light illuminates the background and sets it apart from the subject.
2. This light can be set off to the side of the background and skimmed across the background or positioned behind the subject on a low profile stand, use of a honey comb grid helps diffuse and prevent a Hot SPOT look
3. This light should not be stronger than the Main light reading, it may be lessoned for effect
4. A neat effect is to turn this light towards the subject if they are against a dark background.

Summary

Keep in mind that the only required light is the Main light.
Fill can be from a reflector card (use a white card), bouncing light from the main light into the shadow area of the face.
The shadow side of the face is usually positioned towards the camera, for a slimmer look.
Proper use of Main light and you will have catch lights in the eyes of your model.

Master these two lights and then add the the hair and background lights.

Steven Lott

Author of "Pro Tips for Photographers"

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Tips

Accessories

Elinchrom - Lighting Techniques
1.00mb

PC Cords - Paramount - Catalog
1.08mb

Elinchrom - Product Photography
519kb

Really Right Stuff Catalog
1.04mb

Tips Package #1 - 2.28mb

Tips Package #2 - 246kb

Tips Package #3 - 3.62mb

Tips Package #4 - 2.51mb

Tips Package #5 - 476kb

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