Irish Internet Radio and TV from Dublin, Ireland.

Portraits

Do you like to take portraits? I know I do and this is the place to post them. Lets include all the useful info on how the portrait was taken such as lighting, shutter speed, f/stop and any other metadata you can so that we can learn how to become better portrait photographers.

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Permalink Reply by Robert Brady on April 12, 2008 at 5:36pm: This image was taken in my small studio (my garage) with a very simple lighting set-up consisting of two White Lightning strobes illuminating a pure white background, one White Lightning strobe placed high and directly in front of the subject and a reflector low and directly in front of the subject to throw some light up and under the subjects face. I made the shot with my Canon 30D with a Canon 85mm f/1.8 lens at 125th sec f/14 and ISO at 100. The image was processed first in Digital Photo Professional, and then in Adobe Lightroom, and filters applied in Adobe Photoshop.
I use Kodaks Digital Gem Airbrush Pro for the skin treatment.
This image prints very well on Metalic paper, which I like for High-Key portraits.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Robert Brady on April 12, 2008 at 5:53pm: Oh, and yes, I'm Bobarazzi! It's a handle that just stuck with me and I guess it's kind of catchy!; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Rike on April 12, 2008 at 6:04pm: very soft picture. Did you use a filter in your graphic program to create this 'soft focus'?
The model is very beautiful...

oh... just saw that you added the info :); ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Robert Brady on April 12, 2008 at 6:16pm: Rike, I have a recipe for this type of portrait that consists of a skin softening filter and a filter to soften it and give it a bit of a dreamy effect.

KODAK DIGITAL GEM Airbrush Professional Plug-In, for ADOBE PHOTOSHOP
Auto FX software - Dreamsuite
There are some other steps that I go through but these are the two main filters that I use to achieve the effect.

The model here is my granddaughter!; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Rike on April 13, 2008 at 12:30pm: wow, your granddaughter :) Really, she's lovely...
Thanks for the info about the filters and Plug-Ins you used .; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Rike on April 12, 2008 at 5:58pm: okay, guess I'll start here with on of my pictures. I love to take portraits - since I think it is fascinating trying to catch the personality of people. I'm not that much into studio portraits - I don't have the equipment and not enough space. So I'm much into 'every day life' photos. But since I moved into the neighborhood of a studio to rent I probably will give it a try :)

The following picture was taken with an analogue reflex camera, a Minolta X 700. I used a 50mm/1,4 lens. It's pretty cool, even though a 85mm lens is often better for a portrait.

btw - I'm not familiar with the English terms of Photography, please bear with me and my mistakes ;); ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Robert Brady on April 12, 2008 at 6:10pm: I love this one Rike! You captured this mans character very well here. The composition, crop, exposure are all right on the money. Very nice!; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Robert Brady on April 12, 2008 at 7:00pm: BTW, Although I do studio photography, I do so love natural light, there is nothing like it! It's every studio photographers desire to try to recreate the look and feel of natural light in the studio. Soft boxes, reflectors etc are what we use to try to achieve this. I'll dig through my archives and post a studio shot that hopefully demonstrates this.

Again, beautiful portrait!; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Rike on April 13, 2008 at 12:39pm: thanks :)
btw - this is my 'still' husband - I took this photo and some others the day I got the new lens. He liked them... and I do, too :); ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Pat Moore on May 21, 2008 at 5:32am: Liked the way you captured the spirit of his eyes...how they stand out above all...nice; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Robert Brady on April 12, 2008 at 7:33pm: Here's a recent shot where I tried to recreate a natural light effect. This is the simplest of set-ups where you use only one strobe with a softbox and a reflector for fill. It is shot against a pure black background. The placement of the light, high and to one side gives the light a directional quality and emulates window light.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Rike on April 13, 2008 at 12:47pm: very intimate moment... and the soft focus works well with this motif (is that the correct term?); ▶ Reply to This