Help with portrait shots on a budget!

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hailstorm

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hayley
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Hi all, I've been asked by a friend to take some head shots of him for his acting agency as he cannot afford to pay anyone to do them. The shots have to be against a plain white background, which I have, but been doing some test shots today and cannot seem to eliminate shadows down the side of the head. I was using window light and fill light from an sb-800 flashlight. I am also going to borrow a 500 watt lamp to see if this helps. Any one got any suggestions as to how I can get rid of the shadows? The test shots looked great with nice catchlights in the eyes and well exposed, but just looked unprofessional with the shadows behind the head! Was wondering if it would be better to take the shots outside on a cloudy day maybe? :bang:
 
using the d70 in comander mode you can fire the gun from a signal from the camera flash.


i did a portrait shhot using 2 sb 900 flashs fire din the comander mode


you can mount you sb800 on a tripod and trigger it using the flash on your camera.

Cheers Steve
 
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no prob anytime
i have a sb800 and a sb900, i also have some interfit 150 studio lights , the sb800 and 900 are difinatly the easyist to carry arouund

glad to be of help

Cheets Steve
 
You can also set up a white sheet about 45 degrees to the subject and shoot the flash through that to soften the light still using commander mode this will give you some modeling to your light so it won't look so flat. Also bring the light in close so it's just outside the frame of your camera, close light eliminates shadows on backgrounds.
 
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If your actor friend wants to get work from his headshots then he should find the money to pay someone who knows what they're doing. Headshots are the most important thing actors have - apart from talent.
 
Perhaps use natural light with a bedsheet to diffuse the light from the window?
 
I find that a black background and low-key makes for nice moody actor-style headshots. You can use a desk lamp or even window light with a reflector for balance, don't even need a flash gun then!
 
Search Rembrandt lighting. You can achieve this with your SB800 up high to one side pointing down towards the subject, and get a large cardboard box, flatten it to make a large sheet, cover in tin foil, and place it like a mirror (an instant and very cheap reflector) on the opposite side facing up towards him.

On your D70, you can sync flash at 1/500th second, so control the background ambient to suit your liking. If you can get another light as you say, use it as rim light, to separate him from the background.

Portrait lighting doesn't need to be complicated. If you don't want dark shadows on the background, get him away from the background, so the shadow fades into the dark.

Good luck.
 
awp said:
If your actor friend wants to get work from his headshots then he should find the money to pay someone who knows what they're doing. Headshots are the most important thing actors have - apart from talent.
Click to expand...

Indeed. As an actor your headshot has only a few seconds to grab the casting agent's eye before he or she moves on to the next one. An actor's should be prepared to invest in their headshot and let's face it, c£150 is nothing when it comes to investing in a career.
 
turn the flash down, diffuse the light and don't use it directly on the subject.


hailstorm said:
Hi all, I've been asked by a friend to take some head shots of him for his acting agency as he cannot afford to pay anyone to do them. The shots have to be against a plain white background, which I have, but been doing some test shots today and cannot seem to eliminate shadows down the side of the head. I was using window light and fill light from an sb-800 flashlight. I am also going to borrow a 500 watt lamp to see if this helps. Any one got any suggestions as to how I can get rid of the shadows? The test shots looked great with nice catchlights in the eyes and well exposed, but just looked unprofessional with the shadows behind the head! Was wondering if it would be better to take the shots outside on a cloudy day maybe? :bang:
Click to expand...
 
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