Turkey Neck

Barney

Barney

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Wayne
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Any tips on trying not to show wrinkle on an older subject/victims neck, I did think of white reflector below to remove the shadows but looking for other possible solutions or advice. I want a soft look altogether I think.
 
There isn't a single, simple answer.

The starting point has to be the pose. If the victim is tilting their head upwards and angled forwards it will stretch the skin on the neck and minimise the wrinkles.
There's also the choice of clothing, a turtle-neck sweater will show less skin, and a scarf will show even less.
Then there's the lighting, a single light, obviously, as close as possible from the largest possible light source e.g. a softbox, high up, and feathered to reduce or even prevent light from reaching the neck, is both the simplest and the most effective approach.
A reflector (or a fill light), placed below the camera and on axis, will fill in any wrinkles that still obtain, but I think that my other suggestions are better.
 
I don't know but did heat that if you get the model to put her or his tounge up to the roof of their mouth it will make an improvement
 
Garry Edwards said:
There isn't a single, simple answer.

The starting point has to be the pose. If the victim is tilting their head upwards and angled forwards it will stretch the skin on the neck and minimise the wrinkles.
There's also the choice of clothing, a turtle-neck sweater will show less skin, and a scarf will show even less.
Then there's the lighting, a single light, obviously, as close as possible from the largest possible light source e.g. a softbox, high up, and feathered to reduce or even prevent light from reaching the neck, is both the simplest and the most effective approach.
A reflector (or a fill light), placed below the camera and on axis, will fill in any wrinkles that still obtain, but I think that my other suggestions are better.
Click to expand...
Thanks Garry,

is there an advantageous camera position do you think? Level with eyes, nose or chin? or will it not matter?
 
Oldbones said:
I don't know but did heat that if you get the model to put her or his tounge up to the roof of their mouth it will make an improvement
Click to expand...
Just tried that on myself Bryan and it is surprising how the area under my chin tightens up, that has got to have a positive effect, nice one!
 
Barney said:
Thanks Garry,

is there an advantageous camera position do you think? Level with eyes, nose or chin? or will it not matter?
Click to expand...
Logic (and physics) tells us that, for this effect, the camera needs to be fairly high and looking down.
The face will then be larger than the problem area of the neck (perspective distortion) and so will draw viewer attention away from the neck.
And the ISL will ensure that there is less light on the neck, although that has already been addressed by feathering the softbox so that less light reaches the neck.

But, here's the challenge. Like all other photographers, I can work out how to arrange everything when I'm actually shooting, but all that I can do giving advice at a distance is to make suggestions based on experience. My own experience and knowledge of physics tells me what cannot work, but until I actually light the shot I simply don't knwo what will work. It's very possible that, if you follow my guidance, you'll end up with the right solution to your challenge, but the pose and lighting may not suit your subject, or what you want to create:(
 
Barney said:
Thanks Garry,

is there an advantageous camera position do you think? Level with eyes, nose or chin? or will it not matter?
Click to expand...
As Garry says, photography doesn’t really do recipes (paraphrased).

An example of a similar problem I had before.

Whilst I was a camera for hire I got an enquiry to shoot a ‘passport photo’, I explained that they could get one from a booth and that to hire me would be a full priced portrait sitting. The guy was quite insistent, explained it was for a Canadian visa, they were very picky and that they’d already tried a photo from a booth and a pro photographer and both had been refused by the Canadians.

So off I went to see them, and was greeted by a lovely older lady.
Here’s the problem: in her younger years she wouldn’t have had much of a defined chin, and time had not been kind to her jawline. So when the quality checks were done on her regular passport photo, it would have been impossible to measure from her chin to the top of her head. The normal clamshell arrangement for passport photos would be useless (creating shadow free light of her face and neck). I used a black reflector instead of white at the bottom of the clamshell, helping to give a shadow, and therefore a line that could be measured from.

There’s no recipe, or even guidance as to what to do in that situation, but simply looking at her face, I could see immediately the problem (no one had told the couple why the photos were rejected), and the solution became quite straightforward.

We ‘see’ things that non photographers don’t, when I handed over the images, they weren’t convinced that what they were looking at was ‘different’ to what they’d already sent, but rather than pointing out the ‘fault’ I simply offered a free reshoot if the images were rejected (fairly confident it wouldn’t happen).

So we gather knowledge of the physics, and experience of real world problems and solutions, and next time we’re behind the camera, we can see more clearly.

My gut says shoot at the eyeline, but I can’t see your model and some faces suit a lower viewpoint and some higher, only you can see that when you’re shooting.
 
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