It’s been a while since I posted a This Image post so I figured this one should be next, had a few people ask about it so let’s get in to it.  Also my blog has been quiet for a bit too long so this is pulling double duty.

Shot back in July 2012 in Liverpool’s China Town it was a rainy, windy cold day with intermittent cloud cover and or open sky, after dodging the rain (none of my gear is 100% water proof) we walked over to Liverpool’s China Town.  Prior to this I had shot with flash for most of the shoot so wanted to change that.

As it goes it’s a real simple image/head shot nothing really difficult going on technically here.  Sometimes it’s good to keep things simple so you can give your subject 100% of your attention.

I also tend to come back to simple head shots during most shoots at some point.

Ok Gear and the Numbers… (Let’s get that out of the way)

Canon EOS 60D
Canon EF 85 F1.8 USM @ F2.2
ISO 160
1/500thsec
Available Light (Sky) diffused through a reflector.

Why 1/500th sec?   Well it was windy enough to blow not only the reflector around but us as well at points so a faster shutter speed helps combat subject and camera movement as a result of the wind.

Why the 85mm lens?  It’s my best portrait lens, certainly the best lens in the bag for head shots using my DSLR’s and I only had about 3-4ft of board to work with which meant I needed to compress perspective, otherwise we would start to see the edges of the background.  Chose to shoot at F2.2 for a nice shallow depth of field, its not that the 85 is not sharp at F1.8 because it is but it suffered from CA (Chromatic Aberrations wide open) and F1.8 would not of held both eyes in good enough focus.

We came across this old board, they type that are used to cover windows in old buildings… nice and simple and has some texture.  The light was coming from above (the sky) and whilst it was soft I still wanted to diffuse it some more to make it softer so in comes a 5in1 reflector used as a diffuser and held by Mark Boadey this was held just out of frame and above Karina to keep it nice and close for soft light.

Once the reflector was in place (held above Karina) I dialed in exposure and started shooting, directing and talking to Karina to get what I wanted.  Karina has a natural smile and as great in front of the camera, working this close (as you can do for head shots) it can sometimes be intimidating for your subject but Karina handled this well.

Would I change anything?  Yes... Always (are photographers ever happy with the work they do?)

I am happy with the exposure and framing (I like tight head shots) I like the pose, light and connection with camera... But I wish I had stopped down to F2.8/3.2 and gone to ISO 200/250… F stop to gain more depth of field to keep the left eye in better focus and the ISO jump would have been needed to maintain a fast shutter speed.  Also would like to tweak colour a tad but my Lightroom Catalogs are being worked on at the moment… colour is not far off but a slight tweak is needed to my eye (it was processed just before I purchased my monitor calibrator).

Looking back at his makes me want to grab my 5D2 and the 85 and go shoot some natural light portraits/headshots.  Anyone need some portraits?

Thanks

Rick