I’ve began a journey in my studio during the Covid-19 years. Starting in January 2020, my project was to learn more about portrait photography. My artistic winter project – practice, practice, practice, lighting, lighting, lighting- the king pin of photography. I pulled old strobe lights out of the closet, one literally fell apart, trashed it. Purchased another strobe and a speed light plus lots of accessories.
Experimenting: Let the fun begin. I started with the one old strobe for Rembrandt and Loop style dramatic portraits but I wasn’t thrilled with those, not for me, dark shadows on my face was less than flattering. Tried Butterfly portrait style too. My favorite style turned out to be flooding the face with ambient light as well as flash or back-lighting as in the window shots. I learned to use various reflectors to shape the light.
Modeling: While in my studio, at that time, I had three choices for models; Zipper, Tom and myself. So, I tried Tom but he could only stand modeling for 3 minutes, Zipper was even worse, that left me. So self-portraits it was. With make-up and hair flying all which way, I became my own model, I really like my boss!
Shooting: I set up a process whereby I could set my own focusing point and shoot remotely…off to the races. After I nailed a few head shots, standing positions and in-front-of-window poses I was ready for prime-time. A few of my friends joined the fun in my studio, lots of laughing going on! So when the COVID-19 lock-down arrived, I was once again alone in the studio…back to self-portraits.
Technology: I feel like I’m technology savvy but this was challenging! Going from using natural light to incorporating various supplemental lighting processes turned out to have a steep learning curve. Finding the most effective new camera settings was tedious, setting up the strobes (I used many years ago) took a lot of trial and error, learning the speed light was a slow process. In the meantime, I took at least 4 online photography classes. AND then we bought a new computer and monitor! But I saw the light at the end of the tunnel and pushed forward.
Lessons Learned: The more you learn, the more you know you have lots more to learn!
CLICK on the thumbnails below to see larger images, enjoy the slideshow.
Hope you enjoyed sharing BJ Reed’s PORTRAIT journey!
