Portrait Project

[TheIllicitOne]

I've got an upcoming project in a photography class of mine. I have to take 72 portraits (2 rolls of 36 exposure film). My question is, once I run out of people to photograph, how do I go about getting people I don't know to let me take pictures of them? Also I plan on taking most of these w/ natural light so I can catch people @ their workplaces, etc; however I also want to do a few of them with my strobes and a black velvet background. Do I have to make any major adjustments w/ a black background or just take the picture as usual? How do I correctly expose a relatively light subject against a black background? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks guys!

[xseption]

are you asking for volunteers?

I believe that with a black background, you want to make sure you meter the light reflecting from the individual's face

[brad]

Yes, metering can be tricky.. the black just sucks up all light.

You might want to make sure you have a light above them, shining down to them.. this will give you some seperation from the background. (A Hair Light)

[adam7731]

get on the bus or hide your camera at work . there is a guy that took lots of portraits of people on the subway look him up he's pretty well known. had a few images at MOMA.

[chloew]

Originally Posted by TheIllicitOne

Also I plan on taking most of these w/ natural light so I can catch people @ their workplaces, etc; however I also want to do a few of them with my strobes and a black velvet background. Do I have to make any major adjustments w/ a black background or just take the picture as usual? How do I correctly expose a relatively light subject against a black background? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks guys!

Ideally you would use a flash meter and measure the incident light as opposed to measuring the reflected light. Incident light is independent of the background and will give you a correct reading with any background. The flash meter needs to trigger the strobe(s) and will give you an aperature that you set manually on your camera. (You specify the ISO setting on the flash meter.) The shutter time on your camera should be set to something around 1/125s, at or a bit below your camera's sync speed.

http://www.mvlabs.com/html/wbmetersfull.htm

http://www.phototechmag.com/previous...e-ma/lane.html

[chloew]

Originally Posted by adam7731

get on the bus or hide your camera at work . there is a guy that took lots of portraits of people on the subway look him up he's pretty well known. had a few images at MOMA.

You can see the photographer in the reflection in the window.

[84NETgal]

check out this great photographer with his project: The Snowsuit Effort. Some great natural-light subjects off the streets. http://snowsuit.net/

[TheIllicitOne]

Originally Posted by chloew

Ideally you would use a flash meter and measure the incident light as opposed to measuring the reflected light. Incident light is independent of the background and will give you a correct reading with any background. The flash meter needs to trigger the strobe(s) and will give you an aperature that you set manually on your camera. (You specify the ISO setting on the flash meter.) The shutter time on your camera should be set to something around 1/125s, at or a bit below your camera's sync speed.

http://www.mvlabs.com/html/wbmetersfull.htm

http://www.phototechmag.com/previous...e-ma/lane.html

So basically just take an incident reading from my meter and I should be fine? Also I'm still really nervous working w/ film cause I can't just delete. haha. Here's some info, I'll be shooting w/ the Canon EOS-1 (sync speed 1/250 or slower) and the flash duration on my lighting setup is 1/370. Anything 1/250 or slower should be fine right? Forgive me for these easy little questions, I'm new to studio lighting. Thanks again.

[Jake]

Originally Posted by TheIllicitOne

My question is, once I run out of people to photograph, how do I go about getting people I don't know to let me take pictures of them?

Just ask with a smile on your face and most of the time they will say yes.
If you want candids then you might not want to ask first but for casual portrait ask and I bet they say yes.

[adam7731]

Originally Posted by chloew

Ideally you would use a flash meter and measure the incident light as opposed to measuring the reflected light. Incident light is independent of the background and will give you a correct reading with any background. The flash meter needs to trigger the strobe(s) and will give you an aperature that you set manually on your camera. (You specify the ISO setting on the flash meter.) The shutter time on your camera should be set to something around 1/125s, at or a bit below your camera's sync speed.

http://www.mvlabs.com/html/wbmetersfull.htm

http://www.phototechmag.com/previous...e-ma/lane.html

get up close to your subject and take a reflective reading of the skin in a midtone. You dont want the highlight but in the middle between hightlight and shadow. Now you know what will turn your image 18 percent gray. You will place your exsposure from 18 percent to a more correct skin tone. so take your 18 percent exposure and open up 2 stops. Now you got a perfect skin tone.

[brad]

Originally Posted by TheIllicitOne

So basically just take an incident reading from my meter and I should be fine? Also I'm still really nervous working w/ film cause I can't just delete.

I shot film for years, never once using any light meter other than the TTL meter in the camera... I was fine, you will be too. If you are that nervous, though, buy a roll of film and run a test before you do your project.

[cmalana]

keep in mind that film will have a bit more forgiveness on exposure than digital so you should be fine if you're close. If you're shooting with a black background, you need to figure out correct exposure and set to manual. Otherwise, you run the risk of the camera metering too much of the black background and over exposing.

[babybluetx23]

There is also a model website called onemodelplace.com

[TheIllicitOne]

Originally Posted by cmalana

keep in mind that film will have a bit more forgiveness on exposure than digital so you should be fine if you're close. If you're shooting with a black background, you need to figure out correct exposure and set to manual. Otherwise, you run the risk of the camera metering too much of the black background and over exposing.

Yea, I always shoot in manual anyways. I guess my real question is how to get the correct exposure with a black background. If I am correct I would just incident meter the light falling on the subject and use the settings the meter gives me? Or would I open up or close down a few stops from what the meter gives me for accurate skin tone?

[chloew]

Originally Posted by TheIllicitOne

If I am correct I would just incident meter the light falling on the subject and use the settings the meter gives me? Or would I open up or close down a few stops from what the meter gives me for accurate skin tone?

Correct, just use the settings the incedent meter gives you. The purpose of such a meter is to provide a standard exposure and will work for most subjects and especially with film which has more latitude than digital. If you are using digital for portraits and have a person with extremely light or dark skin you may want to correct from the metered settings to gain more detail in their skin.

With a reflective meter such as the one built into your camera try using a spot meter setting if available to meter off the person only and not off the background. However most camera meters do not work with external strobes as there is little or no communication between camera and strobe and the camera can't control the power output of the strobe. With a built-in flash or a flash designed to work with your camera, the camera will control how much light is emitted by the flash based on its metering.