32 4 April 2020I http://www.amateurphotographer.co.ukI subscribe 0330 333 1113
PETER’S TOP TIPS‘OVER-LIGHTING’ A LOCATION PORTRAITTechnique‘Over-lighting’
technique
Peterreveals,‘I shotthisframethrough
theopencardoor.I puttheAnova
PRO2 on63%butI normallywouldn’t
needthatlighttobethatbright.I putit
thatbrightsoI couldthenturnmy
cameratoa lowerspeedora higher
speedtogetonlyherfacelit andallthe
surroundingsasdarkaspossible.I used
thattechniquebecauseI don’twantto
seeallof thiscrap– theframes,other
carsanduglywalls.It’sa techniqueI
oftenuse;I highlightthesubjectwith
morelightthanI needsothatallof the
ambientlightaroundgetsdarker.The
reasonwhyweputtheRotolighton
63%is thatit wasa goodcombination
forstillseeinga littlebitof thecar.If I’d
putit on100%youwouldn’tseeanyof
thecar.I justwantedtokeepthe
informationthatshemightbein a car
and that it was shot through a window.’IN ASSOCIATION WITHKnowyourcamerawell
Themomentanyoneis in frontof mycameratheyarethemost
importantpersonin mylife;notmywife,notmyson,nooneelse.To
makeyoufeelthatyouarethemostimportantpersonmeansthatyou
have100%of myconcentrationandattention.If, aftereverysecond
shot,you’relookingat thebackof yourcameratofindoutif themodel’s
eyeis sharporwhateveryoucanimaginethatthemodeldoesn’ttrust
youandwillthink,‘doestheguyknowwhathe’sdoing?He’salways
checkingthecamera’.Mostpeopledon’teventalktothemodels;they
justlookat thecamera.Themodeldoesn’tknowif it’sgood,badorthat
youlikewhatthey’redoing.So,knowandtrustyourcamera.It should
be an extension of your eye and your arm, nothing more.
Getthelightright
Trytoputeffortin sothatyouhavetherightlightforthewayyouwant
toshoottheportrait– thenyoudon’thavetoadjustlightduringthe
session.Createonelightingset-upin whichyoubelievethatyoucan
havea leftshot,a rightshot,youhavetheshadowswhereyouwant
themetc.Makesureyou’renot,aftereverysecondshot,goingbackto
adjustthelight.Whatyoushoulddois, in thebeginning,placethe
model,yourassistantoryourmake-upartistin thesetandplayaround
a littlebitat thetimewhenit’snotimportant.Theotherpersonknows
it’snota shootingsessionyet;I’mtestingandfindingoutthebestlight. If
you really want to shoot well, trust the light and don’t change it.Duringshootshedirectshis
subjectsandrevealshe
sometimesshootsupto 150 images
ina justa two-minuteperiod.He
says,‘I neverlookatthebackofmy
camera;I justshoot.I trustthatmy
camerais doingwhatit hastodo
andthatmyfocusis whereit hasto
be.I rely100%onthequalityofmy
camera.I trustmycameramore
thanmyeyesthatit is sharpandit’s
alwaysthecase.’
Discussinghisshootingapproach
ofRAW+JPEG,Peterreveals,‘The
JPEGinmycamerais a
monochrome,sowithRAW+JPEG
theJPEGis alwaysa monochrome.
IntheNikonI cangoontothe
monochromesettingandwhatI do
is I havea verysoftcontrast,almost
nocontrast.Thecontrastsettingin
theNikoncouldbefromzeroto-5
to++5andmineis on-1.I don’t
wantanycontrast.Inpost-
productionI canaddcontrastor
moresharpnesstomypicturebutI
cannotdeleteit if it is alreadythere.
So,I shootverysoft.’
Headds,‘Moreorlesstheonly
thingsI doinpost-productionare
croptheframe,straightentheframe
andthenI addcontrastorlightor
bothorclarity,what’sneededto
givethepictureexactlythelookI
wanttosee.ButI doallthatinthe
JPEG.I onlyconverttherawfileto
black&whiteif myJPEGis so
rotten– thewhitesaregoneorthe
blacksaregone,whatever– thatI
can’tuseit anymore.ThenI tryto
bringdowntheraw[file]tothelevel
whereI needit andthenconvertit
toblack&white.’
Peterdeployscombinationsofthe
AnovaPRO2,NEO2 andAEOS
Rotolightsforhisshoots,sometimes
tofill inbacklitsubjectsfromthe
frontorsideandoftenasrimlights.
Hesometimeseven‘over-lights’
set-upstodarkenthebackground
andconcentrateattention on
the subject’s face.
Thelightingset-up
PeterMüllerexplains,‘Whatwehavehereis thefamous
GermanphotographerKatrinSchöningandyoucansee
theRotolightAnovaPRO2 in shot.Sheaskedmetotake
a pictureof her.Whatyouseeis theset-upwhereI need
thisoneRotolighttolight.It’snottotallyin frontof her,
morefromtheleftside.Youcanseeallthisuglyambient
light,picturesonthewallandthere’sanothercarout – it
was shot in the garage of a vintage car dealer.’▲▲