This dental practice wanted their website to reflect the fun spirit of the dentists and the staff. We put a different spin on the lifestyle portraits of the team groups. This turned out beautifully with composition and balance and the doctor’s smile lights up the photo.
Lighting:
Paul C Buff 64″ PLM Umbrellas
Two Einsteins
Website photos can go beyond the somber to this fun shoot. It captures the fun spirit of this staff portrait. (We took serious shots, too – but these won out!)
Using 64″ Paul C Buff PLM umbrellas, two Einsteins to get that beautiful deep separation of tones.
A large staff group shot needs a bit of pre-planning. This session greatly benefited from color coordinated clothing. Body language is a subtle way to bring the comfortable warmth of a large group and takes patience to arrange.
Lighting for a large group gives depth. We used 64″ Paul C Buff PLM umbrellas – one on each side.
Equipment used:
Paul Buff 22 inch Beauty Dish with Diffusion
Set to one side, camera right
Einstein 640 Studio Flash
Black sweep
Canon 6D, 35mm 1.4
Portraits for men begin with getting the subject relaxed in front of the camera. A natural relaxed position is the goal so the subject looks comfortable. You only have a few minutes to determine the best pose for any given shot. There are no hard fast rules. You’re looking for individuality.
Equipment used:
Paul Buff 86 inch PLM
PLM 7 feet back from subject with photographer in front of it
Einstein 640 Studio Flash
white sweep
Canon 6D, 35mm 1.4
Information on posing men for portraits is far less easy to find than posing women. The male portrait is about capturing completely different traits. Rather than cute or glamorous the male portrait is about strength, fitness, coolness, ease or likability.
Typically men need a purpose for their hands. If not using their hands, they can get fidgety and feel uncomfortable.
This model was awkward smiling directly into the camera and as with most male clients: didn’t know what to do with his hands. The photographer had him put one hand in a pocket, the other holding a pair of glasses. The assistant was off to the side making the model laugh. The photographer said, “When you start laughing look into the camera” and we got the shot.
This setting was chosen by the photographer to capture the subject, who is an artist, in a pensive mood while she creates. This brings the focus to the face while keeping the body language central in the composition.
Using a white background for this portrait is all about bathing the subject in translucent white, having her melt into the surrounding white. To achieve this stunning effect requires a wash of light. The photographer used two Paul Buff 86 inch PLM soft silver with diffusion, lighting the sides and background; and a 64 inch PLM in front of the subject. The light is critical to obtaining this elegant softness of light. This shot required no Photoshop.
This portrait was shot on a grey background on location. The simple staging of a coffee table gave nice foreground texture. The light source was a Paul Buff 22 inch beauty dish with a grid. This bounce flash light modifier is beautifully flattering to faces.
The photographer’s library of backgrounds is a collection of textured surfaces such as tin siding, stucco walls, weather beaten exterior house walls, stone surfaces, etc. These he shoots specifically for this purpose of blending and layering to build up an artistic backdrop for a studio portrait. The manipulating of these backgrounds takes place in Photoshop to his creative eye. This background was a composite of 2 backgrounds over the grey studio backdrop.
Read more on our website about backgrounds for portraits.
What goes into a portrait photography session?
This is an in-home session. This small house had no background photographic opportunities. The photographer created one from a set of window blinds. Despite looking like it was shot at sunset this is a staged shot-manipulating the background. We created this effect by setting up tungsten lighting outside the window at night. Adjusting the window shades for the precise bounce of light gave the photographer the control he wanted. Using a handheld flash allowed for exactness in adding the highlights to face and hair. Every angle and tilt of camera complete the composition of the subject. Once softness and overall look was established to the photographer’s eye the session proceeds with multiple shots. Finishing touches are completed in Photoshop for facial tone and minor touch-up.
Read more on our website about backgrounds for portraits.
A simple white background portrait can be turned into something dramatic and fun with a little editing. It’s all in the eye to showcase your product.
A simple one light portrait using a Paul Buff 86″ PLM, in front of the model about 7′ back, with the photographer standing in front of the PLM, using an Einstein Studio Flash.
Canon 7D 35mm lens
Beauty Dish Photography
This is a simple one light shot. White back drop, a beauty dish with an Einstein 640 flash, 1/4 power. Light was positioned to the extreme camera left approx. 45 degree angle over shoulder of man pointed at girl.
Canon 7D
lens: 70-200mm f/2.8
Aperture f8
Shutter Speed 1/250
White background turned grey since the couple was 8 feet in front. The skin tones varied dramatically, desaturation was the ideal solution.