Portrait Photographer's Handbook, 3rd Edition

128 Pages·2007·3.2 MB·english

by  Bill Hurter

PORTRAIT
PHOTOGRAPHER’S
HANDBOOK
Third Edition
BILL HURTER
Amherst Media
®
PUBLISHEROFPHOTOGRAPHYBOOKS

Copyright©2007byBillHurter.
Allrightsreserved.
FrontcoverphotographbyTimKelly.
BackcoverphotographbyChrisNelson.
Publishedby:
AmherstMedia,Inc.
P.O.Box586
Buffalo,N.Y.14226
Fax:[phone]
www.AmherstMedia.com
Publisher:CraigAlesse
SeniorEditor/ProductionManager:MichellePerkins
AssistantEditor:BarbaraA.Lynch-Johnt
EditorialAssistancefrom:CareyA.MainesandArtieVanderpool
ISBN-13:978-1-58428-207-5
LibraryofCongressControlNumber:2006937290
PrintedinKorea.
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Nopartofthispublicationmaybereproduced,stored,ortransmittedinanyformorbyanymeans,electronic,mechanical,
photocopied,recordedorotherwise,withoutpriorwrittenconsentfromthepublisher.
NoticeofDisclaimer:Theinformationcontainedinthisbookisbasedontheauthor’sexperienceandopinions.Theauthor
andpublisherwillnotbeheldliablefortheuseormisuseoftheinformationinthisbook.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION .............................7 2.GOODDIGITALWORKINGTECHNIQUES ......24
Exposure .................................24
1.EQUIPMENTANDBASICTECHNIQUES ......10 DeterminingYourCamera’sE.I. ................24
CameraFormat/Size ........................10 Metadata .................................25
LargeFormat ...........................10 FileFormats ...............................25
Digital35mm ...........................10
Lenses ...................................11 DS.
O
O
ImageStabilization .......................11 W
F
FocalLength ............................11 EF
J
DigitalCamerasandFocalLength ...........13 BY
H
Focusing ...............................14 AP
R
DepthofField ..........................15 OG
T
O
ShootingApertures .......................15 H
P
ShutterSpeeds .............................17
Film .....................................18
FilmFamilies ...........................18
Black&White ..........................18
DigitalCapture .............................19
ISOSettings ............................19
Contrast ...............................20
Black&WhiteMode .....................20
FileFormat .............................20
WhiteBalance ...........................20
NoiseReduction .........................21
Sharpness ..............................21
Exposure .................................21
Metering .................................21
Reflected-LightMeters ....................21
Incident-LightMeters .....................22
IncidentFlashmeters ......................22
LightsandLightModifiers ....................22
ContinuousLightvs.Strobe ................22
LightModifiers ..........................23
TABLEOFCONTENTS3
P Three-Quarter-LengthPortraits .............40
H
O
T Full-LengthPortraits .....................40
O
G
R FeetandLegs ...........................40
A
P
H Hands .................................41
B
Y
A
N
T
HO 4.COMPOSITION ...........................42
N
Y TheRuleofThirds ..........................42
C
A
V TheGoldenMean ..........................43
A
.
Direction .................................44
CompositionalForms ........................45
SubjectTone ..............................45
Focus ....................................46
Lines ....................................46
5.BASICPORTRAITLIGHTING................48
TheLights ................................48
KeyandFillLights .......................49
HairLight .............................50
JPEG .................................25 BackgroundLight ........................50
RAW ..................................26 KickerLights ...........................50
RAWConverters .........................27 LightingTypes .............................50
ColorSpace ...............................30 BroadLighting ..........................50
BackUpYourFiles ..........................31 ShortLighting ..........................50
ReformatYourCards ........................32 BasicLightingSetups ........................51
PrintingOptions ............................32 ParamountLighting ......................51
LoopLighting ..........................51
3.POSING ................................33 RembrandtLighting ......................52
SubjectComfort ............................34 SplitLighting ...........................53
TheShoulders .............................34 ProfileLighting .........................54
HeadPositions .............................34 TheFinerPoints ............................54
TheSeven-EighthsView ...................34 Feathering .............................54
TheThree-QuartersView ..................35 FillLightPlacement ......................55
TheProfileView .........................35 LightingRatios .............................56
TiltingtheHead ............................35 Calculating .............................56
TheEyes .................................36 UniquePersonalities ......................56
TheMouth ................................36 SettingtheLights ...........................58
NaturalSmiles ...........................36 MeteringforExposure .......................61
MoisteningtheLips ......................36 FlagsorGobos .............................62
AvoidingTension ........................36 Reflectors .................................62
GapBetweentheLips .....................36
LaughLines ............................37 6.LIGHTINGVARIATIONS ...................63
ChinHeight ...............................37 WindowLight .............................63
Arms ....................................37 SubjectPositioning .......................64
Hands ...................................38 Metering ...............................64
Three-Quarter-andFull-LengthPoses ...........40 WhileBalance ...........................65
4PORTRAITPHOTOGRAPHER’SHANDBOOK
Fill-inIlluminations ......................66 Eyeglasses ..............................90
DiffusingWindowLight ...................67 OneEyeSmallerthantheOther .............91
One-LightPortraits .........................68 Baldness ...............................91
PortableFlash ...........................68 DoubleChins ...........................91
TTLFlashExposure ......................70 WideFaces .............................91
On-CameraFlash ........................70 ThinFaces .............................91
BroadForeheads .........................92
7.OUTDOORLIGHTING ......................71 Deep-SetandProtrudingEyes ..............92
Shade ....................................71 LargeEars ..............................92
Fill-inLight ...............................72 VeryDarkSkinTones .....................92
ReflectedFillLight .......................73 UnevenMouths .........................92
FlashFillLight ..........................73 LongLosesandPugNoses .................92
SubtractiveLighting .........................74 LongNecksandShortNecks ...............92
EliminatingOverheadLight ...................75 WideMouthsandNarrowMouths ...........93
Scrims ....................................76 LongChinsandStubbyChins ..............93
BackgroundControl .........................76
DirectSunlight .............................77 EL.
K
N
SkimmingtheLight ......................77 E
U
D
CrossLighting ..........................77 Y
Z
Z
Backlighting ............................77 U
F
Y
UsingFlashOutdoors ........................78 B
H
FlashFill ...............................78 AP
R
G
FlashKey ..............................78 O
T
O
AdditionalTipsforOutdoorLighting ............79 PH
CreateSeparation ........................79
UseCareinSubjectPositioning .............79
EmployaTripod .........................79
WatchtheColorintheShadows .............80
8.SPONTANEOUSPORTRAITS ................81
ObservingtheSubject .......................81
ShootingTechniques ........................84
Composition ............................84
ShutterSpeed ...........................84
Don’tSkimp ............................84
MasterYourCameraControls ...............84
9.CORRECTIVETECHNIQUES ................86
FacialAnalysis ..............................86
SoftFocusandDiffusion .....................87
CameraHeightandPerspective ................88
CorrectingSpecificProblems ..................89
OverweightSubjects ......................89
ThinorUnderweightSubjects ..............90
ElderlySubjects .........................90
TABLEOFCONTENTS5
P LayerSets ..............................97
H
OT BackgroundCopyLayer ...................97
O
G
R Retouching ................................98
A
P
H SoftFocus ..............................98
B
Y
M SelectiveFocus .........................100
A
R
C RemovingBlemishes .....................100
U
S
B ShininessandWrinkles ...................101
E
L
L TeethandEyes .........................101
.
GlareonGlasses ........................102
ContouringwiththeLiquifyFilter ..........102
Actions ..................................102
11.FINEPRINTS .........................103
WhatisaFinePrint? ........................103
GoodColorManagement ....................103
CameraProfiles .........................104
MonitorProfiles ........................105
PrinterProfiles .........................105
ArchivalPermanence .......................106
EnlargingImages ..........................106
StairInterpolation .......................106
AlienSkin’sBlowUp ....................106
PrintFinishing ............................106
DodgingandBurning-In .................106
ContrastControl .......................107
ColorCorrection .......................108
OilySkin ...............................93 Toning ...............................109
DrySkin ...............................93 HandcoloringEffects ....................110
SkinDefects ............................93 Vignettes .............................110
BeDiscriminating ...........................94 Sharpening ...............................111
10.PHOTOSHOPRETOUCHINGTECHNIQUES ....95 CONCLUSION ............................113
RetouchingThen ...........................95 THEPHOTOGRAPHERS .....................114
RetouchingNow ...........................96 GLOSSARY ..............................118
WorkingwithLayers .........................97 INDEX ..................................122
LinkingLayers ..........................97
6PORTRAITPHOTOGRAPHER’SHANDBOOK
INTRODUCTION
C
ontemporary portrait styles have
becomemorerelaxedandlessfor-
mal in the past decade. What is
gainedisalevelofspontaneityandnatural-
nessthatpeopleseemtolike.Whatislostis
the idyllic, structured way of rendering the
humanform.
There are numerous reasons for the
move to a more casual framework. The in-
fluence of fashion photography, with its
heavily diffused lighting and untraditional
posing, is one big reason. Another is the
move by professional photographers to the
smaller-format digital camera, with its in-
stantaneous nature and its bag of creative
tricks. The modern DSLR gives photogra-
phersalevelofflexibilitythatlendsitselfto
shooting lots of images and many varia-
tions, including more spontaneous poses.
Also,theadventofTTL-meteredelectronic
Theadventofdigitalmakesalteringtherealityof
theimagesimple.Inthisaward-winningimageby
Marcus Bell, the time of day and lighting angle
havebeenalteredinPhotoshop.Eventhelocation
itselfhasbeenmadetolookmoretheatricalbythe
manipulations.Marcusdarkenedtheimage,which
originally was rather flat, using traditional dodg-
ingandburninginPhotoshop.Hethencombineda
duplicate sepia layer and duplicate Gaussian blur
layeruntilthefinaleffectwasachieved.Hesaysof
this image, “It’s important for photographers to
understandthatcapturingtheimageisonlythefirst
stageofmanytoproduceafinalimage.Iwantedto
emphasizetheirfairytale-likedresses,soIprinted
theimagetoreflectthis.”
INTRODUCTION7
TOP—Thefineportraitisalastingworkofart.Elegant
posingandlightingandanacutesenseoftheenviron-
ment make an outstanding image. The camera used
was a Bronica SQ-Ai with a PS 80mm lens using
KodakPortra400VCfilm.Itwasexposedfor1/15sec-
ondatf/4.Availablelightfromwindowsandlampsat
thelocationwasused,withtheadditionofaLumedyne
50 Watt-second barebulb flash as a fill light. Photo-
graph by Robert Lino. BOTTOM—The modern portrait
photographer creates an image that imparts lifestyle
andcharacterinacasual,relaxedframeworkofpos-
ingandlighting.PhotographbyCherieSteinberg-Coté.
flashhasmadethemodern-dayportraitsome-
thingthatcanbemadeanywhere,notjustina
studio.
Digitaltechnology offers the portraitpho-
tographer flexibility and speed and, perhaps
mostimportantly,theultimateincreativecon-
trol.Thephotographercanchangefromcolor
toblack&whiteonthefly,changewhitebal-
ance similarly, and there is no delay for pro-
cessing, proofing, and printing. Both the
photographer and the client can examine the
captured images instantly, capitalizing on the
excitementofthejust-finishedportraitsession.
Additionally, the daunting task of traditional
retouching has all but been eliminated by
Adobe® Photoshop® and its many tools and
techniques.Thespecialeffectstricksthatwere
once the province of the accomplished dark-
room technician are now routinely created
quickly and expertly by the photographer in
Photoshop.
Despite these technological advances,
though, many of the techniques of the old-
timeportraitisthavesurvivedandareusefulto
today’sphotographers.Therudimentsofpos-
ingandcompositionaretimelessanddateback
to the beginnings of Greek civilization. This
book attempts to combine some of the time-
tested disciplines with more contemporary
methodsinsuchawaythattheywillbeuseful
tothemodern-dayphotographer.Theempha-
sis will be on techniques rather than on so-
phisticated studio equipment. After all, if a
specifictypeofportraitcanbemadewithtwo
8PORTRAITPHOTOGRAPHER’SHANDBOOK
lights just as simply as with five lights, why not use the tially on lighting, posing, and creativity for professional
simplersetup? portraiture,onecannotignoretheimpactofdigitaltech-
It is not the intent of this book to impart a series of nologyinportraitureinthepastfewyears.Whenthefirst
rules that must be followed without exception. Instead, editionwaspublished,digitalcaptureandoutputwerein
this book was created to give photographers an under- use by only a select handful of photographers. In those
standing of the traditional rules and how they’re fre- early years of digital, professional cameras could cost as
quently broken so they may incorporate what they will muchas$30,000,makingthemaluxuryforonlythewell-
intotheirindividualrepertoireoftechniques.Itismyhope offphotographer.Whilethegoaloftheportraitistisstill,
that after reading this book and studying the award-win- above all other aims, to idealize the subject, the tools of
ning images, you will have a battery of knowledge that today are not only more convenient, but they are vital to
willenableyoutoproducepleasing,memorableportraits. thatprimarytask.Asaresult,manyofthechangesinboth
the imagery and text of this new edition of PortraitPho-
AUTHOR’SNOTE tographer’sHandbookreflecttheexpandingroleofdigital
ThisisthethirdeditionofPortraitPhotographer’sHand- technologyinprofessionalportraiture.
book. While the focus of this new edition remains essen-
Portraiturehaschanged,butthegoalstillremainsthesame,torevealthecharacterofthesubject.ThisunderwaterportraitbyLarryPe-
tersisunique.Theblacktricotbackgroundandthesoftsidelightingofanunderwaterstrobe,combinedwithafloatinglighttentthatisil-
luminatedfroma2500Watt-secondstrobeonthepooldeckmakesthisastrikingimage.Thereflectionofthesubjectonthesurfacealmost
lookslikeangelwings.ThephotographermadetheimagewithaCanonEOS5Dand24mmlens.Thisportraitisanexampleofhowthe
changingtechnologyhasopenedupnewmeanstocreateimagesthatwerealmostimpossibletoconceiveofafewyearsago.