Help needed - photos and thanks added

[Alison]

Help and advice rather than criticism sought if that's ok

I'm writing this gentleman's biography and obviously need photos (he was a pilot during the war and sustained extensive burns as a result of a crash so I want them to contrast starkly with his "before" pics as a smooth unblemished 21 year old. I sought permission from him to post this photograph here which he kindly granted).

The situation is:

• He will happily pose for practice shots any time and as often as I like but only in his own home
• His bungalow has no room larger than 15 x 10' and all the rooms have magnolia coloured walls and ceilings
• Although I could use the largest room, it's full of furniture which shrinks it a fair deal. Suffice it to say that I can't take a shot from very far away.
• This was my first go with a hot shoe flash (580EX II)
• It had an Omnibounce diffuser on it
• The lenses at my disposal are 18-55 and 70-300
• I might be able to borrow an EF 85mm f/1.2L II but I'd like to get the lighting and everything right before making the request.

My questions are:

• Is there some sort of portable backdrop that I could buy? (cheaply, preferably, as it's unlikely I'll ever use it again). Although his walls are a bland colour, they're all covered with pictures, tapestries etc., i.e. busy. It'd be very difficult to remove them and I have tried.
• Given his grey hair, would a dark backdrop provide a better contrast than a white one?
• If "yes" to the foregoing should I ask him to dress in dark clothing so that just his face stands out? I was thinking navy backdrop, navy blazer and white polo neck sweater so that just his face stands out.
• What sort of pose should I be asking for? He's a game guy and pretty much up for anything. The reason for his barely suppressed grin in this shot is that I'd told him I'd take my knickers off and touch my toes if he smiled nicely for me (don't worry, I didn't, and nor did he expect me to! ) I've got a couple of printed studio portraits of him c. 1941 in uniform and wondered if it might be a good idea to get him to mirror the poses in those?
• Would a white umbrella be useful to bounce the flash off? I could easily borrow one of those.
• I know little about reflectors. I want to capture the starkness of his facial disfigurements so would one help? We tried some shots with him holding a sheet of tinfoil at chest height the other week (the only light source coming from a window to the left of him as I hadn't acquired the 580 at that point) and it seemed to make a positive difference in terms of what I want to achieve.

Help and advice rather than C + C sought on this occasion as I can see that 1970s curtains and picture frames growing out of the subject's head (you should see the ones with the rude windowsill cactus ) are no good thing in terms of composition!

I really want to get this right so please help me

 

[Flash In The Pan]

Personally, I like shots like the one you posted that show the person in their natural environment rather than against a plain background. I wouldn't be asking him to pose, but rather chat to him and record his reactions and emotions, be careful with the "knicker" promises though at his age

 

[subseasniper]

Alison, first of, cool project. Love it.

Will you be doing the photos in monochrome to match the archive material or are you keeping them as colour?

With regards to clothing etc I am useless with stuff like that but the backdrop could probably be handled pretty easily.

I would try and get the old rascal as far away from the wall as possible, cram yourself into a corner or the far wall and get him close to you. Next use the 580 EX and bounce it off the ceiling (or even the wall behind your head). Keep your aperture small (to darken the background as much as possible and the TTL should take care of the exposure of the subject. That should darken the background a good bit but if it is still too bright you are maybe looking at getting some kind of backrop set up.

As for a reflector, some shots with him by a window and using the reflector to throw a bit of light back at him from the shadowy side would look pretty nice.

Good luck!

 

[GarynLea]

Does he have any bookcases or similar that he can pose in front of to illustrate wisdom and experience?

 

[Garry Edwards]

Does he have any bookcases or similar that he can pose in front of to illustrate wisdom and experience?

I don't feel that this gentleman needs to illustrate anything, his face tells us that he has kept his enjoyment of life and sense of humour despite being a member of the guinea pigs club. I would shoot him without any kind of backdrop, because his home is part of who he is.

As for lighting, you could do better with harder lighting but it seems to me that it's OK as it is

 

[Alison]

Personally, I like shots like the one you posted that show the person in their natural environment rather than against a plain background. I wouldn't be asking him to pose, but rather chat to him and record his reactions and emotions, be careful with the "knicker" promises though at his age

Riskier than you think - he's as fit as a fiddle (still goes skiing at least once a year) and I'm certain he could easily outrun me! Even at the age of 85 he's definitely still very much a ladies man.

I think you're right in that I should include some natural environment shots, and thank you for your comments.

Alison, first of, cool project. Love it.

Will you be doing the photos in monochrome to match the archive material or are you keeping them as colour?

I thought it'd be good to do at least one or two in monochrome but have a slight problem in that the originals aren't straightforward B + W or sepia (to my eye at least :shrug. I wouldn't know how to process any shots of my own to match and think they'd have to be a very good match for them to make sense and not look messy. I can't post the originals to ask for help at the moment as my computer won't let me open the files from my memory stick for some reason. I'll scan them again next weekend and try again then. I was thinking that someone in either the Film and Conventional or PP section might be able to advise.

I would try and get the old rascal as far away from the wall as possible, cram yourself into a corner or the far wall and get him close to you. Next use the 580 EX and bounce it off the ceiling (or even the wall behind your head). Keep your aperture small (to darken the background as much as possible and the TTL should take care of the exposure of the subject. That should darken the background a good bit but if it is still too bright you are maybe looking at getting some kind of backrop set up.

As for a reflector, some shots with him by a window and using the reflector to throw a bit of light back at him from the shadowy side would look pretty nice.

Good luck!

Thanks very much for taking the time to consider this and respond in such depth - much appreciated, as is everyone's input

I tried bouncing the flash off the ceiling and it worked pretty well but I think that bouncing it off the wall behind me would create a much better effect. I'll give your suggestions a go next weekend and see what happens.

Does he have any bookcases or similar that he can pose in front of to illustrate wisdom and experience?

Now that is a cracking idea He's got two very nice bookcases full of interesting books (he's a medical man - still works full time) so one would illustrate his professional life very well. The other is his "hobby" bookcase and would highlight the diversity of his interests perfectly. I should be able to position him well in front of both of them and have room to shoot. I'd never have thought of that so thanks very much

I don't feel that this gentleman needs to illustrate anything, his face tells us that he has kept his enjoyment of life and sense of humour despite being a member of the guinea pigs club. I would shoot him without any kind of backdrop, because his home is part of who he is.

As for lighting, you could do better with harder lighting but it seems to me that it's OK as it is

Further to my responses to Flashy Pan and Garynlea, the idea of capturing him amongst his personal possessions is a very good one indeed: thanks for helping me to visualise some captures and contexts that I wouldn't otherwise have considered

I've got some pretty gruesome shots of him post-surgery though (sepia) so I do need to take some of my own to mirror them. I'm sure that the harsher light that you suggest is just what's needed for these.

For anyone interested, he tells me that he thinks he's appearing in a programme on BBC 4 mid September (remembers being interviewed and filmed but doesn't know whether the footage will be included). He knows that the series starts this coming Wednesday at 9pm but isn't sure when The Guinea Pig Club one will be shown.

 

[mortm]

No no no to backdrop. Family photos on a ledge behind, grandchildren etc a hint at what came after and what may never have been.... I hope that doesn't sound weird or morbid but I guess you will know what I mean.

Mel

 

[Lensflare]

If you want the "wrinkles" to stand out more - go in closer and fill the frame with his face, you don't need the top of his hair for this, get really tight. To make the skin texture really stand out use graze ligting - get the light to graze across his face so the wrinkles cast shadows, like a ploughed field with low sunlight on it. That will bring the texture out.

You have a really good project there.

 

[mobilevirgin]

I would use your 70-300 at the 70 (maybe 100ish) end in natural light and pay a bit more attention to the background. That's not a bad shot to start with - its just that his head is bisected by the wall / curtain thing. And that picture frame in the bottom left needs to go.

Good effort - but try and do it again without flash.

And maybe think about a B&W processing for the finished shots

 

[Canon Bob]

I would think something like a 135L would be perfect for accentuating the lines and character in the old boys face. An 85L would produce a stunningly sympathetic portrait but the 135 would tell the tale. You do need to isolate him as far from the background as possible though....but make it "his backgound" and not one that arrives in your car.

Bob

 

[Alison]

No no no to backdrop. Family photos on a ledge behind, grandchildren etc a hint at what came after and what may never have been.... I hope that doesn't sound weird or morbid but I guess you will know what I mean.

Mel

Not at all weird or morbid Mel and I do know exactly what you mean As it happens, the subject often speaks about the way the accident altered the path of his life and far from regrets it due to the way things turned out. Whilst the crash and immediate consequences were dreadful, it's by no means the most interesting or dramatic part of his life story which is, in the main, a very upbeat and happy one.

If you want the "wrinkles" to stand out more - go in closer and fill the frame with his face, you don't need the top of his hair for this, get really tight. To make the skin texture really stand out use graze ligting - get the light to graze across his face so the wrinkles cast shadows, like a ploughed field with low sunlight on it. That will bring the texture out.

You have a really good project there.

Thanks Lensflare - sounds like just the effect I'm after, hence the homespun tinfoil reflector/window light source experiments the other week. Those shots had potential but didn't quite work out. Any idea what light source I should try for the graze?

It is the most fascinating and enjoyable project imaginable and I feel very privileged. Funny thing is, the subject says that he feels honoured that someone would want to chronicle his life which he thinks has been very dull. He's such a modest man, so candid and readily forthcoming that this is an utter joy. The best of it is that every time I visit him he cooks me a fabulous lunch and gives me a present to thank me for my time. Last month he gave me a load of film cameras and lenses. When I turned up on Sunday he'd bought me the latest edition of a digital photograph magazine that he'd seen in W H Smiths and thought I'd like. How thoughtful is that?

I can see that 1970s curtains and picture frames growing out of the subject's head (you should see the ones with the rude windowsill cactus ) are no good thing in terms of composition!

I would use your 70-300 at the 70 (maybe 100ish) end in natural light and pay a bit more attention to the background. That's not a bad shot to start with - its just that his head is bisected by the wall / curtain thing. And that picture frame in the bottom left needs to go.

Good effort - but try and do it again without flash.

And maybe think about a B&W processing for the finished shots

Re. your comment on the picture frame and curtain, don't I know it!

I was thinking about trying some shots in B + W straight from the camera as all my efforts at editing have so far failed to achieve the desired effect. I was going to try setting the camera (350D) to B + W then playing around with the contrast and also the different colour tones.

I would think something like a 135L would be perfect for accentuating the lines and character in the old boys face. An 85L would produce a stunningly sympathetic portrait but the 135 would tell the tale. You do need to isolate him as far from the background as possible though....but make it "his backgound" and not one that arrives in your car.

Bob

I've accorded all the comments in this thread a great deal of thought and am in complete agreement Bob: "his" background is definitely the right one. I'm off to look at Lenses For Hire and explore the possibility of a 135. Thank you for taking the time to consider this and offer such useful advice

 

[subseasniper]

Alison, RE the comment about the light emphasizing the mans wrinkles, try getting the flash off camera by using an off-camera cord, or the Canon Speedlite ST-E2 transmitter.

If you are needing any flash advice try www.strobist.com and check out the flash 101 and 102 sections, it will help you a lot.

Finally, RE the monochrome images, I'm sure there will be some way to scan the archive images into photoshop and then use the colour picker tool to create duotone images of your new shots. I am not really up to spped with photoshop but I am sure somebody on here could advise you how to do it. Shouldn't be too difficult and th ematching shots and maybe a bit of grain to emulate the archive material would look pretty good.

Good Luck.

 

[Alison]

Alison, RE the comment about the light emphasizing the mans wrinkles, try getting the flash off camera by using an off-camera cord, or the Canon Speedlite ST-E2 transmitter.

If you are needing any flash advice try www.strobist.com and check out the flash 101 and 102 sections, it will help you a lot.

Finally, RE the monochrome images, I'm sure there will be some way to scan the archive images into photoshop and then use the colour picker tool to create duotone images of your new shots. I am not really up to spped with photoshop but I am sure somebody on here could advise you how to do it. Shouldn't be too difficult and th ematching shots and maybe a bit of grain to emulate the archive material would look pretty good.

Good Luck.

I don't know where you live Sniper, but if it's anywhere close and you fancy joining me to try and capture some decent shots of my subject you would be more than welcome (I have checked with him and it's fine).

Looked at The Strobist re. off camera flash but to be honest, it's way beyond me and my current skills. I will keep looking and learning there so thank you for that

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, I've had what I think might be a brainwave. Whilst I will play around with my own shots in PP and try and achieve the effect that matches the archive material and mirrors the pose, how about I capture him with the "before" photograph in a frame next to him on his writing desk? :shrug: I can picture it and the picture is good - whether it would work is another matter. I envisage my main problem with that as being one of getting both the subject and old photo in focus. Any ideas?

 

[mmcp42]

there's not a lot wrong with the picture in the first post
I envy you this project - and look forward to seeing the results!

the very best of luck

 

[bidden]

What a wonderfull project Alison. The initial photo shows sooo much character! I'm no good at any tecchy advice but you obviously have a great raport with him which as we can already see is going to produce great portraits. I do like the mirror pose idea. Please let us know when the project is completed i would be very interested in the finished article...signed of course!!!

 

[subseasniper]

Alison, thanks for the offer, would be fun but I'm afraid I am living on Shetland at the moment.

As for incorporating the old and new photo in the same shot. Could you have him holding a framed version of the old photo against his chest. That way you would have his face, the old photo and his hands in the frame. The pose may be a bit contrived but it would look cool with his old hands clutching at the photo.

I imagine it would look nice against a dark background.

It could work well on the desk as well but the composition would have to be spot on to bring attention to the old picture rather than having it as just another piece of set dressing that disappears in the mix. He could look at it I suppose but it may look a bit whimsical and cheesy.

Tricky, let us know how you get on.

 

[Alison]

I thought the best way to thank everyone for their suggestions would be to give them a whirl and show the results here. I do seriously take your advice on board and put it into practice: your input is very much appreciated

There's still loads wrong with these in almost every respect imaginable but I really feel that I'm getting there thanks to your help in terms of lighting and backdrop which is a good start (and the reason for posting my original question in this section). I'm heartened and optimistic that I can make a good job of this now even though it might take some time! I hope that my latest shots from today taken in light of your suggestions are an improvement

#1

I'm definitely getting the best "graze" effect from harsh natural outside light. Nothing I tried indoors worked anywhere near as well. I'm going to give something similar to this shot a go in B + W. The reason the middle of his face is damaged but the outside isn't is because he was wearing a flying helmet when the crash happened and the bits it covered didn't get burnt. This is something I'll be explaining in the narrative so I do need a photo to illustrate it. I think I'll ask him to remove his specs next time.

#2

Straight from camera other than resizing, shot in B + W plus bookcase backdrop. Window behind me, diffused flash bounced off magnolia coloured wall left of pic. There's no natural light source available (i.e. window or door I could open) to the right of his face which I'd like to illuminate better. He's got an angle lamp which I could use - do you think that'd work? :shrug:

#3

As above (#2) but with flash bounced off the ceiling. It's way to bland for my purpose and nowhere near contrasty enough. Nothing goes to waste though - a lesson learned on my part plus The Subject really likes this one and wants to e-mail it to his grandchildren.

#4

The archive photo on desk idea didn't quite hit the mark, although I still think it might have potential. The glass needs to come out of the frame for one thing and I've got a lot of work to do in terms of getting angles right. I tried your idea of the subject holding the photo Sniper, see next pic and comments below.

#5

Of all the daft outlandish poses I've requested and he's so patiently agreed to sit for, this was the only one he's been uncomfortable about. He felt that it would look contrived and I think he's right. I reckon the best place for the archive photo is on the bookcase behind him. Two problems: a) how would I achieve focus on both that and the subject and b) the photo frame is about 1" to big to fit on the shelf. Any ideas? Scanning the original and cutting some of the white background out would seem to be the obvious answer.

#6

Just for fun, nose to nose with his ancient little dog Rupert who is blind, deaf and senile. This is another shot which is useless for my purposes but he absolutely loves and has asked me to file on his computer so that he can e-mail it to his family. Whilst I won't use it, I'm glad that someone will and it wasn't a waste of time

 

[cherryrig]

Number 4 is nice but I thought it needed some more light added

Just a simple move of the white level on levels in PS

Hope that was okay?

Better?

 

[photon]

Here's a conversion with the addition of a green filter to emphasise the reddened areas, just to give an idea of another option, though I think it's gone OTT.

For the framed portrait, you could trap a piece of hardboard (e.g. the back of a clip-frame) under some books to make a stand for the photo.

 

[mobilevirgin]

Alison

I think you're being way too hard on yourself. They're all good photos. I do agree that some of the B&Ws need a bit more contrast and / or a levels adjustment to bring out some mid-tones. But in terms of capturing your man, you've done really well, I think.

#3
As above (#2) but with flash bounced off the ceiling. It's way to bland for my purpose and nowhere near contrasty enough. Nothing goes to waste though - a lesson learned on my part plus The Subject really likes this one and wants to e-mail it to his grandchildren.

I agree. As above - its a great portrait - lots of character. Its a PP issue and nothing more. I'm not at all surprised he likes it.

Is this any better? Its a screen grab from PS with the levels dialog still open so you can see what I've done. And that's it - nothing more

 

[Alison]

Better?

Much better, thank you

I've given this a go on some of the other shots I took and it has worked well. I'd been playing around with the parameters in the camera and some of the best captures ended up being very over saturated as a result. Your help has just rescued a dozen otherwise decent ones which were destined for the bin

Here's a conversion with the addition of a green filter to emphasise the reddened areas, just to give an idea of another option, though I think it's gone OTT.

For the framed portrait, you could trap a piece of hardboard (e.g. the back of a clip-frame) under some books to make a stand for the photo.

It doesn't look OTT on my monitor Photon - yet another thing that hadn't occurred to me and I'll try that on some others from the day. Just out of interest, do you think that shooting in B + W set with a green tone might produce a similar effect?

I'm going to test your hardboard idea out too so thank you for giving that some thought

Alison

I think you're being way too hard on yourself. They're all good photos. I do agree that some of the B&Ws need a bit more contrast and / or a levels adjustment to bring out some mid-tones. But in terms of capturing your man, you've done really well, I think.

I agree. As above - its a great portrait - lots of character. Its a PP issue and nothing more. I'm not at all surprised he likes it.

Is this any better? Its a screen grab from PS with the levels dialog still open so you can see what I've done. And that's it - nothing more

We'll have to agree to disagree there as I don't think I'm anywhere near hard enough on myself I think I capture the man's character well though, as do those who know and love him which is reassuring: I might be nowhere near in terms of the photographic quality I'm after but at least I'm managing to portray him realistically.

He's so pleased with the pics from Saturday that he's e-mailed them to his friends, colleagues and family. Interesting to see which ones he sent to whom too - #2 to his professional pals and "lady friends" , #3 and a similar one I took in colour plus another of him kissing the dog to family. All about how you see yourself and would like to be perceived by others I suppose. He thinks that #2 portrays gravitas and flatters him and the others mentioned show the lighthearted Dad and Grandpa that is the other side of his life.

Thank you for the screen grab which has been very useful indeed

 

[photon]

For anyone interested, he tells me that he thinks he's appearing in a programme on BBC 4 mid September (remembers being interviewed and filmed but doesn't know whether the footage will be included). He knows that the series starts this coming Wednesday at 9pm but isn't sure when The Guinea Pig Club one will be shown.

Good excuse for a bump. Tonight's programme (BBC4, 9pm) is about the history of reconstructive and cosmetic surgery. Repeated at midnight and on Thursday at 10pm. Plus Auntie's iPlayer for those of us in the UK.

 

[bidden]

Great documentary..fascinating in fact.(slightly gory for some) but only a couple of fleeting shots of your man.