Subject Position : In the middle of the scene, 2/3 of the picture (1/3 free for title)
Focal lenght : about 30 mm at F/5.6
Available reading light : depending of the sun light. Tests : F/8, background with tungsten lights : F/11 (*at 4:00 PM there were no sun anymore*)
Additional lights : one softbox with a flash at 1:1 ratio and another one with a umbrella (bouncing) at 2:1 ratio + diffusers if the softbox is too strong. One reflector on the other side of the subject.
Pre-Light Report
The position of the camera will be 1- 1 ½ meter of distance from the subject and about 3 ft to the ground. The low point of view of the subject will exaggerate perspective giving him more ‘’power’’. The point of view of the environment is the hallway. The carpet gives a long vanishing point, so placing the subject in the center of the picture will increase the attention on him. There are a lot of columns in this architecture, so I need to be careful with the composition and be aware of things in the back of the head. I can use those columns to ‘frame’’ the subject to give more importance on his face. He will be a ¾ frame, so head to knees. He will be little bit turn on his right with the hands together or cross. In the case my subject is a woman. She would have one hand on her side and her left arm on her hip. I need to keep 1/3 of the picture free by using the white roof for the title of the magazine.
1- I am going to use the daylight coming through the windows as my main light because it is the stronger ambient light and it is a huge part of the environment created by the architect. I want people feel the environment by looking the picture.
2- On the test I used my 18-200 mm at 28-30 mm, but if I have enough light coming through the windows, I will try to get at least 50 mm because I don’t want my subject to look strange because of the distortion. I still want to see the environment.
3- If the temperature is still cloudy like the test day, I will shoot under 400 ISO and between F/4 - F/5.6 maximum (I don’t need the background to be perfectly on focus, but enough to see the architecture, there’s a lot of visual information in the architecture that can obstruct the attention on the subject).
4- The speed will be the maximum I can get, approximately about 1/120 (I want the shot to be bright and not too much of contrast but sharp). I can’t get more than 1/200 because I am using flash.
5- So with those presets, I will keep my daylight as the main light. I will add a soft box about 12 ft from the subject to give him a little more quality of light on him (hair, face) with a 1:1 ratio. I will need also a big white reflector for the other side of the face, so I can have enough light to achieve the settings I want to use.
6- In the back of the hallway, the amount of light will really depends of the quality of available light from the windows. Because I have two different spots in the picture that are in the shadows, I will need an additional light (flash) to clear up this area, but not blast it. I want a ratio about 1:2. I will use an umbrella and turn the light to light the roof and the back. This area has also orange lights. Because my main light is the sun, it would be easier to correct those areas with Photoshop with masks. For the second area, if I place the subject in the center, we don’t see it, so I will not need to use more than 2 flash heads.
7- In the case I will have too much light because of a super sunny day, diffusers would be the solution to not blast the subject. I need those in case, because the sun is coming on the side of the building in afternoon, when I am shooting.
8- When I did the tests, I had to wait the other teams in the back of the hallway to be finished to not disturb their sets, so when I had finally the spot, the light were gone. On the Polaroids images, you can see that the tests were not really good. But I will come earlier the day of the shoot to set up my lights and be ready to shoot at the time and have a nice light. By chance, the other teams are shooting in the morning, so I will have the hallway free. In case, I will make some different expositions of the scene to make my life easier in photoshop if there’s any problems with the environment. I need to be also aware of people passing in the building, so I will need the help of Mathieu to be my assistant and check that. I will need also a tripod so I can work better and keeping my composition and a grey card to made the work easier in post production. I will definitely need to ajust the color balance on the post-production spot by spot.
9- As I mention before, the color balance will be a little bit too complicated to ajust in the spot because I am using mostly daylight as main light. I will take a grey card picture, and adjust the little orange areas in the back of the building with the selection tool in Photoshop. I don’t have too many areas so it will not be difficult.
10- List of equipment:
- 2 prophoto lights kit with umbrellas
- 2 stands
- 4 extensions cords
- 1 light meter
- 1 soft box (medium)
- 1 big reflector
- 1 receptor, 2 receivers
- 1 tripod
- 1 grey card
- Diffusers
Preparation:
I will not need a permit for this assignment. I will need a model; I would like to have a man with nice clothes (not in tuxedo but well dress). I will need my partner to be my assistant to be sure nobody is walking by when I taking my shot. I have to get the equipment by Friday night. I need to come earlier (around 11hr20) to set up my things and shoot as soon as possible because 1: need a lot of daylight as possible. 2: if this is a super sunny day, the sun will be on my side around 2 pm and it will be a mess. 3: according to my personal schedule, I need to be done at 4 pm.
Excellent analysis. For the record, you do not need a permit for this shoot because I arranged for permission but of course if this were a real job for you you would not only need permission but you would also need 2million in liability insurance.
ReplyDeleteMy only concern with your shoot is the depth of filed. You are right that having the background a little out of focus will help the subject stand out but even less depth of filed would help even more!!! The day of the shoot I would like you to be prepared to shoot exactly what you have planned here, but if you could arrange to have a very long lens (maybe a 150 or 200 mm) and try a digi polaroid with more limited depth of filed you may like the results even more!
Digi polaroid and diagram 25/25
analysis 23/25