articles/Fashion/rollingwiththebigdog11-page3

Rolling with the BIG Dog Part 11 - part 3 of 1 2 3 4

by Damian McGillicuddy Published 01/06/2011

This traditional 'beauty' lighting style casts shadows under the nose and from the chin onto the subject's neck. The mini light panel was employed to counter this effect and raise the shadow density particularly under the chin.

The panel was positioned under the dish to collect and reflect the light from the unit, not being used to directly light the subject. As the light is being caught and reflected by the panel, it actually travels a greater distance than the light from the dish which lights the face directly Because of our good friend, the 'inverse square law', it means that this secondary illumination is of a lesser intensity than the direct 'key' light and thus raises the shadow density without competing or killing the intended directionality of the 'key'...simples!

The second light was used to illuminate our white background. As we only needed to light a small section of the background the 18cm reflector on the Quadra was more than adequate. The light was placed just behind, and to the left, of the subject and was angled back to light the wall directly behind her head. The MOST important thing with lighting hi-key is not to overcook it. EV +1 is more than enough! Any more and you run the risk of contamination and over-lighting if your camera room isn't long enough to allow you positional control. Good lighting control is always an essential ingredient in fine photography.

The focal length of lens, 42mm on full frame, was selected as it was slightly wide, thus it would slightly dramatise, enhance and exaggerate the model's pose of leaning in to the camera, giving that slight feeling of manic urgency and subtle scale-distortion.

The image was composed 'in camera' as a square, part of the clever functionality of the camera. Being able to compose the final crop in camera makes a huge difference in precisely filling the frame as you intend.

Post Production:

Other than the normal tweak to levels, and the cloning of stray hairs or skin imperfections, there was nothing clever or dramatic carried. The mono conversion was made directly in Aperture 3.1.

Now the 'edutainment' is over, I hope you both enjoyed and learned something useful. I like to think, even though it may be ego driven, that you can tell that these are McGillicuddy images. I'm proud of the precise lighting control, the crisp camera craft, the expressive posing and the narrative entwined in to each and every image. I believe they are reflective of my abilities and the years I've dedicated to my chosen profession. However, let's be honest, they are what you've come to expect - there's nothing ground breaking or earth shattering in any of the studies. Or is there?

What if the whole point of this article was to be a little under-handed? What if the main drive of its text was to trap you? What if the intention was to make you think I was 'zigging' as a posed to 'zagging'?

WHAT THE HELL AM I ON ABOUT???

What if I wanted to explain to you how critical your photographic knowledge is to your success? What if I wanted to demonstrate that creating great images was more to do with the 'knowing' than the 'automated'? What if it wasn't all about the gear?

Surely the key 'piece' for photographic success is having the biggest, shiniest, most expensive piece of gear and slamming the dial on to 'P' for 'PROFESSIONAL', everything is so advanced now...or have I misunderstood?

Surely the key 'piece' for photographic success is having the biggest, shiniest, most expensive piece of gear and slamming the dial on to 'P' for 'PROFESSIONAL', everything is so advanced now...or have I misunderstood?

What I do know is that IQ is no longer the strict domain of the pro! What I do know is that unless you know how to pilot it yourself, whatever you spend on equipment is irrelevant! We all need to realise that it this is a PROFESSION with as much to learn as any other profession if you want to rise to the top. There is no substitute for learning, there is no mechanical advantage that can be purchased to do it for you...you HAVE to study, you HAVE to learn, you HAVE to acquire and understand the knowledge it really is that simple!

• Rolling with the BIG Dog Part 11 page 1
  
• Rolling with the BIG Dog Part 11 page 2
  
• Rolling with the BIG Dog Part 11 page 3
  
• Rolling with the BIG Dog Part 11 page 4
  

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