BLOG
Sit. Relax. Catch up.
Chasing the Light: Samuel L Jackson by Amanda Demme
In learning photography, we are gifted to have such a wealth of talent to draw inspiration from. One of the more challenging elements of it for me has been lighting. We have natural God given light in the form of our sun and then there are many means of artificial light from flashes, constant lights and strobes. All this said, I wanted to create a space to share my learning process and hopefully others can glean what they will from it as well.
I found this image of Samuel L Jackson recently, captured by the amazingly talented Amanda Demme (@amandadeeme) and I was simply inspired by it to want and try to recreate the shot.
Image captured by: Amanda Demme
Looking over it I analyzed the lighting and went about recreating it with the tools I had on hand. From what I saw, there is light coming camera left and somewhat high based on the shadows. As well, there was either light being bounced back or directly coming from camera right.
36” Photek Softlighter umbrella camera left and a gridded 3’ strip light camera left to create a little edge light.
Based on what I saw in the image, I setup the following lighting arrangement. Originally I wanted to use my 60” umbrella, but the limited ceiling space had me modify the size in order to get the light high enough to achieve a similar light. Initial shots with this setup give me the general light but I was losing information in the eyes, as the key light was overhead, so I worked to add in a 3rd light behind camera as my fill light. That light was a 60” umbrella pointed directly towards subject. A more simulated look of the setup can be found below.
Lighting arrangement using Set-A-Light software. Definitely check it out to supplement your light chasing learning!
So putting it all together I came up with this recreation :)
It’s not exact but I think it comes close. And that’s the fun of playing and experimenting. I do dig the lighting setup, it provides a dark and moody environment to photograph. Let me know what you think in the comments below!
40 Days of 40
Earlier in the year I had an idea to capture a day in the life of being forty. I think it just sounded cool and in my mind, making it to the age of 40 just seemed a wonder. Me being me, I kept putting it off and putting it off until I realized I was running out of days in my 40’s LOL. So with 42 days available, I started on the project.
The goal of the project was to push myself a bit out of the comfort zone, kick into gear posting more on social media, reflect on the wonders of making to the age of 40 and maybe along the way impart some wisdom. I’ve put a small gallery of some of my favorites from the project. Check out more of the 40 days project on my Instagram feed.
Headshot Wardrobe
Lost on what to wear for your headshots? Here’s a quick guide to help make the selection process easier.
Congratulations you booked a headshot session, now comes the fun part, planning what to wear to help make that winning image. First off, I’m going to define my idea of what a headshot is. It’s an image that captures your personality, has clean elements (backdrop and wardrobe), and crops from about mid chest up to just a little above the hair line. But don’t confuse the simple parameters as this being something that is as easy as standing in front of the dmv camera to get your driver’s license image. Plus how many of us actually like our driver’s license image? I suppose if we did, it’d be our headshot photo of choice across all our social platforms :)!
Okay, let’s talk wardrobe! The focus of your headshot should be on your winning face and personality, and the outfit is there to work with that…not distract. What could distract? In general, clothes that are loose fitting, are bright in color, or have large patterns. Avoiding clothing that meet the above criteria will help to keep the focus on you and not your clothing. Have a look at the below gallery to see some examples and I’ll deep dive into why to avoid these items of clothing. I included shots on different color backgrounds to also show how the background selection can affect the wardrobe choice as well.
Loose clothing might feel good, but it hides your form and while some of us may shy away from that, the purpose of the headshot is to present our best self forward to the world. A well fitting shirt or top will draw clean lines that won’t hide you from the world, but help make you pop!
Color plays an important role in your wardrobe selection and here’s why. If the color is too bright or doesn’t work well with one’s skin tone, it can easily distract or take center stage. A little bit of color is great as it helps to provide that pop, but that’s all you want..a pop and all eyes on your amazing face. Overly bright or neon like colors, will easily draw the attention away from you and that’s no good.
Last but not least, patterns. Patterns are fun to get lost in and again not something you want the viewers of your headshot to do when looking at your image. The one instance where a pattern can work, is if it is a tight one that almost makes it look solid. Ultimately your best choice will be a solid colored top.
I hope this quick guide has helped to ease the process of selecting what to wear for your headshot session. Let me know your thoughts and other tips in the comments below.
Jessica - Maternity Session
Spending the day with the lovely Jessica. Capturing the magical stage that is maternity.
The road to motherhood is not always smooth for everyone. Something we don’t realize is that it can take many tries. But when it takes, what a magical moment! There is such beauty in a woman during this wondrous stage. I am glad and honored to have been able to capture these images for Jessica and her growing family. One of the things I love to do for clients is create a slideshow of some of the images. Enjoy this one of Jessica’s.