studio lighting « Jurgen Doom

on how to take a group photograph …

9 March 2011 om 18:03 door Jürgen geplaatst in de categorie Flashlight,Group photograph,Photography,Portrait,Studio

Remember my previous post? I talked about portrait photography for MBS but also mentioned we photographed a the whole team as a group inside the house in which we photographed the individual portraits. Well, I didn’t include the making of the group photographt in the previous post as I wanted to keep it for a seperate post.

The group photograph we took of the staff at MBS was done in a living room. They had seen a group photograph of a father and his 4 sons I did a while ago and they wanted something along those lines for their formal group photograph. Therefore, we set up a mobile studio containing a background system with white background paper and 3 Elinchrome strobes (RX600). I used 1 large Chimera softbox on the strobe facing the group and two gridded strobes aimed at the background in order to illuminate the white background (as to render it as white as possible without blowing it out too much). The grids I used in order to reduce the spill on to the people in the group, coming strait out of the strobes. This is something I wouldn’t need to do in studio, but on location, where space comes at a premium, this was necessary.

You can see part of the setup in this image, which I took as part of my test images to judge the lighting and position of the people in the group.

group photograph

Notice also the white curtain I had to use in order to get the group positioned against a white backdrop. As the group photograph was to be cleaned-up afterwards in post production, it didn’t bother me too much.

So this is what it finally looked like. I positioned myself a bit higher up in order to create more depth in the image, which was liked very much by the group (and myself …). Image photographer on a Nikon D3x. Flashes triggered with Elinchrome Skyport.

group photograph

Group photographs are sometimes a nightmare for photographers, as there are so many things that can go wrong …. but on this one, it was almost plain sailing!

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Corporate photography – or how to make photos to meet your clients needs

4 March 2011 om 14:47 door Jürgen geplaatst in de categorie advertising,Commercial,corporate photography,Flashlight,photographer,Photography

As a corporate photographer, specialising in business to business photography, you need to be able to produce photographs that meet your clients needs.

In this particular case, the people at bakker asked me to come up with a series of photos for their new website. They had photographs on their old website, but those were stock images bought from an image bank. They wanted the same look and feel of what they had on their old site, but instead of “generic” photos of models, they wanted to use their own people (in fact, the staff and partners).

So what the client basically wanted was to have images that were fairly evenly lit, with relatively clean backgrounds that breath professionalism. All the shots were to be made at their offices in Antwerp.

I had Ans Brugmans with me as my make-up artist and Jasmijn assisted me with the photography and lighting.

During the course of the day, we did about 8 completely different setups, having to change the lighting each and every time. Within each setup there was often room to move around and play with different compositions.

I used my studio lighting (Elinchrom RX600) in conjunction with my small portable Nikon SB900 strobes in order to create the look we wanted. All images are photographed on a Nikon D3s. During the day I only used 2 prime lenses. One was a Nikon 50mm f/1.4 lens and the other was a Nikon 85mm f/1.4 lens). I prefer to work with prime lenses over zoom lenses because it is sharper, has a higher contrast and is generally much lighter than have zooms. On an assignement like this there is no need to work with zoom lenses as you have both your lighting and setup under control. Framing the image is just a matter of moving forwards or backwards in order to compose your image.

Of course, all images were photographer in the RAW format and post processed through Adobe Lightroom.

The images are now used on their site, which looks like this (at www.bakker.be) and which looks stunning (see screenshots below). Website made by Van Katoen (Damien Dubois).

Corporate photography for bakker.be

Corporate photography for bakker.be

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A cover photograph, aka the Christmas cover

7 December 2010 om 13:02 door Jürgen geplaatst in de categorie advertising,Flashlight,Photography,Portrait

As a photographer, freelancing for magazines and art-directors, you have to be both very adaptable and flexible. Take this cover photograph for OKRA as an example. The art-director wanted a photograph for the december issue, which had to have a connection with Christmas, but the image shouldn’t be an obvious christmas photograph either (tree, lights & presents). Fine with me.

In addition to that, they suggested a photograph of a mother with baby (you see the Christmas link here) in a Christmas atmosphere. So, they said, the photograph should have some connection with the time of the year, yet don’t go all the way ….

OK, fine, I’m up for a challenge. Photography in itself is a challenge, so why not make it more challenging. Anyway, I set out with my gear, but I had additionally taken some christmas lights as well, hoping to incorporate it somehow in the photograph to have a visual link with Christmas.

The location where we set up the photograph was a simple home living. I asked to close a dark brown curtain (wouldn’t you want more light, sir? No, thanks), which I would use as my background. With the help of a few clams I attached the christmas lights to the curtain and switched them on.

Then I had to position the mother and baby in such a way that they were nicely framed by the curtain and Christmas lights, in order to have a balanced photograph.

Next thing I did was to set up 2 Nikon SB900 speedlights, main light coming from camera left and softened by an umbrella, and one coming from behind mother and baby, directly aimed at them (for separation).

The most difficult part of this whole exercise however was to balance the flash light with the Christmas lights. Too much flaslight would kill all ambiant light, including the Christmas lights at the back. Too little light would have meant that the ambiant light would overpower the strobes, whereby the dark background would have become light.

So after this execirse, I could freely photography my subject, with this as a result. The image looks like it was lit through a big window (which it was not).

Thanks to the people at OKRA for such a wonderful response to this image!

OKRA Christmas cover photograph.

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Using Nikon SB900 speedlights for creative photographic lighting

12 November 2010 om 13:16 door Jürgen geplaatst in de categorie advertising,Camera,Commercial,Flashlight,Gear,Photography,Sports,Uncategorized,workshop fotografie

As an advertising photographer, creating images for clients that will make their products look good, I try to be creative with my photography and my gear. Let’s look at an example.

Image of a gymnast.

Imagine a huge indoor sports hall. Imagine the yellow/green illumination these sports halls typically have and that cast an “ugly” type of light on the subjects (which you don’t want, you want your subject to look good). Imagine the cluttered background one usually gets in such sport halls, which will destroy the impact of the image ……

Situation - available light.

As a photographer I try to overcome problems – let’ call them challenges – instead of creating them.

When I had to photograph a young sportster, doing all sorts of neck-braking, leg-twisting, arm-bending exercices on a gym device, I had to be creative to get a shot of it that could be used as a double spread in the brochure.

Firstly, I figured I wanted to eliminate the natural lighting of the sports hall. Using a shutter speed of 1/250th at ISO 100 on a Nikon D3x (24Mpix) was good enough at f 4 to eliminate the ambiant light. That means, if you would not use flash, you would end up with a dark (black) image at these settings.

Next step was to bring in the Nikon SB900 speedlights. I used 3 of them. The main flash comes from directly above me (on-axis with the lens) but shot through a softbox in order to soften the light. It provides the main light for the subject, but because we are working very close to the subject and far away from the background, that light doesn’t reach the background, so it remains black (or under exposed).

The last step was to position two SB900 speedlights behind the subject, at either side of the girl, and aimed towards her. Those light provide the rim lighting, which make her stand out from the background even more.

The image was ultimately used as a double spread in the SPORTA brochure as shown above.

All shots were taken on the Nikon D3x, using a 85mm f1.4 lens and using the Nikon CLS lighting system.

Alternative image of the gymnast.

Nikon CLS system is a fantastic system to work on-location. It’s versatile, works well, easy to handle and learn and enables a photographer to be very flexible in his work and quickly adapt to different situations and lighting conditions. I use it all the time in my photography.

If you want to learn it as well, I run workshops on photography and flash photograph (also for users of other brands).

More to come,

Jürgen

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Portrait photography

8 April 2010 om 15:19 door Jürgen geplaatst in de categorie Commercial,Flashlight,Portrait

As a portrait photographer it’s an honour to photograph the portrait of the editor in chief of a magazine. I had already spoken several times with Lieve over the phone when she comissioned me to photograph for her magazine, OKRA. But this time it was different, when Lieve asked me to take her portrait for the “edito” of the magazine.

We met at the offices of OKRA, where we choose a location for the imatges to be taken. I set up 3 flashlights (type Nikon SB900, triggered with a an SB800 via the Nikon CLS system). One is lighting Lieve through an umbrella, one is a backlight, separating Lieve from the background, which is lit by a third strobe. This is the resulting photograph:

Portrait photography with the help of 3 portable strobes.

By changing the angle from which we photographed Lieve by 90°, I was able to quickly change the look and feel of the image. The next image is only lit by 2 strobes.

Portrait photography for magazine.

Eventually the image ended up in the magazine in the editorial section, where it will probably find its home for the next few years to come …

Editorial of OKRA magazine with the portrait of Lieve.

Als fotograaf met een speciale affiniteit met portretfotografie is het altijd een hele eer om een portretfoto te mogen maken voor het editoriaal van een tijdschrift. Dergelijke foto wordt niet één, niet twee, maar meerdere keren gebruikt op de eerste binnenbladzijde van een tijdschrift. Daarom vind ik het altijd wel een eer om dit te mogen fotograferen.

Zo ook met Lieve die aan het hoofd staat van de redactie van OKRA. We hadden elkaar al regelmatig gesproken aan de telefoon, waarbij ze me altijd “op pad” stuurde om foto’s te maken, maar deze keer was het om van Lieve zelf een portretfoto te maken.

Het eerste beeld werd gemaakt in de kantoren van OKRA (ergens in een ruimte waar je even kan “ontspannen”). Een driepuntsbelichting zorgde ervoor dat Lieve enerzijds zacht licht langs voren kreeg (door een paraplu), een “haarlichtje” die haar rechterschouder (links voor ons) doet oplichten en haar zo wat van de achtergrond doet loskomen, dat op zijn beurt het licht van een derde flits over zich krijgt.

Om wat variatie te krijgen in de opnamen draaiden we Lieve 90° en gebruikten we een tweepuntsbelichting, wat resulteerde in de tweede foto. Het uiteindelijke resultaat, het edito met Lieve’s portret, vind je als laatste foto.

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Billboard photo

3 February 2010 om 15:23 door Jürgen geplaatst in de categorie Commercial,Flashlight,Portrait

Below is my first billboard-size photograph. It was commissioned by LUKoil.

Lukoil - billboard

The image was taken on a rainy and windy winter day, just before dawn. In order to get a vibrant photograph, I photographed the model with 2 speedlights (Nikon SB900). On of them was gelled with a full cut CTO gel.

The image was part of a series of images for the rebranding of LUKoil. Herewith the original image.

Lukoil - billboard

Het beeld werd gemaakt in opdracht van LUKoil, ongeveer een jaar geleden. Het was een typische sombere regenachtige winterdag, maar toch moesten we het beeld schieten. De bevallige jongedame had nog meegedaan aan misverkiezingen en wist nogal goed hoe zich te gedragen. De ambitieuze fotograaf had al meerdere shoots gedaan bij somber weer en wist hoe er toch wat kleur in te steken. LUKoil wist ten slotte het beeld mooi te vergroten en op “billboard” size affiches te verspreiden over ons land.

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Bedrijfsfotografie – Corporate photography

27 November 2009 om 12:47 door Jürgen geplaatst in de categorie Commercial,Portrait

– English below – Bedrijfsfotografie voor een freelance fotograaf is zo belangrijk als bloem voor een bakker. Belangrijk dus, en interessant. Met mijn verleden als ingenieur vind ik het steevast interessant om in verschillende bedrijven te komen om te zien waar men zoal mee bezig is.

Het feit dat je dan bovendien in de meest moeilijke – lees: niet ideale – omstandigheden op heel korte termijn toch een goed en interessant beeld moet zien te maken, vergroot alleen maar de uitdaging.

Onderstaande serie beelden illustreren een beetje de gedachtengang – en opbouw – van een beeld. Met andere woorden, hoe een beeld tot stand kan komen.

De opdracht bestond erin om een foto te maken van een onderzoeker, zowel een portretje dat voor (en door) het magazine zou gedetoureerd worden alsook van het product waarmee de onderzoeker bezig is.

Het eerste deel, namelijk het portretje tegen een witte achtergrond, is een klassieker. Mbv 2 reportageflitsen, een paraplu en een paar Pocket Wizards kan je heel snel een foto maken tegen een witte muur, een deur, etc ….. zelfs in een lokaal dat hooguit een paar vierkante meter groot is (ok, ik overdrijf een beetje, maar het VOELT alsof het een paar vierkante meter groot is). Onderstaand portret werd gemaakt met een flits door een paraplu, links van de camera, en een flitslichtje tegen de witte deur. Dat lichtje doet ook dienst als “haarlichtje”. De deur wordt door het reclamebureau weg geknipt, zodat enkel het portret over blijft.

Hier de setup, met links bovenaan een stukje van de paraplu en rechts buiten beeld de tweede flits.

corporate photography, bedrijfs fotografie

Met het portretje als resultaat.

portrait photographe, portret

Daarna moest een foto gemaakt worden van een uitvinding van deze man, en hij toonde me een foto op zijn computer waar – tegen een blauwe achtergrond – een gelijkaardig onderwerp gefotografeerd was. Hij vond evenwel dat zoiets waarschijnlijk niet mogelijk was om dat daar ter plaatse te doen (het beeld was inderdaad in een studio omgeving opgenomen) maar dat het gewoon als voorbeeld diende om een idee te geven van hoe zijn uitvinding in beeld kan gebracht worden.

De volgende 10 minuten hebben we dit uit onze camera geschud (alles in het zelfde kantoortje als waar het portret gemaakt werd):

a. zoek achtergrond (deur) en test even het camera standpunt ifv de achtergrond en onderwerp

agc-groupshot-0139

b. verander de achtergrond de gewenste kleur (in dit geval blauw) en dit mbv een flits en blauwfilter

agc-groupshot-01601

c. belicht je voorgrond en neem de foto van het onderwerp ….

benoit-domercq-0103-1

verbaas de onderzoeker met een beeld dat merkwaardig sterk lijkt op het beeld dat hij op zijn scherm toonde …

Uiteindelijk heb ik nog een paar varianten op het thema gemaakt, zodat de designer en layouter van het magazine wat ruimte hadden om mee te spelen ….

benoit-domercq-0105

zowel met als zonder blauwe achtergrond …. wat gewoon neerkomt op flitsje aan of uitschakelen.

benoit-domercq-0100

benoit-domercq-0097

et voila!

Altijd leuk als je iets kan bieden dat ze niet verwachten.

Corporate photography is an important aspect in photography for a freelance photographer. I always find it interesting to find out what people drive and what they do for a living. Maybe my engineering background has something to do with it.

Take, for instance, this researcher. I was comissioned to photograph a researcher in his office. The ad agency needed a straightforward portrait against a white backgroud, so he could easily be “clipped out”. Secondly, they wanted a photograph of the researcher with his invention.

For the portrait I used a white door and a two-light setup. Camera left a strobe through an umbrella, on camera right a separation/hair light.

For the product shot, I tried to accomodate him by emulating an example he had shown me on his computer, which was an image of a similar product, photographed against a blue background.

Not thinking I would be able to come even close to what he wanted, I set up a three-strobe lighting setup. One blue-gelled strobe lit up the background, while two other strobes where used to light the subject. The result was a series of photographs, taken in a timeframe of about 10 minutes, of the subject and his invention, with both blue and black backgrounds – which gives the designer extra room to play with.

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Studio photoshoot – Large group portrait

14 September 2009 om 15:59 door Jürgen geplaatst in de categorie Commercial,Portrait,Studio

I was recently contacted by a family who asked me if they could have their portraits taken, as well as a group photograph, in order to have a beautiful surprise gift for their mums’ 50th birthday. They would be 5, 4 sons and the father.

They wanted a group photograph in the studio, against a white background and they wanted to dress up for the occasion.

Having a rather small home studio, which has served me well so far, I was a little tense and I was prepared to photograph every family member on his own in order to photoshop them all into one image. However, always being up for a challange, I tried to photograph them together in one shot.

When they arrived at the studio, they all got dressed into these very smart dresses (some of them had difficulties getting into their trousers, but eventually every one managed to get fully dressed).

I managed to position them in such a way that they looked well, that the image was interesting to look at and that everyone somewhat showed his personality. Than, the biggest problem with such a group shot lies in lighting them all evenly, which, in a small studio, is not easy. In order to do so I used only one studio light, placed behind a huge softbox that I created out of translucent material. The total area of this material is about 4 square meter (roughly 6 foot by 6 foot). In doing so, I created a large lightsource, which results in an even illumination of the subject whilst still creating enough contrast.

The background was lit by a background reflector, so I used 2 studio lights in total. This is the result, which finally got printed on canvas at 1m by 1.50m.

Studio shoot

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