portrait lighting technique

[hammondsenior]

hi everyone, im after some advice on a lighting technique i have seen. my wife is pregnant and i have been scouring the net for some baby portrait ideas. i have seen several where the entire background fades into complete black, and only the very front of the subject is lit and in focus. i have no studio lighting , just a flashgun, but i am intending to buy some sort of set up. what would i need to capture this sort of image, and how would it be set up?

many thanks, craig

[Cutter]

Hi Craig, there are many ways to acheive what you are looking for, its all about your model being considerably lighter than your background, this can be done easy with flash by just bumping up your power on your flash and directing it so it does not spill onto the background.
For babies I think natural light is the best for a softer look and using a narrow depth of field so that the eyes are in perfect focus and the skin becomes softer. Take a look at this video it may help you to see what can be done with natural light in a basic location.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bbKa3...eature=related

[amk1977]

As mentioned in the video, the 50mm lenses are excellent for close portrait work. Although in the video he uses the f/1.4 version, the f/1.8 is equally good and is probably THE best value lens on either Canon or Nikon, as their optics are as pretty much professional grade, yet can be bought for under £100!

5-in-1 reflectors can be had from ebay for under £15 delivered. Investing in a couple of these is well worth it, as they can serve as reflectors or diffusers. Bed sheets make for very cheap and effective backdrops, provided you don't have a light source behind them. If you have direct sunlight coming through the window, hanging a thin white bed sheet over the window will act as a diffuser to soften the light. I even make use of cheap desk lamps as spot lights. When you're skint.... you get creative lol

[hammondsenior]

thanks very much for the replies, the video was really interesting, and there were some other really good videos from the same people. weirdly, it seems so simple that it actually boosted my confidence! coincidentally, before i checked the forum, i had been reading reviews of the 1.8 nikkor lens, and had already decided to go for it, could not find a bad word said against it. once again, thanks for the replies.

craig