semi selfportrait
Yesterday, I got a call from a journalist from one of the biggest Belgian newspapers. He was writing an article about the fact that more people seem to find their way into being self employed and asked me if I wanted to give my view on a few things. If you guys are interested in my views on starting a (photography) business, I’ll try to translate the article one of these days.
After the interview he asked me if I had a picture of myself (recognisable) with a camera in my hands. I said “sure, I must have a few of those” and “yes, I can send it to you within the hour”. Sure enough I didn’t find such a picture in my archive, at least not one that I wanted to be published. So I quickly set up some lights and asked my wife to push the shutter button a few times.
I hung up a piece of black cloth as a background. The main light is my el-cheapo studio light (which I hardly ever use) with medium softbox. I just added a black straw gridded Vivitar 285HV behind me for some separation/hair light.
My settings proved to be right from the first time: 1/125 (the studio light doesn’t sync at higher speeds) – F/4 – 100iso – 300ws studiolight at minimum power and Vivitar on 1/16th.
I tried to turn the camera in my hand just so that I would catch the reflection of the softbox in the lens.
It took only a few minutes to make this picture but I’m actually quite happy with how it turned out.
Thats a great shot done in so little time haha. What kind of cloth did you use?
Nice shot. I’m sure a lot of people, including myself, would appreciate the translated article. It’s always a hot topic on Flickr.
I too would definitely would enjoy reading that article!
nice picture, now you’d only need to smile a bit. Or at least relax your furrowed brows
Love your approach, Bert.
Great results – what flash do you have “behind” the sofbox?
- udi
Langer haar staat u wel.
en haha, dat zou dus bij mij al een gigantisch probleem zijn, een foto van mezelf met een camera erop. Ik denk niet dat mijn allerenigste camera tegelijkertijd op de foto kan staan en ‘m trekken, en met een Rollei op de foto gaan lijkt me ook niet zo geschikt. :p
No reflector?
Thanks
@Rowell: As long as the fabric isn’t shiny, any black cloth will do. You may want to look for a fabric that doesn’t wrinkle easily.
@dez & Will: I’ll translate the article soon
@Sam: People who know me, know that the closest to smiling that I’ll ever come, is typing a smiley
@Udi: It’s a Linkstar (cheap flash from Hong Kong)
@Madelien: You should have seen me with my hard rock hair cut. The difference between you and me is that I need an expensive camera in the picture to look good, while you will look much sexier with just a disposable camera.
@Polar: Nope. The last time I used a reflector I used it as a blanket to avoid my clothes getting muddy while shooting from ground level.
Great picture! I love the light on your face and the camera.
Hey what’s the deal with that Londsdale sweater? In Germany it’s worn by skinheads most of the time, so I always wondered what’s up with that.
bye, martin
Thanks Paul.
@Martin: I got the sweater as a present (and not from a skinhead). My political and ethical beliefs couldn’t be further apart from those people. I only know brands like Canon, Elinchrom, Hasselblad, … So I really wasn’t aware of any connotations the brand of sweater could have untill you told me. To me it’s just a comfy sweater.
Yes, please translate that article for us, I happen to do the big jump these days. Thanks.