Photo of the Week 2014-11-10

It's Movember !

... and Matt was home to visit his mother for her birthday with a furry addition. Since I've been wanting to work on my portrait lighting skills, I couldn't let him get away without grabbing a quick "one-light" portrait while he was here.

Mo Bro' Matt

He had a running start with the moustache for Movember and everyone who's seen the image says he looks like a throwback to the '70's. Me too ... I think I can remember the 70`s ;-)

Mo Bro' Me - day 7

Since I was happy with the results of Matt`s portrait and  the lighting gear was still out, I decided to document my Movember moustache progress as of day 7. The goal is to get to the end of the month without trimming any of the length. We'll see how I do .... scratch, scratch, scratch.

For the lighting setup, I used one light 45* off subject and slightly above eye level, feathered across the face with slight reflector fill from opposite side. Lighting styles can be the subject of much discussion and critique. A few years back I posted a self portrait made with one light and I received a number of suggestions for fill light, hair light, background light etc, etc, etc. All of which were valid, had I been looking for a different result.

Conventional wisdom says you should know the rules and be proficient with them before you decide to knowingly break them but I'm pleased with the results here. And I'm becoming fond of this style of lighting for headshots.

I'm always open to suggestions and help to improve my images, but I still find it interesting that most unsolicited "help" is offered without knowing what I was trying to accomplish. More often than not the suggestions are aligned with creating image according to some formula with little if any consideration for individual creativity or a different look. 

DJE