Today’s Post by Blue Moon Staff:
You would think we have the most colorful feathers or softest of manes. Rather, we are a naked biped that feels incomplete without some decorative element, accessory, or embellishment of the self.—
Black and white is a wonderful media for creating intimate portraits because the lack of color immediately simplifies the image, causing the viewer to focus on the real subject of the photograph—you—instead of their clothing or surroundings.
Sometimes the nature of the portrait subject demands that the image be photographed in black and white.
Right now, we’re seeing a higher than normal demand for black and white portraits, such as this one at right, than previously was the case.
Which brings me to a question we’re often asked: “I see that some of your photographs are in color and some are in black and white. Do I have to choose how my images look right away.” You’ll be glad to know the answer is no.
I have a special technique that lets us shoot two different images—one in color, one in black & white —at the same time and when you’re being photographed we will show you the results on the camera’s screen (of the black and white image) so you will have an idea of how the finished portrait will look. (The color result can only be seen in the computer.) The final result is up to you and you can change your mind—even after a session.
About the Portrait:
The technical details for Kelly’s glamour portrait is as follows: It starts with the custom-made Carbonite muslin backdrop from Silverlake Photo Accessories that was suspended on my JTL background stands. The main light was provided by a Paul C Buff DigiBee DB800 that had a 52x38x14-inch Plume Wafer Hexoval softbox mounted and was placed at camera right. A second DigiBee DB800 with Buff’s (no longer available) 18-inch OMNI reflector was at camera left and placed slightly behind the subject.
The camera used was a Panasonic Lumix GH4 with G Vario 14-45mm f/3.5-5.6 lens at 45mm with an exposure of 1/125 sec and f/9 and ISO 200. The as-captured RAW file was converted to black and white using the Full Spectrum (17) preset that’s part of Color Efex then layered with the Glamour Glow filter that’s part of the same package.
