A friend told me this recently, said he'd learned it while apprenticing with an old film master years ago. The advice is simple and effective so I thought I'd share.
To create a perfect portrait think of the clock. Think of your own position as 6:00, 12:00 being behind your model. Put your model in the middle of your imaginary clock. Arrange your model (in ambient light) or your lights (in studio) so that the strongest light (key light) is at 4:00 and your reflector or fill light at 7:00. Have the model's body facing 8:00 and face toward 4:00 (or the other way around for a more dramatic look). Tweak the posing a bit and you have it.
For a basic portrait - its terrific. Tried & true.
A friend told me this recently, said he'd learned it while apprenticing with an old film master years ago. The advice is simple and effective so I thought I'd share.
To create a perfect portrait think of the clock. Think of your own position as 6:00, 12:00 being behind your model. Put your model in the middle of your imaginary clock. Arrange your model (in ambient light) or your lights (in studio) so that the strongest light (key light) is at 4:00 and your reflector or fill light at 7:00. Have the model's body facing 8:00 and face toward 4:00 (or the other way around for a more dramatic look). Tweak the posing a bit and you have it.
For a basic portrait - its terrific. Tried & true.
I don't know about your models but 4 and 8 seem rather ridiculous for the head/body alignment... that's more than 90 degrees off center. Is there a typo there?
