Used one light for this. A giant 74" Elinchrom Octa Softbox centered and pointing straight down on my face and a giant round reflector under my chin. I had to use a flag to block off some of the light coming off of the center of the softbox in order to prevent any possible hot spots on my forehead which I ended up cropping anyway because I liked it better this way. If you zoom all the way in (on mac, hold ctrl while spinning the mouse wheel forward), you will see parts of the Octa and the reflector in the catchlights.
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Place: 5 out of 93 Avg (all users): 7.1519 Avg (commenters): 8.0909 Avg (participants): 6.8491 Avg (non-participants): 7.3048 Views since voting: 3528 Views during voting: 400 Votes: 158 Comments: 25 Favorites: 7 (view)
This is just so amazing! I've heard that if you have one of those Octa Softboxes, you can get by without any other lighting. I love the edgy coppery tones. You are the BOMB! :)
I do love the processing and lighting in this. It's almost impossible to imagine doing this without a softbox. Is it possible?? (I don't own one.) I had a similar idea, but didn't do it for lack of time. I wanted a heavier sharpened look, close up and intimate like yours, and a lot more gritty. Therefore, I'm curious as to the post-processing of this.
Yes, definitely possible doing this without a softbox however the light needs to be super soft, maybe on a cloudy day or standing far enough from a window (and facing it) to use that soft, diffused light coming in through the window. You will not have this kind of catchlights without the softbox however (perhaps windowed shape catchlights if you are using the window light) and achieving a pitch black background with only ambient lighting might be challenging but certainly doable (if that is important to you). Having a monster-size softbox like the 74" Octa will give you a consistently super-soft light with tons of details on the face while maintaining a low ISO on the camera which is the advantage it may have over say when you do it through window light indoors. If you want virtually noise-free and sharp image specially in the eyes, it may be a little difficult to achieve it through a diffused, soft window light but should be a lot easier on a cloudy day outdoors with enough day light. The 74" Elinchrom Octa will give you one of the most incredibly soft artificial (but natural looking) lights in the world. Doing an effective dodge and burn in post is very important too.
I do love the processing and lighting in this. It's almost impossible to imagine doing this without a softbox. Is it possible?? (I don't own one.) I had a similar idea, but didn't do it for lack of time. I wanted a heavier sharpened look, close up and intimate like yours, and a lot more gritty. Therefore, I'm curious as to the post-processing of this.
Fabulous. Lovely portrait, brilliant crisp focus, nice lighting. My only gripe is that I'm personally not keen on crops that cut off the top of the head, would've rather it was cropped up a bit, at least leaving in the hairline or a bit of hair. Still, beautiful shot, a 9 from me and I hope it ribbons.
Good expression, professional lighting and a very photogenic subject. Personally I am not too fond of this kind of postprocessing, so popular with magazines, but it's full of presence, very well done and I am sure many will just love it. A very good job of retaining detail on the zippers. I think if they were not visible and the crop was slightly tigher on the sides, still retaining negative space on the left, it would make for a more personal portrait. But it's not a criticism, just a thought. Good job!
Love the lighting in this. I saw another photo with eyes something similar but not done as well. I love the rough manly texture this photo had. I almost want to say the crop is too low, but I don't think it would have had that great effect if you showed more of his forehead.
nightpixels? nice even moody lighting, good catchlights wish i could zoom in and see the softbooxes, grids and reflector under the face? hehe love the detail in this stuble and the zippers. my favourite so far
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