GustavH
Newbie
Hello everybody
I found this picture recently http://gusisboss.tumblr.com/post/13419658549
I love the effect with the silhouette, but how do i snap that kind of picture?
I know that if there was some bright light in the background i could just go with a high f-stop, but in a situation where there is only dim light, what do i do then? F/8 and slow exposure? Won't the picture get shaken then without a tripod?
Kind regards
Gustav
I found this picture recently http://gusisboss.tumblr.com/post/13419658549
I love the effect with the silhouette, but how do i snap that kind of picture?
I know that if there was some bright light in the background i could just go with a high f-stop, but in a situation where there is only dim light, what do i do then? F/8 and slow exposure? Won't the picture get shaken then without a tripod?
Kind regards
Gustav
peterm1
Veteran
You will need a high contrast photo to start with but this photo almost certainly has been post processed in Photoshop or similar. Its not too hard to do if you are familiar with PS and post processing but its a bit daunting if you are not. In any event assuming you have t least some basic PS skills you may want to try the following:
1) open the photo in PS and increase contrast on the main subject and if necessary paint over any lighter areas within the darker margins (and conversely paint over any darker areas in the lighter background) until iyou have an image that is near to pure black against a lighter background (barring of course the glowing cigarette end).
If you want to get fancy and know how to do it, you could use the channels option in PS to divide the image into red, green and blue channels and select whichever channel works best to achieve the above - basically you want something that is more or less a mask with a main image thats nearly pure blacks and a background that is nearly pure white.
2) You may then want to tone this as presumably you do not want pure black and white in the final image - using the split tone tool in PS should work here. Select different tones for the lighter areas and the darker areas. You will need to experiment. The background looks like it has a kind of flesh colour tone and the dark are looks like it has a touch of green in it (??)
3) The image also looks very much as if there is a texture layer over the top. You can download textures for PS (most of them are just jpg images.) Search in Google for "photoshop grunge textures" and this will lead you to thousands, if not millions. I have hundreds downloaded and use them from time to time. For example in the image at the bottom of this post.
4) Import the texture as a new layer (I use Corel Paintshop Pro which has sightly different commands and I cannot recall what the command is for Photoshop but it should not be too hard.)
5) Once thee texture is applied over the base image as a new layer, you can try a couple of things. First experiment with layer blending modes to see how the layers interact. This is what I think they have done in your image. Also try adjusting the layer opacity so more of the bottom layer shows through. Use the slider to adjust between 0 and 100% till you are happy.
6) If there are parts of the image where you do not want the texture (like the glowing tip of the cigarette) you could apply a layer maks and paint the texture layer out where you do not want it.
There are almost certainly other ways to achieve this effect but the above would be the one I would try first.
_DSC5260A by yoyomaoz, on Flickr
1) open the photo in PS and increase contrast on the main subject and if necessary paint over any lighter areas within the darker margins (and conversely paint over any darker areas in the lighter background) until iyou have an image that is near to pure black against a lighter background (barring of course the glowing cigarette end).
If you want to get fancy and know how to do it, you could use the channels option in PS to divide the image into red, green and blue channels and select whichever channel works best to achieve the above - basically you want something that is more or less a mask with a main image thats nearly pure blacks and a background that is nearly pure white.
2) You may then want to tone this as presumably you do not want pure black and white in the final image - using the split tone tool in PS should work here. Select different tones for the lighter areas and the darker areas. You will need to experiment. The background looks like it has a kind of flesh colour tone and the dark are looks like it has a touch of green in it (??)
3) The image also looks very much as if there is a texture layer over the top. You can download textures for PS (most of them are just jpg images.) Search in Google for "photoshop grunge textures" and this will lead you to thousands, if not millions. I have hundreds downloaded and use them from time to time. For example in the image at the bottom of this post.
4) Import the texture as a new layer (I use Corel Paintshop Pro which has sightly different commands and I cannot recall what the command is for Photoshop but it should not be too hard.)
5) Once thee texture is applied over the base image as a new layer, you can try a couple of things. First experiment with layer blending modes to see how the layers interact. This is what I think they have done in your image. Also try adjusting the layer opacity so more of the bottom layer shows through. Use the slider to adjust between 0 and 100% till you are happy.
6) If there are parts of the image where you do not want the texture (like the glowing tip of the cigarette) you could apply a layer maks and paint the texture layer out where you do not want it.
There are almost certainly other ways to achieve this effect but the above would be the one I would try first.
_DSC5260A by yoyomaoz, on Flickr
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DamenS
Well-known
Or you could just underexpose the photo by 4 stops or so, which appears to have been the "technique" used here. The shutter speed will therefore be 4 stops higher to help prevent camera shake and subject movement from being a problem. Provided the light in the background is a couple of stops brighter than the foreground, this will even enhance the "sillouhette" in becoming entirely black and featureless.
Jockos
Well-known
IDK if this is obvious, but I think you should put a lamp facing the wall behind the subject, and no lights in front.
The background in the URL linked looks a bit underexposed, so I think you could try measuring on the background next to the head and drop -1EV.
To block up the shadows in the face from the fag, you could do post processing in the computer, or maybe push a film that responds poorly to push processing, and also make sure the model isn't inhaling to hard, or the glow will make to much light in the face.
The background in the URL linked looks a bit underexposed, so I think you could try measuring on the background next to the head and drop -1EV.
To block up the shadows in the face from the fag, you could do post processing in the computer, or maybe push a film that responds poorly to push processing, and also make sure the model isn't inhaling to hard, or the glow will make to much light in the face.
gavinlg
Veteran
Just put a model up against a wall - maybe 1 meter or so from it. Turn all the lights in the room off, and direct one lamp towards him so it lights up the area on the wall behind his head. Focus on his cigarette in his mouth, and expose for the light in the background, not his face.
sevo
Fokutorendaburando
No effect there, it is simply shot in very low light, exposed on the glow.
It probably even happened unintentionally, as I've seen a rather surprising number of low light shots from all-automatic digital compacts underexposed on cigarette glow. Something in them seems to steer them to that type of exposure bias, perhaps a "rescue the highlights and prevent sensor smear" programming of their exposure systems, or a imbalance between the spectral sensor response during exposure metering and the actual exposure.
It probably even happened unintentionally, as I've seen a rather surprising number of low light shots from all-automatic digital compacts underexposed on cigarette glow. Something in them seems to steer them to that type of exposure bias, perhaps a "rescue the highlights and prevent sensor smear" programming of their exposure systems, or a imbalance between the spectral sensor response during exposure metering and the actual exposure.