B&W Studio Portrait Re-Creation

"Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery" - Charles Caleb Colton

For your next project, you will examine and research existing Black and White studio portraits. Ask yourselves these questions:

- Do you see a recognizable lighting pattern? (e.g. Rembrandt, Split)

- Is the background completely black, or do you see a wall/backdrop?

- How many lights do you think were needed for this shot?

- Does the light look like direct bulb, or is it diffused? (e.g. softbox, umbrella)

You will then re-create the portrait as best you can using the studio equipment available.

YOU WILL DO THIS TWICE (HAND IN TWO DIFFERENT IMITATION PORTRAITS).

The main challenge will be matching the lighting, but you should definitely develop your images in Lightroom. This can be key in achieving proper contrast and B&W levels.

See below for examples (this is just a screencap of a "Black and white portraits" Google search. Do that yourself for millions of more examples!)

B&W STUDIO PORTRAIT IMITATION ASSIGNMENT

YOU ARE TO HAND IN TWO DIFFERENT IMITATION PORTRAITS.

Steps for completing this project:

1) Do a Google image search for "Black and white Portraits!" Or, do your own search on Google or Flickr or somewhere else.

2) Choose a portrait to imitate

3) Choose an appropriate studio area (we have lots of backdrops of different colours...ask your teacher for the possiblities).

4) Select the lights and accessories you'd like to try (again, your teacher can help with this selection and demonstrate how to set them up)

5) Off you go! Be prepared to adjust your settings constantly, in addition to playing with the light power, distance and angles.

You will undoubtedly take dozens of different versions of the shot. Plan on editing several of them in Lightroom before settling on one final shot to hand in.

CAMERA SETTINGS and other suggestions:

- Shoot on manual mode.

- Shoot RAW so that your Lightroom edits yield better control over the image.

- On your phone, have your sample image ready to look at for comparison.

LIGHTING TIPS:

- Want a completely black background? Remember the Inverse Square Law. Have your subject well in front of the black background and the lights close to them.

- Want the background lit but not shaded by your subject? Have another studio light pointed at the background (it has to be placed off-camera, but can be behind the subject).

BEST ADVICE:

- You'll have to try this many, many times. Don't get frustrated! Try to fix each problem separately (light direction, light power, highlights & shadows, background lighting).

- Ask your teacher for help and suggestions when he's available! The answer could be easier than you think!