Headshots and Tulips

Since all of Ohio is on a stay at home order currently, I thought I would update my headshot and take some photos of the potted tulips my husband bought me.

Lighting Set Up

I used the same set up for both my headshot and tulip photos. For these shots I was sitting on our couch or had the tulips sitting on the couch. I placed a speed light with a small umbrella on a light stand to the camera’s right pointed at the subject. When I was shooting myself, the center of the umbrella was slightly above the center of my face with a slight downward angle. For the tulips I angled the light down towards them, since they sat lower than me on the couch. The flash was set to a 35mm zoom and 1/4 power. I also had a silver reflector on the camera’s left to reflect some light to reduce the hard shadows. (See image to left.) I used a Canon 80D, with 18-200 mm lens and a cable trigger.

I shot myself portraits and the tulips at ISO 100. For myself portraits, I used two focal lengths 18mm and 32mm, an aperture of F5 and a shutter speed of 1/125s. I shot 35 frames and kept 15 images, and then did full editing on 5 of the images. For the Tulips, my focal length varied between 40mm and 120m. I used two apertures F5 and F9, with most of the images being shot at F9. I also used two shutter speeds 1/100s and 1/125s, with most of the images being shot at 1/125s. I shot a total of 47 frames and kept 14 and edited all 14 frames.

Below you will see two standard headshots. Each one was shot at F5 at 1/125s and a focal length of 32MM. The only thing adjusted during the three photos was the reflector and the way I was sitting. I also took the opportunity in post processing to work on my retouching. I used the frequency separation to smooth out my skin and remove a few blemishes. I then went back in and used the dodge/burn tool to accentuate a few of the highlights and shadows.

The tulip photos are more interesting, because I shot these in a low-key fashion to ensure I was getting rid of the couch cushions as a background. Also, I feel the yellow really pops against the darkness. For this shot I used the setup described above and move the camera closer and slightly above the flowers while zooming to 80mm. When editing the photo, I used the Adobe Vivid color setting and did my normal edits.

For this second tulip shot I had a flash laying next to the flower pot with the head angled up towards the reflector which I moved behind the flowers instead of at the side. This is what is causing the bit of inner glow in the flowers. This image was shot at 40mm at F9 with a shutter speed of 1/125s. The flashes were set at ¼ powers.

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