How to Create a Fine Art Portrait. What Makes a Photographic Portrait Art? Digital and Film Session
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 8 ก.ค. 2020
- How do you get to the "Fine Art" level of portrait imagery in your studio session? Inspiration is one way ... but what if it's a normal assignment, such as a family, senior portrait, child, etc.? Well, the answer is nuance. You must constantly critique each new pose or lighting set-up, measure, test again, evaluate, and as Tim does, work his way to the "home run" frame with ever-so-many "micro-adjustments".
This new lesson takes studio portraits to a special level of mastery, using digital first, then ultimately negative black and white film in both medium and large format to fully realize the image's final potential in beautiful PRINTS.
There are ALWAYS lighting and posing techniques demonstrated in all of Tim's videos, so even if you were never to shoot film, all of these important tips and instructions will still enhance your work. Successful studio portraiture is reliant on many skills that you will witness in this episode, all of which require continued development.
Creating real portrait art is important, as you are recording someone's family history. Why not make something that will be highly valued for generations? You can do this with your personal vision and attention to every detail.
Enjoy, and good luck!
Visit our MPT Facebook page: / timkellyportraitartist
Support our channel with these links to products shown in our videos
and as an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
Tim's Latest Book: amzn.to/36fUjou
TIm's Amazon Store
www.amazon.com/shop/timkellyp...
www.timkellyportraits.com
www.backgroundsbymaheu.com
Fine Art Gray (Tim Kelly Signature) Canvas or muslin / Assorted sizes
Photogenic Powerlight - amzn.to/3aSDpha
Canon 5D Mark IV - amzn.to/2KLGi93
Canon Lens 24-70mm - amzn.to/2KLGi93
Canon Lens 70-200mm - amzn.to/2SlXvtL
Pocketwizard plus iv - Wireless Flash Triggers
amzn.to/35hnwEA
Tripod - amzn.to/3f58WQr
Shop your Godox V1 here:
amzn.to/2DEisss
Get this Godox accessory kit:
amzn.to/2Rjl8U2
Unfortunately, the LARSON / SWEETLIGHT softboxes we have used for four decades are no longer available. Created by George Larson in the 1970's, in 2019, the company that most recently produced his famous and popular line has given in to competition and cheap imports. When you're ready, there remain some very high quality soft box manufacturers that make light modifiers that will probably last a lifetime.
Adobe Photoshop - amzn.to/3d3BV5q
Adobe InDesign - amzn.to/2VRDOwj
For More of what Tim uses everyday
Shop our Amazon Influencer Page:
www.amazon.com/shop/timkellyp...
That Gowlandflex must be very precious to you! I've never actually seen one! I really enjoy your channel ! Cheers from Canada!
It really is! I've created most of my "art portraits" with it. More than 30yrs of large format B&W work. Thanks for watching!
Just wealth of Gold. Light, posing, images, communication, everything!
Thank you! Thanks for watching.
Hi Tim you are the master of your craft many thanks for sharing your knowledge and expertise I watch all of your tutorials with great interest.
Thanks, Anthony!
Tim you make this look so easy I am trying to reproduce images like yours, I turned my garage into my part time studio,it’s so fun and rewarding
, I don’t think any one on TH-cam dose a better job at teaching
Thank you!!
I love the last pose, beautiful.
Me too! Thanks for watching.
So inspiring! I really admire the film shots.
The masters make it look simple, and can explain things in an understandable way. Tim is truly a master. Taste will never go out of style, even though rarely seen today.
Thank you.
Tim, I hope you appreciate how unique you are. Very talented. Thank you.
Wow, thank you! Thanks for watching.
I noticed you did not use a hair light or your spot light with the grid on the back ground but still got amazing results I ordered a big 4x6 westcott and 3x4 soft box today it seams I am always needing more and more equmint. think I have 15 or so. I want every thing I need to dulcet your style you are the absolute best
Thanks sir
Welcome
Beautiful model with perfect skin. I wish.
Fantastic Tim - beautifully composed images. Watching your videos really assists in understanding the complexities of taking wonderful images - thank you.
Thanks for watching!
Great Images Tim , but the last one is fantastic thanks for sharing your skills.
Glad you enjoyed it
So good Tim! Thank you so much for sharing these techniques! Just killer as always, but wow the 4x5 film beauty dish - just WOW!!!
Thanks, Pete. I'm having a great time (as always) shooting my various film cameras and incorporating it into my regular commissions. Keep working yours while you are getting a lot of attention and invites.
I am an artist, technician, a teacher and a judge, but since I don't get to do the later two anymore, I will continue the pursuit of the first, where I have been extremely successful for over fifty years.
My TH-cam demos and teaching are for those who want to understand the serious techniques, established principles, and artistic values that yield true portraiture. It has always been my life's focus and I have loved sharing it.
As always, thanks for watching!
Great loved it so helps as a posing guide.
Thanks for watching!
I love everything you do in the video. Exactly what I want/need. Why did I find you only now? Thank you and thank you!!
Thanks, Steve. Glad it helps.
Thanks Tim.
Thanks for watching!
Incredibly helpful, thank you
You're very welcome!
Gorgeous!
Thank you! 😊
Hey Tim! Good to see your promoting Pro Photography once again! Your site is a warehouse of knowledge for a person who is trying to be a high end professional photographer. I hope there are a few students who take this info and run with it and carry on with the tradition of Fine Art Photography! This may be a good time for you to offer comprehensive classes in studio photography in person.
Certainly have done that for the last 30+ yrs. I do mostly private and small groups now.
Appreciate your comments very much.
4th time on this one I learn something every time, on the 4x6 soft box I have never noticed you lightening the back ground with it I see you mostly making a edge on the model.and Feather it a lot, one more thing the hair light is usually more to the center of the back ground. I have bought most of the same equipment that you use, with the exception of the big format cameras. This video very interesting I love this little model she’s so great she’ll do well if she keeps modeling I know you said she’s not a professional hats off thank you God bless your friend from Georgia.jr
You're correct. The big (4x6) box is PRIMARILY for the background. The amount that I allow on the subject is up to the hair color, wardrobe etc. On the "hair " light. We'd had it on its own rail, meaning it could be lid left to right. The rail made it many inches lower .. and since we hardly ever moved it, we took the rail out. As to the center right position, most of the time our main is from the left - so I'd prefer it comes from the diagonla opposite direction. It is on a wireless remote, so we can make it as effective as we like.
Yes, the young lady makes a great model, though she isn't. Natural grace and being a good listener makes her so.
Thanks for watching.
Wonderful and inspiring
Thank you!
Gorgeous portraits you must have a beautiful model :)
Thanks for watching!
thanks for great sharing Sir!
Thanks for watching!
First time watching your videos here. Great work! You make it look so easy! Now I want to shoot Fine Art! She looks amazin in the photos. Congrats to both the tog and the model
Thanks for watching!
Good job sir
Thanks
Thanks Tim.
I'm a Canon user now as well. Was formerly a Nikon user, and before that Sony. I like your posing techniques and your way of communicating with your models. I'm improving, thanks to you.
Just a few ideas for me to trade with you, for your generous help and tips I hope you find them useful. If you want more detail, just ask in a reply to this. I'm a loyal subscriber -
Rather than sand bags for my studio light stands I have gone to mostly using pop-up canope leg weights. They are 5 lbs each and round with a slot to the middle, plastic covered (no leakage) and they sit well on the cross bracing between the legs and around the stand center post, so they provide perfectly centered weight. I sometimes stack two when more weight is needed. Sand bags have their uses, but in my studio I'm using these 5 lb weights more often now than using sand bags.
My lights and the power for them mostly comes down from the ceiling now. I usually have no stands or power cords on the floor of my studio to trip over (was once 1st Grip for theatrical stage shows). A ceiling mounted grid of 1 X 1 angle lets me hang my lights anywhere, and a Wiremold electric outlet every 6" along each side of the 10' wide ceiling grid runs all the way to the backdrops, that puts overhead power within 5' of anywhere within my shooting area. If I do have a light on a floor stand, I can usually get power for it from above, but I also have outlets on each wall and behind the backdrops to use as well. No wires are ever on the floor in my shooting area now, as my lights are all fired with radio signals . I'm using the Godox X system.
Thank you!
@@TimKellysMasterPhotoTechniques
My ceiling grid is composed of 1 X 1 seel angles 10' long with 1/2" X 4" NPT pipe nipples welded to each end at 90 deg to the angle to allow the angles to hang down about 5" below the ceiling. Attached to the nipples are 1/2" NPT iron floor flanges. These floor flanges were then screwed to 1' X 12' long 3/4" plywood strips that were attached to the ceiling joists with 3" screws.
These plywood strips were spaced 9' 8" apart and my 6 backdrop roller system is attached to the ends of these strips close to the end wall of my studio. I have 4 of the 10' long steel angles running parallel with my backdrops and spaced roughly 4' apart. I also have 16 of the same angle in 5' pieces that I use to bridge between the long ceiling mounted angles, so I can mount lights to these short angles anywhere within this 10 X 16' grid of angles. It's easy to move and place them anywhere needed.
I use electrician's beam clamps of the smaller size with two 1/4-20 threaded holes in them. Two of these beam clamps can be attached together with 1/4-20 X 1/2" bolts. They are then used to tie each end of the short 5' angles to the 10' angles at the intersecting point. I always place the short angles above the long angles for safety. Should one of the beam clamps not hold properly, the short angle will just fall against the long angle and not to the floor.
Additional beam clamps are used to attach what ever I want to this angle grid, anywhere that i want it within the 10 X 16' area. I use short chains with snap hooks on each end for safety to keep my lights from falling, since it is quite often necessary to keep the spigot attachment point loose, so I can move the angle of the lights/soft boxes when needed. Too loose, and they can fall. The short chain saves them and keeps them from falling on someone too.
I have modified my light stands to add 1/4 X 20 bolts to the bottom of the center columns of each of the stands, so that I can use them upside down using a beam clamp to attach them to the grid. Ever see a light stand hanging from the ceiling? I don't open the legs, just use the pole portion, and they can still be used with the legs open on the floor if I need them.
With the Wiremold power strips running along the plywood on the ceiling past the ends of the 10' long angles, I have electric outlets every 6" for the full 12' length of the plywood strips, and within 5' of anywhere on the ceiling grid. The 5' lengths of angle bridging the 10' lengths lets me put lights anywhere, with nearly no need for stands or cables on the studio floor. If I do need a light on a floor stand, power isn't far from above it.
My studio has only an 8' high ceiling and is 18' X 26' in size. My digital darkroom is along one side wall and L behind where I stand when shooting. I wish it was 10' to the ceiling, but I manage quite well with what I have. I'm on a pretty tight budget, so my ideas and abilities helps me keep the costs reasonable, and this and improved safety were my reasons for creating the grid system.
I hope you can use some of these ideas.
Уважаю старих фотографов дай бог дайти до ваших возростов и класно фотографировать
большое спасибо
What are those white dots that look like they're on the photos ( to the right of the image, left of model) while doing the large format film 21:17 & 21:31 ?
Thanks for watching! I looked at the video .. It's just dust spots on the film picked up in the scan. These are raw sheets of4x5 film, quickly scanned. On a selected pose, all this and much more will be retouched.
Tadgh O'Ceallaigh, Grainghrafadóir. Poet philosopher, storyteller of Portrait photography.
Thanks for watching!
@@TimKellysMasterPhotoTechniques This is who and what you are in Irish and the meaning of your christian name.
¿What makes a photographic portrait art?
Version 1) When it is solded in an art gallery.
Version 2) Valid in Spain and maybe in other europeans countries: if a) You make the print or it is made under your direction and b) the print is signed by you and c) the print is part of a serie of prints with less than 50 units. With this 3 conditions you can claim to the Tax Authoritis (Ministerio de Hacienda) the print is an art job and the reduced taxes (IVA), instead of the common ones.
Great question! When an artist has work in galleries and/or museum(s), I believe it confirms their ability to classify some work as fine art. I meet that criteria, however my actual categorization is that a piece would have appeal to a general audience. For example; a portrait of mood and beauty or message might be, but a smiling child's portrait, probably not.
To things: Why do you think one side is better than the other and do you take out the frizzie hair in the final print.
Determining which side of the face is best is pretty easy in most cases. Subjects whose face is not symmetric (most) will commonly have a "closed" or smaller side, or an "open", larger side. Your job is to make them look equal. Which side should then be closest to the camera? Or which side should be in the light or out of the light?
There are many other components you'll need to notice that will help you produce the best portrait. One eye larger or smaller than the other, crooked or large nose, deep chin or shallow chin, part of the hair .. does it cover part of an eye or shadow the eye? Your main light might be on the wrong side.
I'd love to do a lesson, put you'd need several subjects who'd allow us to point out all ... well, you know what I mean.
Now, no matter how beautiful or handsome a subject may appear, you have to follow the same principles or you can make a beautiful person look bad.
Yes, a purchased image is totally retouched and gently enhanced. Including hair.
@@TimKellysMasterPhotoTechniques Thank You!
May i ask what in Photography IS NOT "Fine Art". I don't mean "Art" by that question, I mean "Fine Art". Many thanks
A great question that has many answers. In a nutshell, portrait art or even fine art includes creations that appeal to, and are of interest to other than the subject and those related. An artistic portrait generally can’t be a couple of cheesy smiling at the camera kiddos.
It’s my belief, a fine art portrait can only be produced by an artist. A good photographer is not necessarily an artist. In my nearly 60 yrs experience, I’d say that less than 10% are artists. Born artists create art from whatever they have to work with and seek to satisfy their need to produce art, and customers are a beneficiary of their talent and efforts.
I was born an artist, probably with crayons. I never stopped producing art in a dozen mediums, ending up in my own darkroom at age eleven.
You see, you can have the desire, the drive learn, study and practice , and become a really skilled craftsperson, but artistry in your soul is more than talent - it’s a gift.
Over many decades I’ve learned to stay with portraits, primarily studio, because I enjoyed it the most - and a focused specialty will compound your success.
Finally, an artist might never be satisfied.
That’s just one answer - but believe me, I know so many top photographers and artist photographers, and they can all tell you where they fall.
This may not help - but it’s out there.
Best wishes from my iPhone , (so it may not be perfect.)
@@TimKellysMasterPhotoTechniques thank you for replying. While you have stated it might not help, it is a mighty fine effort, and from an iphone I applaud you.
Are people born artists? I do think it is something in the blood - so to speak. You seem to have a good idea of what art is. You stated "Portrait art or even Fine art includes creations that appeal to..." In separating the portrait from the Fine Art, you inadvertently suggest portraits are not Fine Art. I very much suspect you know otherwise.
As good as your reply is, you answered according to what I stated I did not mean. Just about everything you have said can be included within the Fine Arts. I asked what isn't, although you have stated what isn't art.
Curiously, the Oxford English dictionary states that the fine arts are: those appealing to the mind or to the sense of beauty, as poetry, music, and especially painting, sculpture and architecture.
It doesn't include photography at all, although omitting to say it is, does not essentially mean it isn't. Photography can be a form of Fine Art when it requires skill. But a work of Fine Art cannot be turned in to a work of Fine Art. That is often a mistake made by monotone photographers. I tried to reason with a monotone photographer a few years back who insisted it had to be black and white to be fine art. I don't know where he got that blinkered notion from.
A thought came to me today, while looking at an artist improve a colour portrait photo using photoshop. As the photo became manipulated it moved away from being a photograph. A beautiful and artistic colourful image none the less.
Thanks again and best wishes to you also.
are you just not bothering to show us the shots where the model is half-blinking? does this model ever do a bad shot?
She didn't produce many bad ones. Though I kinda turned her into a favorite subject, she IS NOT A MODEL, just a college freshman at the time a friend introduced her.
This is a wonderfull portrait but has nothing to do with fine art.
Just my opinion, but, as an artist (prodigy they say) since first recognized at age two, I was tested over and over, created published art and received scholastic art awards, and Hallmark awards as a child, followed by seasons of oil painting, sculpting, and etching/printmaking. I soon favored monochrome media; pencil, pen and ink, charcoal and lithography. By age 12, I was making and selling prints from my own designed darkroom. At 13, I was asked to join a professional studio as a printer. From there I was trained (by masters) in all types of photographic processes; including all forms of color science. At 19, I opened my own first studio, but never ceasing to pursue ART in my work. My work has been accepted into art shows, galleries and I have work included in three permanent museum collections by acquisition, purchase or invitation.
In short, I believe a segment of my photographic originals absolutely classify as fine art in every way.
Thanks for watching.
..true, i can show immediately hundreds of photographers, which are really masters of there work....here i don't even know what it is, that anyone can talk about " master photo", ....in every video i have seen, much talking about average pictures...kinda bob ross for photography.....😶
@@TimKellysMasterPhotoTechniques Great portraits yes, fine art no.