I’m currently trying out a new portrait style for me using a different lens focal length than what I’ve used for a while now, and also adding in an additonal light to my usual one-light set up.
For some time I’ve used the Sony 85mm G Master lens with my Sony A7RIV and have and still do love it for the quality and sharpness of the files it produces. However I’m now going to be using a 55mm focal length … my Zeiss f/1.8 Prime Lens.
It’s hard to put into words what I’m really liking about the look the lens gives … it’s just different. Some would say that it gives a much more realistic ‘as the eyes see it’ look but I guess that also depends on how close to the subject you position yourself.
I also like how the focal length means you’re much closer to the subject, making the portraits much more intimate and revealing of the person being photographed ... if that makes sense.
I’m also, like I said, using an additional light with this new look I’m working on; both of which are LED Constant lights.
I’ve been using the 60W Westcott L60-B COB LED for a while now but a few days ago I received the new 120W L120-B COB LED; a slightly bigger unit with the advnatage that no adaptor is needed to fit any of my light modifiers.
So the portrait of my friend Anthony above, I took using one of the grey walls in my office as the background; here’s the set up showing the positon of the lights …
LIGHTING
Westcott L60-B COB LED fitted with a square Westcott Pocket Box Softbox rear and camera right and positioned so that it added both a bit of light onto the background but also a hint of light onto the camera right side of Anthony’s head.
Westcott L120-B COB LED fitted with the 24” Rapid Box Switch Softbox
Westcott 2-in-1 Reflector (silver and White) with silver side uppermost
*NOTE: If you’re looking to invest in Westcott Kit, then give me a shout and I’ll pass on a Discount Code
Westcott L120-B COB LED
Westcott 24” Rapid Box Switch Beauty Dish
Westcott Pocket Box Speedlight Softbox Kit
camera settings
Aperture: f/5.6
Shutter Speed: 1/60sec
ISO: 1250
When taking Anthony’s portrait I was experimenting with different apertures to see hat I prefered for this new look; f/2.0 , f,4.0 , f/5.6 and actually liked the look of f/40 as with the 55m lens it gave a great depth of field with the tip of the nose in foucs and then from the ears losing focus.
However, I mistakenly left the camera in f/5.6 so during the retouching in Lightroom I used the Lens Blur to convincingly fake the depth of the field.
retouching in lightroom
The portrait I retouched using only Lightroom and I’ve added it into my Lightroom Community Profile Page …
When you go to my Lightroom Community Profile Page, click on the portrait and this will then take you to where you can see all of the retouching steps I did to the ‘out of camera’ file. You can also save the settings as a preset to use on your own images and even click on Remix to get access to a Smart Preview of my original file and have a go at retouching it yourself.
