Looking for experiments in your portrait series? Tired to shoot from the same angle? We might have an idea that would make your work look more splashy!
Using water in portraits is both exciting and tricky to execute. Firstly, you would need to take all precautions to not damage your equipment and background – get plenty of towels.
Secondly, freezing water in the photo would require a flash light, in this example it is Flashpoint StreakLight 360 Ws Creative Collection .
Today we will show a technique of Gavin Hoey and Adorama TV that will get you up to speed with “wet portraits”.
Wet hands
Before throwing a bucket of water into model’s face let’s test out first how splashes would look on hands. It will save both the model’s clothes and your time of setting the camera/light settings.
On the StreakLight 360 we want to set a very low flash duration. Thus we will lower the power and set it on 1/64.
The flash light is positioned behind the model for purpose of highlighting drops of water and eliminating it in the shot. Plus the shadow on the model’s hands/face creates more dramatic effect. You can place the light in front of the model to experiment yet the result would be different in delivery.
Camera’s shutter speed is 1/250. ISO 400 to give more room for flash light adjustment. And the F stop on camera is F4.
Taking a snap.
The first photo turned out ok but there is a couple of things we can do to make it even better.
Most cameras have high speed shooting mode. Gavin put his on 10 frames per second setting.
Wet face.
Once we tried on hands, we can move on to start pouring water over model’s face. In this setup the model is leaning back and the water is being poured from above.
Before shooting, it never hurts to check camera’s settings again using light meter. Also, it is a good idea to check if your lens has gotten any drops of water on it and wipe it out using a lens cloth.
In this setup photographer tries out two positions – shooting a model from a side and from the center.
Expression and props.
Once the lighting is setup correctly and you are already getting shots you wanted it is time for the icing on the cake. It really makes a difference when a model shows strong emotions through facial expression. Having some props like a helmet or goggles might add an interest to the photo and make it more dramatic.
Room To Practice
Great news! FD Studios will soon have aqua zone available specifically for water involved photoshoots.
Stay tuned for exciting updates 🙂
Watch the full tutorial video of Gavin Hoey for Adorama TV here: