{"id":37625,"date":"2017-01-29T21:40:06","date_gmt":"2017-01-30T01:40:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/?p=37625"},"modified":"2017-08-09T18:40:52","modified_gmt":"2017-08-09T22:40:52","slug":"photo-session-intimate-male-portraiture","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/photo-session-intimate-male-portraiture\/","title":{"rendered":"Photo session – Intimate male portraiture"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Photo session – Intimate male portraiture<\/h1>\n

The motive behind this photo session with Nick Mathews, is explained in the intro of the behind-the-scenes video clip\u00a0of the photo session<\/a>. One subject, one studio, two photographers and two different styles.\u00a0We\u00a0shot this in Cate’s studio\u00a0– she used available light, and I ended up\u00a0using two Profoto B1\u00a0flashes<\/a>\u00a0(affiliate<\/i>), and gridded stripboxes to control the light. The video clip shows some of how we\u00a0directed Nick during the shoot, and\u00a0as a professional model and actor, he was supremely easy to work with.<\/p>\n

With this article, I’d like to touch on each of the different sections of the shoot, coming up with a few different looks. There is still a sequence of sorts in how\u00a0the photo session progressed. With relatively limited time,\u00a0and a model who was becoming slightly fatigued after the long day, I had to work with that progression in mind and not\u00a0spend too much time setting up the lights. I wanted to work fast, and still get some variety in the photos that would complement his existing portfolio with new images.<\/p>\n

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I started off the photo session with a series of headshots for Nick, as requested by his agency. Not boudoir at all, but this was an easy ice-breaker – straight-up headshots.<\/p>\n

This is explained further in the article,\u00a0Easy lighting setup for headshot photography<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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With Nick going shirtless, the soft flattering light we had with the large light source of the bounce flash, would not have shown his physique to the best.\u00a0Therefore I went with one of my\u00a0go-to light modifiers\u00a0when working in the studio – the massive\u00a0Profoto RFi 1\u2019\u00d76\u2019 softbox<\/a> (B&H<\/em><\/a>\u00a0\/\u00a0Amazon<\/em><\/a>), with that egg-crate\u00a0grid on it. I’ve shown in previous articles just how effective this light modifier is in creating dramatic light that still has a soft edge. For example:\u00a0Chiaroscuro lighting<\/a>\u00a0 (model: Frankie).<\/p>\n

The shadow in the image on the left will give you a good idea where the sofbox was placed – the center of the softbox was above eye-level, and about 45 degrees of to the side. With the lighting coming from the side, we get to see the definition of Nick’s body without even really doing anything crazy with the lighting. That simply is how directional light from a smaller or narrower light source works.\u00a0With these examples, I only used the one flash \/ light source since the lighting wasn’t too contrasty yet.<\/p>\n

Camera settings & photo gear used during this\u00a0part of the\u00a0photo session<\/h2>\n