Classmate Portrait

Photo © Jason lenhart

Our next assignment was to create a studio portrait of a classmate. We drew names out of a stylish hat to see who would photograph who. This is Trevor Buehler. He hails from the suburban life of Akron, Ohio. The point of this assignment was to familiarize ourselves with studio lighting. It's a bit tricky to figure out at first but after that the technicalities of it are rather simple. During two of our labs we spent time first learning about the power boxes and how to safely and correctly assemble those and second, learned some studio set-ups. The assignment was to produce two photos, one with a single light source, and another with as many lights as we choose. The studio has several strobe heads, reflectors, soft boxes, etc. etc. so we had LOTS to choose from. The photo above is made with two soft boxes to the immediate right and left of Trevor. There is a silver reflector on the floor angled up at him. One strobe is obviously set higher than the other giving the lighter, and respectively darker, sides of his face. The photo below is a single light source coming from his left at a roughly 45 degree angle and raised up a tiny bit. It produces a "Rembrandt" lighting scenario, giving him that triangle on his face like many of Rembrandt's paintings. 

Photo © Jason Lenhart

The entire assignment went over really well. The PhotoJ studio only has one problem - It's gremlins. If any part of your body is touching the floor like you're knee or a toe, the strobes won't fire. It must have something to do with some faulty wiring in the room. Makes for some interesting troubleshooting. You'll double and triple check all your wiring and stuff when the strobes won't fire only to figure out there is a hole in the bottom of your sandals and your foot is touching the floor.