For this months Image I decided to test out The Sony a7ii’s performance in the studio and as I had just taken delivery of my new studio lights I thought it would be a great opportunity to try those out too.
Next thing was to decide who the subject should be? Well seeing as it was a weekday morning and the only person home was me I guess the decision had been made for me…
Time for a self portrait.
Now this presents its own set of challenges, not only do I need to get the lighting right as I would in any normal portrait, I also have the problem of getting the subject (me) in focus, not an easy task when you are the wrong side of the lens.
I started off by setting up the lighting and using a lighting stand as a substitute for me and then fired off a some shots to see what I was getting.
After a few adjustments to the position/height of the lights and the power of each unit I was reasonably happy with the results. The only thing I wasn’t too pleased with was the background.
I was using a wall in my home which was white but as the background to my portrait I wanted it to be black. At the moment it was looking more of a dirty grey colour.
So how do you turn a white background black?
Simple! you firstly ensure that as little light as possible is falling on the background, then you place your subject about 10 – 12 feet away from the white wall as it was in this case.
If you have everything set up right, with a little luck you should get a nice black background for your portrait.
If its not quite as dark as you want just move your subject a little further away until you get your desired result.
My next task was to make sure I was in focus because a successful portrait hinges on one main thing – getting the eyes pin sharp.
So using my light stand I opened it up until the top was at my eye level and placed it where I would be standing, I then placed my camera on a tripod, set my aperture to f22, put the shutter on timer mode, focused on the top of the lighting stand and quickly placed myself where the lighting stand was.
As you can see the results are pretty impressive. A little too impressive if you ask me as every pore in the skin, every line, every wrinkle, every blemish and every grey hair is picked out in all its own unflattering glory.
My vanity aside this little camera continues to impress with great tones, pin sharp focusing and its full frame sensor produces an image with amazing detail.
Until next time, take care.
Darren
Photo Info: Camera: Sony a7ii, Lens 18-55mm, Shutter Speed 1/125 at f22. ISO 200. Two Studio Flashes with Soft Boxes.
