Small Flashes for Big Job
Well, this is just neat.What would you do if someone called to ask you to shoot your President's official portrait on a few days' notice?
(I'd try to figure out which one of my buds was trying to pwn me, is what I'd do…)
But that's exactly what happened to Strobist reader Karel Donk, who lives in the small South American country of Suriname. So Karel grabbed his speedlights Strobist gel kit and got to work.
Afterwards, he posted about it on his blog -- including BTS pics and lighting diagram.
What a cool thing to happen. Congrats, Karel.
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Posted at 9:42 PM.
38 Comments:
It was a very good article. I can only imagine how nervous it would make you to take a portrait that would be critiqued by the entire nation.
It takes huge....confidence to put a specular on your country's leader's bald pate.
Great product and excellent article.
That's so cool. It's pretty awesome that he can pull off flare on a Presidential portrait! I also love the comment about using Cactus V4's instead of the Canon stuff!
Very, very cool.
Really liked the detailed and well written insight into your thought process throughout the whole business, Karel.
I also really like the final photo, and would be willing to bet that you'll get more surprise phone calls of this nature in future. :-)
Thanks for another very worthwhile post, David, and congratulations to you, Karel.
That was a real good read.
Thank you for bringing this story to us all.
An excellent read.
Thank you for the post.
+1 on the gutsy lighting! But it really works. I love the vibrancy of the background. Kudos.
(minor nitpick - the wrinkles on the right sleeve)
I felt butterflies for him as I read the story. Thanks for the link and the shared wisdom Dave!! G'day from Brisbane Australia.
Excellent article. It shows that you don't really need "bells and whistles" stuff to get the job done. Simple setup yet very effective. My hat's off to Karel.
Love the comparison at the end of past and present Presidential portraits. Mr.Donk really knocked it out of the park here.
Hells belles! You've done well and what an honour!
Congrats Karel!
Whoa, that's a very good job without a very big studio :) thanks for sharing it!
Well, he pulled it of in style - that is brilliant! Love the colours so much, that I've just ordered a set of gels - wanted them for a long time, but the starting price if i buy them in Denmark is about 20 quit for 10 filters - thanks for the link to rosco's - absolutly affordable..
Anders
Pretty cool.. though I'm a little uncomfortable saying it. Bouterse has a violent history, just to much evidence...
I do think he might have a good plan for his country.
Anyway, it's not about politics here, so, awesome asignment, dude! Great to read what you used and stuff, makes a lot of budget-strobists happy ;)
Wow. Great read and picture!
The Cactus V4 system is an interesting choice for such a high-level shoot.
Love that fact that he shot these with Cactus V4's! And many thanks to Karel for the great write-up.
Canon - wake up! Here is a guy shooting a presidental portrait and he opts for V4's over the too expensive ST-E2 because they are easier and more reliable.
Nice article and portrait. I really like how he though about the symbolism, story and message he wanted to convey with color, composition and light. Thanks for sharing the pointer to the article and his work.
I was going to say the same thing about the Specular highlight. It turned out absolutely great though. It was a great choice to use the "hair light".
Great work Karel, personally, I think that this guy that took the picture of Obama can learn from you! Your photo is sooo different, yet serious and classy, congrats!Keep up the good work!
Greetings from Croatia :-)
You hit a home run on this one, Karel. I love the thought you put into it and the result... all using relatively simple techniques. It takes real clarity of vision to do that!
Great Picture, but...imho...and I really hate to be negetive, I find the top of his head to be a little hot, and I rarely use a hair light on someone without hair as to not to bring attention to the lack thereof. Although, I was never called upon to photograph the President, so kudos!
Karel,
Your photo pops off the page in comparison to the other presidential portraits. Bold & confident. Great job!
I think the hair light would have been better positioned as a rim but great effort either way.. Just a little hot on the head IMHO. I would have pooped my pants with worry so well done. It looks outstanding when you compare it to the other portraits.
Excellent work, love the "star" effect you got with the yellow light. Perfect.
Thank you for sharing this link, I truly enjoyed reading the article.
Thank you for sharing this link, I truly enjoyed reading the article.
Hi, I agree with the comment how this photo compares to those of other leaders. This one just pops off the page. I am impressed and envious but also hopeful! Thanks for all the info about how the shot was set up. Dave
Hi everyone, thanks for all the comments, both positive and negative. It's interesting to hear from everyone about how they look at a photo. I appreciate it a lot.
Also thanks to David for posting this on his blog, it's given me a lot of exposure. :)
A lot of what I've learned about off-camera lighting is from the information on this website, so I'm happy to be able to share it with you again.
It's true that the image pops but for me a hot spot on bold head is a big no-no especially when it's a formal style portrait.
This is another proof that the quality of photography works is not necessary related to the cost of photo equipments. I have been doing portrait works with similar equipments for years. I think the photo image might have a stronger impact if the subject eyes were on a golden ratio point. And, it is my personal taste that I prefer a rim light over a hair light. Here is a sample: http://www.flickr.com/photos/26423920@N00/5001558017/
Nice job, Karel!
I like the lighting :D
I can see the headline now:
EBAY SLAVE SHOT PRESIDENT
Great photo and post.
Balmore.
Thank you guys for the post and congratulations for your result, Karel. Great work, great picture!
Congratulations for the job and for the picture Karel. Thank you David for sharing this nice story with us!
Great job, Karel. and hopefilly the first of many more.
I love the thematic lighting. Well thought out and beautifully executed...
I've only just started to experiment with off-cam lighting and am having a blast :)
Superb job. I love the thematic lighting. Well thought-out and beautifully executed...
I love his courage to do what he did, I wouldn't have the guts to be honest.. I'd probably use a softbox on one side, a reflector on teh other and a hair light. really going safe.. i'm still not sure if that yellow light works for me or not, i get the whole star on the flag thing but i'm just not sure... it's a great photo no doubt though!
I'd like to see what this image looks like as a really large print. I would guess that this type of shot would get a lot of press use and a lot of formal use in administrative buildings and government departments where it may be printed as a pretty large image.
What would the highlights and hot spot on the bald head look like when printed large size?
Seeing the image on the web like this, it looks great, I love it, but larger in print I'm not sure about.
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