point and sh... art

A photo-school

Pregnancy pictures are a matter of taste. Unless you are one of the involved parties. Anyway, a little while ago I had a pregnancy photo shoot. I must admit - it is a bit of a challenge for the photographer, since it can not be treated like a beauty, fashion or portrait shoot.

A woman’s face and skin requires some special approach in order to be portrayed in the most appealing way possible. There are a few standard lighting set-ups that work best for it (Rembrandt lighting, butterfly lighting), however tummy-shoot is a good soil for careful experiments. As the attention is drawn from the face to the middle part of the body, it opens the door to your creativity…

Here are some examples of lighting set-up that have worked for me:

Picture 1 - you could call it ‘sandwich lighting’ (softbox on both sides of the model) with some slight variation, namely, the light from the right is directional, not diffused and somewhat half a stop brighter than the softbof on the left. This layout gives nice smooth light on the face and tummy, but harsh light on the hair and back creating a more dramatic look.

Picture 2 - the light is very similar to Picture one, but the softbox is put more behind the model by about 20-30 degrees, creating a nice outline to the shape.

Picture 3 - the softbox on the left stays where it was in Picture 2, but we loose the light on the right. Instead, there is a snooted light from the front left side of the model directed to pick out the face. The 3rd light is introduced in the front slightly to models right - umbrella about 2 stops lower than the softbox, just to slightly lift the shadowy parts on model’s arm  and back.

I hope this whole thing makes sense and helps you with your photos.

virtually yours,

Rix Weber