Post an example of - A Good Reference Photo
 

Someone recommended on another topic that examples of what constituted a good photo reference might be useful to others.

Well, let's post photo reference here that we consider to be "good enough to paint from".

To my mind, a reference photo must first be compositionally sound, have good definition of the highlights and shadows from a good light source which comes from an appropriate angle to be flattering to the figure. The color needs to be reasonable - no photo is perfect - and the areas of highlight should not be too blown out or the shadows too deep that I cannot see what goes on.

So, here is my idea of a good reference photo.
_____________
Shot by me.
From a digital Olympus C3040 at 3.3MP
About 16x20 inches out of the camera - can see the styration in her iris and the peachfuzz on her face.
________________

Let's see yours. :)

Mindy
 

This is not such a bad image ...

Crystal
 

I've always liked this photo of my buddy Crystal ...

Thank you Michael for starting this thread.

Your reference photo looks ideal to me and made me wonder about one thing. When squinting at the photo, the right side of the girls face disappears into one, entirely dark value, the same is true for Mike M. 3rd photo reference. These two images come across as stronger, with more dramatic impact and it seems that this high value differentiation (shadow vs. lit side) would allow for a more dramatic look as a portrait.

Furthermore in the 1st photo reference enough detail is observable in the shadows to even hint at color other than a dark void. Mike M.

Enzie:

A lot of this is equipment first and technique second. Having good photo lights, a good camera, and a reflector are half the battle done.

When your photo starts to look almost like a painting, then you know you are shooting good reference.

Here is an example of what I believe is good color:

Shot by my same Olympus camera:

Here is another. All my photos are taken in natural light with my Nikon film camera. The indoor shots I used a tripod mostly with 400 speed film.

Another outdoor photo. You have to find some way of avoiding the total wash out of the sun and reflected light.

Mike:

It appears that you, Enzie and I are the only ones willing to play here. Thought it would have generated more interest but guess not.

Your photos suggest that you lead an interesting life. :)

Can't play if I don't have the pieces
 

After seeing these, I went through all my photos and couldn't find one that didn't have at least one major flaw. Luckily they are all of friends and relatives. So before I can play I'll need to take some decent pictures first. The examples shown are impressive, I hope others will play. I may have to post some really bad ones just to get the juices flowing!

Jean

ps. I do have some great animal ones :)

Michael,

I am a simple man living out a modest, humble existence in the suburbs.

So I'll get off the beautiful women for a while.

This little guy was amazing, sometimes he could hold a pose for as much as 7 seconds!

OK, back to the beautiful women.

I was upset with myself when I got this photo back and realized I had cut her hand off. No doubt I was focusing on Brandi's uncommonly beautiful face.

This is a sharper photo than it scans. Taken in natural light with my Nikon N60, 400 ASA Fuji Superia film, and a 70 - 210 Nikon zoom lens.

I will bite and post one Michael, but it will wait for the am., it is on my other server.

But I would like to comment that I am begining to wonder about the Harem that Mike is running in Oklahoma! Eventhough, his "pool" player is still my favorite! :)

Here's another; I think this was with a Nikon FTN using Kodacolor Gold and a 210 zoom.

And another: Nikon N60 with 70-210 zoom lens and Fuji Superia 400.

And one more: same camera, film and lens. My girls tend to be a bit younger than Mike's.

Can I play too?
 

Camera- Bronica SQ w/ 150mm lens
Film- Kodak TMAX 100
Lighting- Comet Strobe Lights

Shot by me and was blown up to 14 x 18" prints.

Notice how the shadows do not clog up to black and the highlights don't bleach out to white.

That's better, a little participation now.

Marvin: Great shot, well done.

You mentioned the type of lights you use. I think that is very important too. I chose constant photo lights rather than strobes and they do work pretty well for providing a nice soft light on the subject. I use a single light and reflect light back into the shadow areas with a large piece of white foam core board.

Beth: That Mike, he's a "mover" in Tulsa for sure! I like to imagine him wandering the city with his camera and women just "fall" into his lens. :oops:

As I "wander" around my kitchen I see that these same principles can be practiced on all types of subjects.

Ha! Mike we know what that wine is really for. :)

I am attaching a composite of shots I liked.

Question to the other posters here.

If you paint from life in natural north light only, why are your reference photo

Does anyone know CPR for Sharon and Karin?
 

I couldn't help myself.

Michael, I know you asked for good photo reference, but I had to share this one.

This is my first-ever paying commission, way back before I was ever stroked by some of the geniuses on this site. This couple is on their honeymoon, and I believe they added the patriotic theme because of 9-11.

Please don't ban me for life, I promised I would never do this again after my last bad reference post. :D

Here is a series of photos I'm working from for a current commission. I hardly ever use just one photo for a painting. Even if one shot has exactly the pose I want, I still need closeups of faces, feet, etc.

All these were shot in exactly the same lighting (indirect daylight from a large window) and I didn't change where I was shooting from, so I can mix the reference shots together.

The girl is not happy with her weight and she and her mom asked me to "trim her down a bit" which I will do for the painting.

This overall shot also makes the boy look too small relative to his sister. I will bring him forward in the final composition so their sizes are more accurate compared to each other.

Here's one of the face closeups. This is the expression I will use, not the one in the overall shot.

I blow these detail shots up to the size I will be painting at.

The girl had her hair and makeup specifically done for the photo shoot. I don't like her hair in this trendy style so I will be shooting additional photos.

I didn't like how the girl's arm and hand were positioned in the overall shot so I asked her to move it.

Eventually you'll see how all these photos come together in the final painting on my website in a couple of months. The canvas is 48" x 26".

Beth, since my photos were all taken outside, except for the child on the chair, I assume you weren't referring to them. I always take my photos out of doors and, as Michele mentioned, try to shoot them from the same vantage point so that I don't run into mixing and matching body parts with different light sources.

Michele, it was fascinating to see your reference photos. What kind of camera, film and lens do you use? How did the girl react to your wanting a more natural-looking hairstyle? And what did you have in mind? I'm looking forward to seeing the finished piece after having had a peek at the process.

I too never work from just one photo; aside from the fact that everything is rarely perfect in one shot I think it's more interesting and challenging to build a completely new image on my canvas. It was hard to find examples of decent reference photos that were complete in themselves, to post here, because I normally pick and choose elements from a series of pictures. I actually started out as a photographer rather than a painter, and having the ability to select and delete body parts, backgrounds and so forth still feels like an incredible luxury.

Marvin, will you work from that photo or is it a value study? The subtle range of shades is lovely.

This is fun, seeing what others consider to be good resource photos, but then it would be nice to see a finished painting derived from them.

Asked and answered
 

Leslie,

I posted the finished painting last year in the professional unveiling section at http://forum.portraitartist.com/show...=&threadid=945

Michael,

I use two strobes, a main and a fill. I don't like a fill card because it is too uneven and directional filling the shadows unequally. I recently did a photo workshop for portrait artists in Atlanta and went to great pains to demonstrate the inequities of the fill card. I know many use it but I disagree with its effectiveness (me disagree?)

The main light can be modified to control the hardness or softness of the light. The fill is always very soft. Using the strobe lights allows me to use 100 asa film (very detailed) while shooting at f11 (good depth of field). Using b&w film allows me to control the amount of information the film captures, by varying the development times (under developing) I can extend the tonal range (Ansel Adams

Marvin, thanks for the link to the finished portrait. Yes, it's beautiful and I definitely see your point about tonal ranges. But it's beyond me how you can capture true color with only studies in life to aid you. There is so much detail in your work that I would think that the life paintings would have to be almost as realistic and complete as the final portrait to assist you in knowing what color to use where the hand reflects a warmer light onto the jaw and so forth. It's amazing.

Leslie, you asked for the details of the equipment I use to take my pictures.

I don't pay much attention to my equipment at all. I use a digital Minolta 3.4 Megapixel S304 camera. I don't use studio lights, I don't care about exposure, aperture or any of that. I let the camera set the exposure and the white balance automatically.

I'm sure I could take better pictures with better equipment and lights, and if I concentrated on manually controlling the camera settings, but my point is that you don't need all that stuff to take decent pictures to paint from.

Maybe at some point in the future I will concentrate on the technical aspects of reference photo taking. For now I concentrate on the composition, natural lighting, facial expressions, etc.

Me too...

Here are a couple of photos which led to a painting. I first composed this in the view finder as a head and shoulder shot and then backed the picture off to be more inclusive (a bit too much, but it didn't matter).

One mistake I have often made is wanting to compose the perfect shot in the view finder and then when I go off to make an 8x10 I must then lose a part of my composition.

These are low resolution photos so they won't show very well but you get the idea. After I get my 4x6 images back I use the cropping guide and create my 8x10 image.

Thanks for the information, Michele, and I agree with you completely. I've used Nikons forever and so they're second nature to me, and I don't need to think about how to get effects with them. But I got a Canon G2 digital camera for my birthday in October and haven't really taken the time to learn it; so far I've just left it on its automatic settings and I'm sure haven't begun to plumb the depths of its capabilities. Another problem with digitals, for me, is the shutter lag. It's not bad on the G2 but it still prevents me from capturing that fleeting moment, and I've always liked to emphasize the spontaneous smile or intense expression that doesn't last when it's genuine. I also prefer the long 70-210 mm. lens over the smaller zoom on my digital camera. It lets me focus in on the subjects without making them feel that I'm invading their space. On the other hand, digitals seem to even out the light much more than 35 mm. SLRs and they're also more forgiving. I've been astonished at the excellent range I can get with the Canon compared to the Nikon.

I then paint from the 8x10 photo ...

In keeping with my beautiful women theme, here are a couple of sisters (would that make four?) ...

And then the blonde.

When I met these girls for pictures I brought the little beret. I posed the brunette with the beret and the blonde was left without a chapeau! As I was taking the above pose the blonde comes over and rips the hat off her head. Everyone needs their own hat, lesson learned.

Marvin,

I admire your work, and would love to learn more about how you accomplish your very believable skin tones.

You said,
Would you be willing to elaborate on this? Could you show us an example of a color study you did from life, and perhaps, point out how that same study would have turned out had you (or someone less experienced than you) attempted to do it from a photograph?

Will

Marvin,

You'll probably realize it, but this is another subject and should go into a new topic.

Seek and ye shall color study
 

Will,

Flattery will get you everywhere. Here is the explanation you ask for.
http://forum.portraitartist.com/show...&threadid=2521

Hope it helps.

Me too?
 

Me play too?

I have a shot of Laura that I think is good enough to paint from - that is if my finger heals by June and allows me to paint again.

I'm not sure of the shadows but like the color. I used my vintage Nikon and natural light from the window and I think Portra film. Hope this works.