Need a starting point........

[WaterMarc]

I have been asked to have a go and take some photos of a local Country Singer for some publicity shots. My experience of Publicity shots in the past, when I have been on the recieving end have always been in a studio and the photographer has seemed to just go through the motions of a stock set of poses which keeps him in control of the light i suppose, but here I thought about doing some outdoor shots as we have lots of Cactus and dusty dirt track roads here and I can easily find a few spots with bare backgrounds like no cars or electric cables.

Its just a project to see how I get on really, and if anything decent comes of it he can have a new poster printed up for the chance to use him as a model with his props (ie banjo, telecaster etc.)

Can anyone give me some idea of any pitfalls I may come across filming in direct sunlight, or any tips to help in this task. Weather here is good at the moment, not too windy and nice deep blue skies. I´m guessing he´ll be wearing a cowboy hat which may pose problems with shadows on his eyes. And there´ll definatly be some gloss on his guitar to watch out for.

Loving this forum, I have learnt more in the last week than the whole of last year - you guys have got me buzzing.......and tired eyes!!

[lostmysnorkel]

Not sure which of the Canary Isles you are on, but I was in Lanzarote last year and yeah, the sunlight really is very harsh!

Best bet would be to find some open shade to place your subject in, preferably with the light from behind as well.

A reflector will help alleviate the shadow off the hat, failing that, you can pop a little splash of flash in there.

(I have seen one 'tog, at a wedding, with the flash on-camera turn the whole thing upside down so the fill flash would get under the brim of the Bride's Mum's hat!)

As far as reflections off the guitar go, once you have them posed if you think it's gonna be a problem, get him to 'tilt' the gutar very slightly downwards - thereby bouncing the light toward the ground and below the lens.

[WaterMarc]

Thanks for the Advice. I am on Lanzarote and the sunlight can be very strong, but they say the quality of the light, it attracts a lot of artists and indeed if you go to the north of the island you cant throw a stone without hitting one on the back of the head.

While we dont have a photographic supply shop here as you would know it - I have come across a foil sun shade that is used to reflect sunlight out of car windscreens so we dont burn our hands on the steering wheel when we get in.
I´m currently thinkin of suspending this (or two, theyre dead cheap and about 70cm X1.5m in diameter (imagine a car windscreen)) in a heath robinson style between two boom microphone stands to give me a bit of agility and strength....they also make one for "stupid people" to lay on on the beach so that they get tanned a bit at the bottom while they sleep off the San Miguel!! which is more flexible as its a quilted foil backed straw mat that is very steady on its edge yet rolls up like a sleeping bag.....they do white ones aswell so i´ll give em all a shot as they are only pence to buy and might give a softer reflection than the foil..

I have a cheap off camera flash that fires remotely from the on body flash, i´ll give that an outing aswell, see how it performs.

With all this reflected sunlight and stuff---whats the deal with my polorising filter - do i need it or will it get confused by the reflections?

[lostmysnorkel]

Thanks for the Advice. I am on Lanzarote and the sunlight can be very strong, but they say the quality of the light, it attracts a lot of artists and indeed if you go to the north of the island you cant throw a stone without hitting one on the back of the head.

I'd love to test that theory!
Early evening really brings out the light up there....the colour on the rocks can be gorgeous!

While we dont have a photographic supply shop here as you would know it - I have come across a foil sun shade that is used to reflect sunlight out of car windscreens so we dont burn our hands on the steering wheel when we get in.

I would avoid silver reflectors given the strength of your sunlight. Silver would give a very harsh reflection and cool the light temp quite significantly. Go with the white if you can, that way your reflected light will be the same colour temp as the direct light.

Also, try and avoid over-complicating the shoot with too much kit. Atthe right time of day, in decent light, you could probably manage with just one reflector, the sun, and not a lot else.


With all this reflected sunlight and stuff---whats the deal with my polorising filter - do i need it or will it get confused by the reflections?

I probably wouldn't bother unless you are including highly reflective surfaces within the image.