A Practical Guide to Color

[Natalie Hunsaker]

Not evasive at all. I'm constantly amazed at the insight of seasoned professionals when they look at my reference photos. I had to rack my brain to remember where the warm light source would have come from because I was sure that I turned the overhead incandescent off. Then I remembered--there was a second window messing with my shadows, which I had attempted to minimize by shutting the blinds. But the blinds (warm in color) still threw off the photo, apparently! Luckily I don't have to use this for a painting.

I am cursed when it comes to controlling my natural light because every room in my house has more than one floor-to-ceiling window and none of them face north. Alas, I may be best off switching to artificial light (eek) and taking the photos at night when I need to control only ONE light source and the reflected light. Of my options, I think this is going to be best until I can figure out a better way to block the other windows from becoming a second, distracting light source.

Thanks for your extended explanation. It made sense to me, too, although my hunch is that it'll make even more sense in 20 years.

[Debra Norton]

Natalie, an inexpensive way to get rid of unwanted light is to put foam board, card board, poster board, or even a blanket over the unwanted windows while you're taking your photos.

[Clayton J. Beck III]

Another and more simple solution is to only block the offending light from reaching the head if that is in what you are interested. Example, a coat rack with a coat on it placed near the sitter on a line with the window. This will in effect cast a shadow from the second light source on to the face, minimizing it's influence. I use this technique often. Hope it works for you too.

[Natalie Hunsaker]

Debra and Clayton,

Funny, I just read both of your posts. I've been trying to do what you have suggested all day--with some minor success. My baby girl has had it with me and the camera so I'll have to work on bouncing some reflected light and not losing my shadow side another day. Mental note number two: BUY A NEW CAMERA!

Anyway, don't feel obligated to comment on these photos, otherwise we'll turn this informative post into something that belongs in "reference photo critique" section. I'm just posting them for fun so you can both see what happens when I tried blocking windows:

[Clayton J. Beck III]

Hi Natalie,
Beautiful shots but how could you go wrong with such a beautiful subject.

I notice a lot of noise in your shadows. Are you using a hi ISO or under exposing a great deal and pushing? You are right, This might not belong here but it does raise a point about color and working from photography. Your shadows are going to be noisy and how is one supposed to figure out one color when you see so many small spots of color? This is where a good understanding of what 'should' or 'could' be there is helpful. A better camera will only help so much. A better understanding of lighting for digital reference would help and a thorough study of the capabilities of Photoshop and it's noise reduction capacity. There are 3rd party noise reduction products which are better than Photoshop native ones but they are on the expensive side. Good luck, Clayton

[Natalie Hunsaker]

Clayton,

I think she's beautiful, too, but I'm totally biased!

Once again I'm amazed you can tell exactly what I did with my camera. Yes, I underexposed because it was too dark for any kind of clear shot if I left the shudder open long enough to fully expose. My daughter wiggles way too much and all my shots were blurry at full exposure.

My point-and-shoot doesn't exactly have a large aperture for low light situations--which is why I think a nicer camera and a good f/1.4 lens would help. Although you make a good point that a nicer camera won't fix operators' error even if it does have a decent aperture!

I may use these for some paintings, anyway, because right now it's all I've got. I think I'm going to do a series, all in different brush styles, because I'm still figuring out what my style is. I'm super excited because this is the first set of paintings I will be able to do for myself in a LONG time. It's so nice not have a client to please. The flexibility is such a relief--even if the color is less than stellar. After all, I can always match color from life since my subject is always around, right?

Whatever I decide to do, I will certainly play around with Photoshop's noise reduction capabilities. Thanks for the tip.

[Natalie Hunsaker]

Oh this looks SO MUCH better without the noise (and some more color adjustments)!