Hair Photography

[StanleyBey]

Hello,

I have the Powershot A20. I got it primarily because I needed an easy to use digital camera to take photographs of hair.

I am interested primarily in hair photography. I have posted a number of photos on my site but am looking to improve my technique. It seems I have the most trouble with the correct lighting. In most shots, some hair seems to be in shadows. Any feedback would be welcomed.

http://www.geocities.com/stanleybey

[JohnMN]

Do you take most of your pictures indoors or outdoors? In order not to get 'shadows' you will have to look at your lighting setup. Is it overhead or from the one side primarily? Large sheets of styrofoam (I think that what they are called) can be used as reflectors to throw light back onto your subject. What colours of hair are you taking pictures of? The set up can be different for say blonde hair to dark hair and the set ups you can use.

JohnMN

[nsxpower]

JohnMN,

While I can't offer any helpfull advice on photographing hair specifically.

But I think that your lighting problem can be helped by using reflectors. You can make them from styrofoam (as suggested by JohnMN) or alu. wrap. Or you could pick up a cheap pro version somewhere, perhaps used.

Use a lot of external diffused light sources. You can make use of reflectors to direct light from the cheesy tall halogen lights down onto the person's head.
Internal flash will produce sharp highlighted areas/deep shadow and I do not think you can attach an external EX flashes to A20, so just turn off the flash completely.

Best advice may be to just experiment with different setups.

P.S.
I am somewhat disturbed by the contents of your site. I have not seen a person nearly as obsessed with their own hair as you. A little obsessive-compulsive, but cool.

[StanleyBey]

I have thought of trying to use some kind of reflector system. I was thinking of maybe using a movie screen that is normally used for slide projections.

I do most of my shots inside but have experimented with varying results outside.

I like the sun's effect on hair but at times it can be a challenge because it either makes the whole image too light or parts are too shadowed. I like the large image on the left on my main page in this regard.

As far as my site being disturbing, I have had other comments along those lines. That is part of the reason I created the poll. You'll note that the majority of visitors don't feel this way although there is a significant minority who do.

[nsxpower]

I am not too familiar with A20, but is there a manual control for exposure?

If so you may want to turn down the exposure to -1EV to negate the sun's effect.

Also force flash outside when shooting in the sun. Sunlight during the day can be very strong and it comed from high angles creating sharp shadows. But forcing the flash in sunny conditions outside you should be able to get a more evenly lit photo.

It may also be a good idea to use "sunny" white balance setting.

_
"Disturbing" was a really bad choice of words on my part. Perhaps, "surprised" was what I meant. Regardless, passing personal judgements is not what the subject of this forum is about.
Besides, I don't have the balls to experiment with my hair near nearly as much ;)