2009 Challenge, Day 228: Single Light Source Portrait

Today is Sunday, August 16th, 2009. Today’s theme for the 2009 Challenge is SINGLE LIGHT SOURCE PORTRAIT.

"I hate California girls", by spunkinator

Yeah, yeah, I know, that’s a long theme. But you should get the point, by just reading the title. We’ve done a wide variety of portraits here at PhotoChallenge.org. In fact, one of the most influential challenges I ever participated in, was the December Challenge, of shooting a portrait a day, all month long. It revolutionized my attitude about shooting portraits. So, for those of you fringe photogs, just hanging around, maybe shooting one challenge every so often, get off your duff, and do it!

It’s easy, choose someone you haven’t shot for a portrait before, and set it up. If you’re used to shooting with nice off-camera lights, then just drop it down to one light source. If you’re a “natural light” shooter, then let’s focus on just one “natural” light source. Branch out though, and don’t just use the sun (lazy!).

Also, I don’t want to see even one shot with your on-camera flash! I’m serious! That’s rarely nice looking, and not encouraged by too many folks. Just go read about it at the Strobist. Oh, and another place for inspiration is the Flickr Group, One Strobe Pony.

Without getting into too much instruction, as that’s not the focus of this site, I’d like to simply challenge you to maybe use just one bounce. Use a fancy bounce, like this one. Or just get some white paper, or foam core. That’s all I use!

"Untitled", by m.by

Once you’re ready to submit your work to Flickr, you’ve got to do two important things. First, make sure you tag your photos correctly; “2009challenge″ and “2009challenge228“. Also, if you haven’t already, join thePhotoChallenge group on Flickr. Then, submit each day’s photo to the group’s pool.