What would one have to do get their photos like this?

[MrShaSha]

I found these pictures and thought they were a very nice way to gain focus on one subject (which is the model/person). - Drizzy Drake | Aubrey Drake Graham » Drake

Now I have an iPhone 4, and I read this article - http://fstoppers.com/iphone/
I thought if someone can take high grade quality pictures with the iPhone 3GS imagine the iPhone 4 which has been deemed to have one of the best smartphone camera's of today.

For the Drake pictures what would one have to do to get their own pictures like this? Here's what I think. Take the picture of the model/person on their own. Find a city/any other bg. And put it behind the model/persons layer and voila? But then how would their face resemble the lighting of the city?

I'd love it if someone would help. :redface:

 

[Gaussian]

Yea that's pretty much it... cut out the person and put it on any background you want....

Matching the lighting can be tricky, it depends on the photo of course. If you want to try it you are welcome to post up your photos and we can help you.

 

[iDad]

providing you have a program to manipulate photos such as photoshop. great hobby to get to know, especially if you like photography

 

[X_Rogue_X]

Hello,

I've no clue what your photography experience is. If I'm wrong, then I apologize in advance, but I'm assuming it's limited.

Those photos look nice, don't get me wrong, but compared to those captured by a decent slr, or even an advanced p & s, they are pretty much..."meh". Lots of grain/noise, which works for what the photographer was (apparently) going for. Nicely captured, though.

They were also taken using professional lighting and techniques, likely using a tripod too. You won't get pictures like this from your phone, IMHO.

Having said that, however, with a bit of practice and study of photographic methods/theory, you can learn to get some cool shots with your phone. If you catch the photography bug, though, you'll end up with a dslr and a couple entry level lenses...which probably costs less than an iPhone 4.

If you don't already have it, download the trial version of CS5 and try it out. Grab some pics w/your phone and you'll see what I mean.

 

[KRF]

Hello,

I've no clue what your photography experience is. If I'm wrong, then I apologize in advance, but I'm assuming it's limited.

Those photos look nice, don't get me wrong, but compared to those captured by a decent slr, or even an advanced p & s, they are pretty much..."meh". Lots of grain/noise, which works for what the photographer was (apparently) going for. Nicely captured, though.

They were also taken using professional lighting and techniques, likely using a tripod too. You won't get pictures like this from your phone, IMHO.

Having said that, however, with a bit of practice and study of photographic methods/theory, you can learn to get some cool shots with your phone. If you catch the photography bug, though, you'll end up with a dslr and a couple entry level lenses...which probably costs less than an iPhone 4.

If you don't already have it, download the trial version of CS5 and try it out. Grab some pics w/your phone and you'll see what I mean.

You are right, I phone camera is just not as good as a DSLR, the sencer used in them are rubish, and if you think that having a carl zeiss lens on a phone will get you a better pic then this is a bad day for people, I have the iPhone 3G, and the man at the shop said I needed the 3GS as it has a better camera, I laughed at him and then got my DSLR cam out and said why would I need one on my phone when I have this.

It's a shame to only have a Phone cam, but if this is all you have then it will do, but a good camera will not cost that much under £200, and this will give you a batter image than a Phone cam.

Nikon FTW lol

 

[Gaussian]

Professional lighting does make a HUGE difference. You can get a pic out of a terribad camera to look respectable with the right lighting.

It's amazing to me how many people spend lots of money on cameras but don't ever spend a cent on lighting.

 

[KRF]

Professional lighting does make a HUGE difference. You can get a pic out of a terribad camera to look respectable with the right lighting.

It's amazing to me how many people spend lots of money on cameras but don't ever spend a cent on lighting.

Well it dose depend on what kind of photography you like doing, I love landscapes, so lighting for that wouldn't be a good thing as I can't light the the world, but I do have a Nikon SB 600 SpeedLight, for thing that I do take in doors

 

[Gaussian]

I have a hard time with landscape photography for that exact reason. I can't move the sun or control it's brightness!

 

[KRF]

I have a hard time with landscape photography for that exact reason. I can't move the sun or control it's brightness!

The brightness can be help with a polarizing filter, as for every thign else, it is really hard

 

[MrShaSha]

First off, thank you everyone for replying. I wasn't expecting this much help. Honestly thank you.

I completely understand that DSLR's will definitely take better pictures (you get what you pay for). But for now, all I have is this phone. I'd love a DSLR though .

I have limited experience, but experience none-the-less. If guided a little I can come up with a great picture. Now, if you read in the article he said his lighting could have been completed with standard household items (bed sheets, normal lights). Now for someones face to resemble the above lighting, does he need pot lights? Which are often orange-ish. Or go outside at night and take the picture under a street light?

Take a look at these pictures, they are all iPhone camera pictures - Flickr: Photos taken with an Apple iPhone
I'm not going for high-end photos. Something that looks of high quality to the general person, who usually can't tell between high-grade or low-grade.

I hope that can strengthen further posters adivce. If you need anything else. Please tell me and I'll try my best .
Once again. Thanks everyone so much for the help. I'm very grateful!

 

[X_Rogue_X]

It's true that equipment does not make the photographer. You can take junk photos with thousands of dollars worth of lenses, strobes, and camera bodies very easily. An eye for lighting and composition will win out over equipment almost every time. If you made your avatar, I'd say you're headed in the right direction.

he said his lighting could have been completed with standard household items (bed sheets, normal lights).

Yes, it could be done. Simply position your lights/reflectors/diffusers where you want them and correct the white balance in PS. Keep your light source(s) consistent...don't mix tungsten with fluorescent, etc.

Now for someones face to resemble the above lighting, does he need pot lights? Which are often orange-ish. Or go outside at night and take the picture under a street light

?

If you are referring to the model shots, I see four sources reflected in the models' eyes: one each above and below, and one on each side. If I had to guess, I'd say he had a softbox above and to camera left, approx. 45 degrees between the camera and model (this is a fairly standard portrait light); a hair light straight on to the model (and above, of course), and reflectors below and to the right for fill. Some of the other shots (with more shadow on the faces) seem to be just one light, with maybe a reflector on the other side. There really is no "right" way to do it, it's all personal taste. The "pot lights" (I'm guessing you mean recessed ceiling lights?) often show up orange because they are tungsten and the camera's white balance is set to daylight. Easy to correct for that, providing you don't mix light sources. If you do mix them, it's still correctable, just more work involved.

 

[MrShaSha]

Look what I found :O -

And X_Rogue_X thanks for all the help. I'll definitely look at my phones setting and make sure it's in correlation with the "recessed ceiling lights" lol
I think the above video should help further posters (if any...) out. Just need a little more help. And that'd be it. Thanks everyone so much!

 

[Darkpostpone]

On the contrary, those pictures don't necessary need 'high-tech' equipment. My view on this is that a Picture was taken of Drake and place in front of a photoshop background.

The background probably started out as an image. The type of blur used is most likely motion blur. Smoothing and polish the back to make it more blurry. Layering.
Black corner for contrast to balance bright lights.

Lighting/Glowing effects is easily done in Photoshop. The lines can be lighted up, glower, and make an appearance. The lines can be added in by a Layer and added effect.

Drake is the main focus. all of the pictures feature him.
His face is definitely photoshop to give a brighter appearance.

There you have it...
I hope this helps. It's not a thorough explanation, but I believe this can be done solely in photoshop.

 

[RedneckR0nin]

Professional lighting does make a HUGE difference. You can get a pic out of a terribad camera to look respectable with the right lighting.

It's amazing to me how many people spend lots of money on cameras but don't ever spend a cent on lighting.

Pretty much got it...LIGHTING makes the difference between a great picture and a breath taking photo. Your exposure, Aperture setting, Iso setting, and lighting even in a landscape shot make all the difference. If you really want to start to pursue Photography then your going to need a camera period. the best photographers I know and the ones that mentor me have never really added or edited photographs. They are against HDR for the most part and shoot beautiful photos with excellent equipment but can do just the same with a 35mm film camera from 1984( Iv'e seen them do it). Your going to need to learn how your camera views as a whole and go from there. Don't get me wrong Photoshop is great to have(Why I am here) but you need to take great shots first then worry about edits. You can pick up a very adjustable P&S(Point and Shoot) camera for around 300 bucks nowadays. Unlike Idad here I am a Canon guy but either Nikon or Canon are arguably the best of the lot with out going Hasselblad or something crazy that you have to mortgage a house for!

 

[warren mckay]

i have seen some amazing model shoots that have graced magazine covers with phone camera's ,however all high end smartphones and have been extensively processed in cs5 or lightroom.in saying that however the dslr are still the way to go.

 

[ColorExperts]

I cant see any images!