I wanted to learn to use a projector in creative portraiture and Lizzy is a great model who came by to help me to try some new photography ideas using my new cheap projector. Here’s how it went.
Projecting Onto Face
We started with a simple white cross on a black background. First I had to darken down the room lighting and other photographic lights a bit, especially the normal key light. Basically I ended up only using forward fill light the add to the places where the projected image wasn’t lighting the face etc. I could have gone much darker than I did in most cases, so I can’t wait to try that next time. First here is some blue light on the background and sometimes also shining on her sides or at least one side of her.
Changing the look
Now for a lace projection image. This was Lyzzie’s idea as I was asking her for ideas that she might enjoy. You can see a big problem here – the projection needs to be lined up with the model’s face somehow. I didn’t have my projector on a tripod and I wasn’t familiar with the whole system. But this projector is so small, and has a universal thread in the bottom for a tripod. So maybe next time I’ll tilt the projector as needed.
Another potential problem is that the images from the projector can look washed out. I’m trying to figure that out. This was supposed to be a red lace but it looks pink. I’ll try other colors and see which ones come through looking more saturated. It could be because i added the fill light too. I tested on myself with no fill light and it was much more saturated with just red letters.
Static
This was Lizzy’s idea as well. She picked out a tv static image and I think it worked really nicely. Once again I would like to use less fill light and more of an abstract and mysterious look next time. The only reason I didn’t here is because I didn’t want to take chances creating images that didn’t make her look her best. Sometimes the dramatic lighting can look scary or ugly in some ways, even tho it’s fun and interesting.
