Creative PORTRAIT Photography using FILTERS [PrismLensFX] | Behind the scenes

G'day mate and welcome to 2020! Today I bring you with me for a portrait photoshoot, and we're going to seize the opportunity to test some pretty special filters, and see what we can get with them. But shhh, no spoiler! A few weeks ago, I did this photoshoot with Chiara, and it was an opportunity for me to test some filters I had just received. These are creative filters created by director Jacob Owens, also known as the Buff Nerd on YouTube. He specializes in music videos, and he created the company Prism Lens FX, which manufactures prisms and filters. Usually it's for video use, to create halo, flare or distortion effects on studio lights that are used in this kind of shooting. But today we're going to try to hijack that. I'm going to try to use two of the filters I have, and see if we can use them for portrait shoots in natural light. We're going to play on the fact that it's the middle of summer here, and we have a lot of sunshine. Maybe a little too much. Yeah, it's gonna be fun! This video was shot in November, in the middle of Movember, so as not to offend the sensibility of the younger viewers, it is important to specify that the horrible moustache I wear was only temporary, and has now disappeared. No worries, I'm not a pervert, despite the look it gave me. It's me, Mario! I always start by explaining how I work when I shoot with a model for the first time. First, I will use a long focal length, so I'll be quite far away from her. It's important not to enter her personal space when you haven't been able to connect and get to know her yet. As she gets more comfortable with me, thanks to my fantastic humor and my great jokes, I'll change the focal length little by little to end up with close-ups. Come on, because it's you, I'm sharing one of my best jokes. What's red and has two legs? Half a dog. Don't thank me. And also, at the beginning, I'm not gonna give you any direction. The second thing I explain is that, at the beginning of the session, I'm not going to direct her. I want to see how she behaves with the camera, how she positions herself, her expressions, etc. Again, it's only little by little, and according to her level, or what I want to get, that I'm going to become more and more directed. The first picture of the day, nothing extraordinary, just warming up. I took the girls to the train station near my house, hoping to find a nice environment. There you go, first correct portrait. You can see how few details can change your image in the end. We're exactly at the same place, but the leading lines are better exploited in the composition, and her posture is much better. It's a much more interesting profile for Chiara. It's time to test our first filter, the chromatic flare. I really like this one, you can get some pretty subtle effects. The glass looks broken, but that's where the light will catch and bounce. If you are at a wide opening, it will be blurred and we will have a nice flare. You can also try to reproduce this effect with a thread that you stretch over your lens, like this. First try, we can see very slightly the halo effect, but it's not crazy. When the light is diffused, here we are in the shade of the trees, obviously it doesn't work. We need the light to hit the lens directly. Those two photos are not particularly exciting in terms of composition, but they illustrate the kind of effect that can be achieved. Here I used the sun as a backlight, but in a way a little too frontal, so it burned my image. In this picture, I managed to get the flare without being exposed to the sun frontally. The building behind is in the shadow, and I like the teal and orange colorimetry of the overall picture. The problem is that I asked her to rest her arm on the ramp, so her back is a little bit bent, which makes her shoulder prominent. I should have been more careful about her position. We are still at the train station, just a little further down, looking for another spot that would allow us to dim the light while keeping it. This is another kind of effect that we can get, it's quite funny but the photo has not so much interest. Okay, try a tenser pose, like something like that. I would have liked to get the same effect on a picture like this one, where the composition and the pose are much more interesting. Come on, it's time to get moving. Chiara is a dancer. All along the shoot, I took the opportunity to ask her to move as such. I really like this image for its ethereal side. As I was saying, this kind of flight aberration is mostly used in video with anamorphic lenses, so here it also gives a very cinematographic side to the photo, and you're starting to know me, I love it. I tried to take advantage of the street art on the wall, add a bit of colors to the picture too, but to be honest, it's quite far from the result I expected. Here's the starting picture. I wanted to be able to emphasize her hand, with a colored varnish on the painted wall, but here the hand is stuck in the right corner of the picture, so that's the thing we'll focus on. It was quite hard to do otherwise during the shooting, but you should not hesitate in post to accentuate the framing where you want it, and even change the reading direction. The photo here has much more impact. This alley doesn't look gleaming at first glance, but in fact it's quite shady and the background is bright enough to stand out. Interesting portrait, the closed arms position, the classic pose for female models. That's a Nokia picture. Okay, little pause for a bubble tea, and we'll change the filter. Yeah, it's going to be a little crazier. I think this one is called the stardust filter, basically you have several little pieces of glass stuck on the filter. This is not even more flares we're going to have, but much more pronounced chromatic aberration, so let's get crazy. I'm not going to give her time to finish her milk tea that I put Chiara in the middle of Well, once again, remove the effects and the picture is not very original, yeah. But on some shooting, it can be a definite plus. The gods of photography have been kind to us, and sent us this beautiful shopping cart to add a little something to our pictures. Are we just a bunch of idiots who can have fun with anything we find in the streets? I don't know. But either way, it's cool. I like this series of pictures. This first picture could have been good. Unfortunately, the framing cuts off our choice. No bueno. It's better here in terms of composition, and the burst of light on her face could have been a good idea, but in fact, no. I would have preferred it to be slightly offset so that we could better appreciate her expression, especially on this one. The real advantage of the filter is that it rotates entirely without having to unscrew it, so you can easily change the position of the elements. I can't imagine the possibilities in video. It must be great. I love this image. I generally prefer the dramatic side of portraits in low angle view, and the aberrations are not too present but enough to bring an original side. My problem is the exposure. The backlighting and the silhouette effect on Chiara were not disturbing in itself, but I underexposed the image too much to be able to recover the level of information I wanted to have in the editing. Too bad. It could have been a great picture. Finally, the two most interesting pictures of this series for me. The cut of the framing is not done on an articulation, so it doesn't bother me. I like the fragments of light, and especially the expression of the model. There is a very fashion feeling to these pictures. Last pictures of the day, unfiltered this time, but I wanted to enjoy the golden hour that was coming, hence the very warm tone of the pictures. I love this image. I love it when a model doesn't pose, when I can capture the essence of a person. With the laughter, you definitely can tell who Chiara really is, more than with her model expression when she poses. That's the face I'm talking about. Well, don't get me wrong, I love this picture too. The pose is great, I love harsh lights like this one. It smells like summer. So what's the outcome of today's shooting mate? My favorite picture. It's a simple portrait, yes, but there are many things I liked in this picture, especially thanks to the talent of the model. So thanks again, Chiara. I suggest that we conclude on the filters. I bought the Master Bundle with 3 filters plus the prismis. It cost me 400 dollars in total. Need I mention it's not sponsored? I don't think so, right? I would love to, but we are a long way from sponsorship in this channel, I think it's obvious. Anyway, it's between 50 and 85 bucks a filter, plus shipping, knowing they will take a few days to ship, they make them to order. The question is, should you buy them? I, for one, don't regret a second. It was fun to test them a little out of context, but obviously they are better for video, even if in photo is great too, and especially with certain types of light. So for sure, there's a way to get this kind of effect in a more homemade way, at a lower cost, but for my use, the investment worth it. It's very good quality, and above all, the ease of use saves you a lot of time, and time is what I need the most. Of course, if you're just starting out, concentrate your budget on quality lenses, this kind of accessory will be for much later. Okay, you enjoyed this video, like it, subscribe, ring the bell, share it, send me kisses, blah blah blah. Today I prefer to focus on something else. You know I live in Australia, and you probably saw on the news what's going on here with the bushfires. If you have a few dollars that you can give, even a very small amount, I put links in description that allow you to do so. I don't know if this kind of call to action has its place on my channel, but it's a subject that affects me right now, so if it affects you too, and you have the possibility, don't hesitate. I mean, do whatever you want, mate, it's your call. Well, we'll meet again very soon, see you mate, and keep on creating! Wanna let my soul shine Oh I wanna live my life Burning like a wick, my soul shine Wanna let my soul shine Alone we make the darkest With my soul shine