Making virtual shoots (Patreon)

Creating virtual shoots with a phone.

I've been doing 7-8 virtual shoots by now and tried a few different things.

My purpose in doing these is not to get the best possible images. I feel I could do that better by being on-site and besides I'm extremely picky with locations. So for me, virtual shoots will be a compromise regardless of camera, so I prefer to keep it simple. And I also like the challenge of getting a lot out of very little.

If you have not yet seen the full process check this out with Heather Vahn. 

Goals

I have four goals when doing these: 

1). Interview the model so I (and you) can get a feel for the person behind the images. I genuinely like and care for models, and would like to share that sentiment and allow other people to get to know them beyond their projection in an image.

2). Illustrate my shooting and direction process. You, as a viewer, can see the same as I see and can then hopefully understand some of my reasons for twisting or turning a model in a certain way - at least if you have seen my Composition course (Dkk 499 at my shop but free on my Patreon $20 tier during May Only).

3). Create some good images for Instagram use - I don't aim for anything higher. For that, you will need a more sophisticated approach, but I'll get back to that.

4). Have a chance to get acquainted with models I wouldn't otherwise be able to photograph.

Quality and compromise

Quality-wise the best option, of course, would be if the model has a professional camera, tripod, laptop with software to remote control the camera - with Live view so you can see what's going on through the camera. Then some software like TeamViewer or Zoom to remote log in and control the models computer and thus camera. I tried it once, and it's still too limiting, and I rejected that idea. On a regular camera setup, you would receive the raw files after the shoot.

Facetime

The second option is to connect via Facetime (Apple phones only) I connect using a Laptop, via Facetime to a models iPhone (whatever model). Facetime can do full-screen horizontal mode, which is the best resolution possible.

Skype

Skype, on the other hand, is a lot more buggy and can only shoot Vertical. Vertical mode is just fine for vertical compositions, but it's not very flexible. And quality if doing a horizontal shot suffer.

Google Duo Allegedly Google Duo is another software with high quality for video conference, it should come pre-installed on Android phones, but I haven't tried it. Yet. (https://duo.google.com/about/)

Tonality and exposure

Both Facetime and skype severely limit the tonal range, and you can't change exposure - both seem to use an average or mean of the tonal values. 

When photographing models against a dark background, the skin will likely blow out in the highlights or all over.

If you photograph against a white background or include a very light part of the sky/window, exposure will be better as the phone aperture/signal will darken the image overall. It's a limitation, but it's not impossible.

Using an extra phone

One way that would allow much better quality would be to use two phones on top of each other: Fun facetime/skype on one and let the other do video at the same time. Essentially wrap an elastic band around the phone, so both phones are shooting at once, use one with Facetime, the second doing video.

Resolution would be up to 4K depending on phone settings or 1080p uncompressed, which is much better than skype/facetime. 

But you need the video conferencing software to direct.

Camera placement

Camera/Phone placement is an issue. The best, of course, is its the models have someone around who can hold the camera and take directions.

The second best option would be a light tripod with a remote-controlled pan/tilt head, which would allow the model to twist and turn the phone upon direction. You can get these from around $30 at Amazon.

If the model doesn't have one of those, the third-best option is something like a Gorillapod that can be attached to any stand/chair, put on a sofa/bed, etc. The fourth option would be to stand the phone up against something, but this is the least desirable option as it's not very flexible.

Capture side

On my side, I use a screen capture software called Snagin 2020 to capture the screen, including System sound. I started out using Quicktime (on Mac), but it didn't record the system sound, so on the first one I did, there was no sound in the interview. 

Video editing

To add text, etc., I Use DaVinci resolve, which you can download for free from Black Magic. Excellent options, but it takes some time to learn.

How to set up a shoot

I arrange a time with the model, taking into account the timezone. 

Then from my Laptop, I call the model, start Snagit 2020 screen recording and check that the sound works.

Then we do an interview, walk around a little and find a beautiful spot. Sometimes I do this location finding before the conversation.

Then the model strips, and I start directing.

Direction wise its essential to be as precise as possible and take into account that depending on which way the model places the camera (selfie/back camera), it will mirror the image in selfie mode. So her left foot might be the right on the camera. 

Sometimes it takes time for the video signal to stabilize over Facetime, so you have to be patient and wait a few seconds every time the model is in a good position.

Selecting images and editing

Afterward, I play the shooting part of the movie and pause/screengrab the images I like from the full-screen view and sort them down to the best frames.

I do this in Lightroom as Lightroom allows me to gain back some blown-out skin tones by using the Details slider in particular.

Then I export to Photoshop and run a predefined action that fixes most things reasonably well. (This is a distilled version of my standard retouch actions). Initially, It makes a Retouch layer for spotting), then run Imagenomic Portraiture, makes a curve, dodge and burn layer, then makes a B&W conversion layer, Applies three different Unsharp mask layers and a noise layer.)

Then I dodge and burn to enhance light and shadow and create the desired contrast.

In my action, I make 3 sharpen layers and use a combination of these three to get the best sharpening and a case by case basis.

I think, all in all, I spend 5-10min per image.

And that's my recipe for a virtual shoot with image quality good enough for Instagram.

Enjoy