Use of Diffusion filters in Fashion Portraits
At Altana Rooftop Lounge
On the Roof
I’m always on the hunt for cool locations to shoot portraits at during these colder winter months, as I’m writing this in January. During this summer, I shot mostly outside, going to scenic woodsy type spots like Mill Creek falls, and the PA Grand Canyon, as well as abandoned locations like the Harrisburg William Penn High School and American Dream Diner . Generally exploring the location for a bit before finding a good spot to set up shop and start shooting. Obviously this isn’t ideal in the dead of winter regardless of how mild it has been this year, so when Grace mentioned Altana Rooftop Lounge as a potential shoot location, we were jubilant, and decided to make it happen.
Grace and Ethan met up with My girlfriend Courtney and I on the street just below the restaurant around 4pm on a slightly overcast day. The fading sun cast a beautiful soft light which we decided to utilize on the outdoor section of the space before heading inside. Standing on the rooftop reveals a beautiful view out over the historic city of Lancaster PA, and made for a great backdrop for this fashion photo shoot.
Using diffusion filters for portraits
I’ve been working how to make an image more interesting using composition, environment, and movement to create a final product that is more than just a model standing in front of a backdrop. In the studio a lot of that is achieved in creating a mood with lighting, but in a small space like mine, lacks the ability to create much in the sense of environment and movement (I’m working on it). In contrast, shooting on location allows us to pick our environment but limits our ability to shape the light unless you want to lug a bunch of equipment around.
In my internet travels, I stumbled upon the Moments CineBloom Filter. This small piece of glass has the ability to totally transform the vibe of an photography by creating a softness over the entire image that doesn’t reduce detail. This soft glow is especially apparent when there are strong highlights in the environment, or a light source is being pointed in the general direction of, or directly into the lens.
Inside Altana
Heading inside after we decided that cold wasn’t worth it anymore lead us to the cozy bar / indoor seating section of Altana. By this time it was getting dark outside so most of the light coming through the large windows was eliminated, leaving us with the dim, golden light provided by overhead and small table lamps. At this point I switched from my 24/70mm f/2.8 to the 135mm f/1.8. The 135 allowed me to stand back and get objects in the foreground to frame out the shot while maintaining a razor thin depth of field and keeping Grace the main focal point. I really enjoy using longer super fast lenses for these more ‘intimate’ shots. The fast f/ stop paired with the Cinebloom filter created fantastic compression of the image, a silky smooth background, and a soft glow from the lighting that really makes this portrait photo shoot come together.
This ‘glow’ effect is achieved is through microscopic edges cut into the glass which makes light bounce around as it enters the lens. This is what creates soft glow from the lights in these images! It does a good job of retaining detail as well. The only thing that I’ve noticed when running the Cinebloom filter is that the ability of my autofocus (Sony a7r-v) to track correctly is degraded significantly. Thanks for checking out this portrait photo shoot with Fashion model Grace at Altana Rooftop Lounge in Lancaster PA. 🙂
If you’re curious as to what things looked like before running them through lightroom for their basic adjustments, and then photoshop for some simple retouching, here are the raw and edited photos below.
Before editing
After editing
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