I opened an office on the bad side of town and investigated the dark stylings of classic film noir. Double-crosses, deep-rooted cynicism, tangled plots and flashbacks are all classic traits of American crime melodrama from the 1940s and ‘50s. However, it’s the unflattering camera angles, deep shadows and dramatic lighting that differentiate film noir from just another detective story.
Bringing this aesthetic to your portraits is easier than you think and can be achieved without the best photography lighting kits. In fact, you can operate without any specialist lighting equipment at all. The first stage is setting up the subject, whether that’s with vintage clothing or not. There’s a range of expressions that can be brought to the table, from the cynical detective to the manipulative or terrified client who has a secret agenda. So, depending on which character from this melodrama you’re photographing, it should determine how they look or appear.
The final step is to use the best photo editing software or best free photo editing software to convert your image to black and white. I used Adobe Photoshop to do this myself.
So, grab your fedora, overcoat and camera, and let's capture a moody film noir portrait...
Capture harsh film noir lighting
Usually, portrait photographers will opt for soft, flattering lighting, but I'm going to break the rules. The lighting needs to be unfiltered and harsh, so no softboxes are required here. The best flashgun or strobe, or the best LED light panels will afford you better control over your lighting, but if you’re operating on a budget, just a table lamp with no shade, placed below the eye level of the subject will do.
This creates ugly shadows on the face, suggesting menace or danger, depending on the expression of the subject. The lower the light source, the higher the shadows in the background. The closer the background is, the more defined and dramatic the shadows will be. It’s worth capturing a range of expressions and moving the light around to see what different kinds of looks you can get.
Convert the photo to black and white in post-production
1. Black-and-white conversion
Once you’ve got your photo the next step is photo editing. There are some interesting presets in Adobe Lightroom, but it’s the Black & White filter in Photoshop that I’m using here to control the conversion. So, go to Image Adjustments>Black & White. Select the Green filter preset – the Blue is too dark and Red or Yellow give very bright skin tones. Now, tweak this by reducing the Red channel. For women, red lipstick was common and rendered quite dark on the film stocks of the time so ensure this is the case here. If the face is too dark, increase the Yellow channel.
2. Enhance and tweak
Depending on how punchy the black and white conversion was you might need to tweak things with an S-shaped Curves adjustment. Then use the Elliptical Marquee tool to select the central area. Feather this by 150 pixels – more if your photo is very high resolution, then invert the selection. Now add a Color Fill adjustment layer and reduce the opacity to create a vignetting effect.
3. Make some noise
Use the Dodge and Burn tools to selectively lighten or darken parts of the image that need tweaks then flatten all the layers and go to Filter>Noise>Add Noise. Add as much as 10% for a really gritty effect, remembering to tick the Monochromatic box to avoid adding color. Other touches you might want to consider are vintage frames or a grungy overlap just to add some more character.
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If you want to shoot film noir images then a portrait lens is a must. Depending on your system, take a look at the best Nikon portrait lenses, best canon portrait lenses, and the best lens for portraits. If you'd like to learn more about portrait photography, check out 14 tips for getting your best-ever people shots.
