Canon 1ds mkII, 28-80mm, ISO250, 1/80, f/7.1
February 2, 2011
This was a scheduled studio shoot. It was below freezing so it was good to be inside.
Kat was pretty much open for whatever I wanted to shoot. Since Kat does a lot of modeling, I wanted to capture an image of her being photographed - see above. Since I was there, I decided to use myself as the photographer. Well, the back half of me anyways. I set the camera on the tripod at about 7 feet. Metered the lights, got focus, and used the self timer. She was lit with the lights you can see in frame plus a beauty dish on my right. I was lit with a large softbox behind and lower than the camera. Looks like I really needed a hair cut. In fact, maybe many hairs cut ;)
We then shot some pin-up/glamour type shots. Kat did great with these. Pin-up is a fun style to shoot. Perspective distortion and bizarre camera angles are welcomed instead of avoided. Here are a few of the shots. Note, all were shot using a strip soft box, grid, hair light, one or two background lights(reflector) and a beauty dish. Mostly on viewer's right.
This first one was shot against blue seemless with gaffer's tape being used as a gobo on the background.
Canon 1ds mkII, 28-80mm, ISO250, 1/60, f/6.3
This next one, I turned the background lights more towards the center spot and left most of the tape on. This created a natural vignette and some patterned lighting on the floor.
Canon 1ds mkII, 28-80mm, ISO250, 1/60, f/6.3
this last one was shot with the background lights(2) more evenly spaced on the background slightly aiming forward toward the camera. I think this is my favorite from the pin-ups we did.
Canon 1ds mkII, 28-80mm, ISO250, 1/60, f/6.3
These were a lot of fun. Only room on the blog to share a few but more will be released at project completion. We have decided that we will do more pin-up before the project is over, so, keep an eye out.
I then switched over to the black background and shot Kat wearing a white sweater dress. I think she looks classy, she thinks she looks older than she is. I think we are both right. These were shot with a 36” strip(main/key) on either side and a hair light(+ 1 stop). I really liked the simplicity and mood of these shots.
This first one was with an extra hair light from behind shooting towards her shoulder for a bit of a halo affect.
Canon 1ds mkII, 28-80mm, ISO250, 1/60, f/6.3
Canon 1ds mkII, 28-80mm, ISO250, 1/60, f/6.3
I really liked the direct eye contact and the how intense her eyes are in these.
Next, we gathered up a vintage looking outfit that I had and headed to a nearby warehouse. We shot indoors with a single strip softbox.
I love this first shot! This is one of the 'Kats' I have a hard time catching.
Canon 7d, 70-200 mm, ISO125, 1/160, f/6.3
I planned when we shot these to convert to black and white and then try a couple versions with varying contrast. I like the low contrast of this next one. I think it adds to the softness and mood.
Canon 7d, 70-200 mm, ISO125, 1/160, f/4.0 (converted in LR3)
I then moved the light back a little further to make the light a bit harder. For this next shot I went with a black and white conversion with more contrast. I think it has a lot of mood to it.
Canon 7d, 70-200 mm, ISO125, 1/160, f/4.0 (converted in LR3)
For this last shot, I went with a short lighting approach from the models left and the cinder block wall bounced some light back to add fill while still creating the shadow.
Canon 7d, 70-200 mm, ISO125, 1/160, f/4.0
Kat did great and needed no direction. I’m starting to feel a real synergy when we are working together. It was an awesome shoot and time flew by way too fast. I am excited for our next shoot. We will be playing it more by ear without a lot of plans except the city we are shooting in.
Next week we are heading to Ogden to do outdoor location. The weather is supposed to be good.
Let's keep our fingers crossed.
