Guess What, Another Photoshoot with Caroline Nauth

This shoot was an opportunity to do a B&W model shoot with Los Angeles based fashion photographer, Bill Jones (Tumblr & Model Mayhem).  Bill once again agreed to work with us while he was in town.  This session was a bit different because I also got to shoot with my two studio colleagues which is always fun

The model for this shoot was Carolyn Nauth. I hired Carolyn once again because this shoot was all about photographing the model while she constantly moved and presented expressive poses & expressions.  Carolyn is strong in this style.  MUA Jacks Von Liria was brought in to do both MU and hair. Both were good choices.

 

Caroline & Jacks chatting while getting ready

To get the shadows and contrasts desired I relied on a single light. The key light was an Elinchrom D-lite 4 with an Elinchrom 27" Softlight beauty dish reflector with a diffuser sock.  The light was set up on a standard Manfrotto boom light stand. Remember, whenever using a rig like this use proper counterbalance and sandbags. I moved the light around during the shoot but started with the light set camera right approximately 68" high from the bottom of the beauty dish. The light was aimed at Caroline's midriff approximately 3' away.  We photographed against a Savage seamless fashion grey sweep.  You may note that I've shot with this lighting setup several times before and have always been happy with the output.  The setup is simply and the contrasts are strong on the model but soft on the backdrop. 

Caroline getting directions from Bill Jones

I used my go to full frame Nikon D600 with both an AF-S Nikkor 50mm f/1.4G and my AF-S Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8G-ED VRII. I ended up using the 50mm the most.  Camera was set at ISO 125, 1/125 & f/11. I used my Sekonic L-358 FlashMeter light meter to get the correct light power for my desired camera settings.

Once started Caroline took queues from both the photographer but also from Bill on how to pose and move. Note, Bill gave advice and chatted us up, but didn't shoot.  The result was a silky smooth flow of motion. Throughout, I tried to time my shots to the peaks of Caroline's moves, dramatic poses, tension & hair flowing. It was great.

 

Since we were trading off shooting between myself, Paul and Eric it took about 2 hours. The benefit of this setup was to look at photos everyone was taking. It's interesting to see how different photographers get different looks with the same model and lighting. 

Overall, it was a learning experience since I got to watch others shoot and take in Bill's tips directing Caroline. Also, I am happy with the results.