Test Shoot With Cecilia Hernandez

Had a chance to do a test shoot with local model Cecilia Hernandez.  I had followed her work for a while and knew she was top notch.  So this was a good chance to work with an experienced model & work on various lighting effects.  The plan was to a lighting test and then hire her for a more formal session.  More on this later.  Since this was a test shoot no MUA or hair stylist was hired.  No problems, Cecilia came prepared.

The setup was straight forward & consistent with what I’ve been recently doing, except for this shot I used a second light and used a different key light.  This was all possible because I had recently purchased several new modifiers, a new Manfrotto Super Boom and several other pieces of kit from B&H Camera.  Yummy.

 

My key light for this shoot was modified with a new Elinchrom Octabox Midi53”.  Recently I’ve been shooting these types of images with an Elinchrom 27” Softlight beauty dish reflector, but for this shoot I wanted to try a softer light.  Also, like I said, I just purchased it, so I MUST USE.  Also, instead of using an Elinchrom D-Lite it 4 as a key light I used my newly purchased Elinchrom Style RX1200 studio light.  This was mounted on a new Manfrotto Super Boom.  The boom is huge and allows much more flexibility to move the light in & out as the boom is longer, the base is wider and the head moves in 2 directions with cranks at the end.  Yummy deux.  I have to tell you though; setting up this lighting rig the first time was a pain.  It’s a real ballet to get everything together because it’s awkward and heavy.  The Octabox takes some getting used to setting up.

As my second light I used an Elinchrom D-Lite 4 with an 8” reflector and a 20 degree grid.  I wanted to use this to throw a soft light on the background.  Starting off this light was mounted camera left.  I planned to move this around during the shoot.

I set the key light about 72” high aimed at Cecilia’s midriff.  She is about 6’2” in heals so I find at a 68-72” height this works best.  Light was moved both camera left and camera right.  I shot against a fashion grey seamless made by Savage.

 

Camera settings were ISO 125, 1/160 & f/9-11.  I used my Nikon D600 with an AF-S Nikkor 50mm f/1.4G.  Since there was no makeup and I set up the day before we got started soon after she arrived.

As expected Cecilia was great.  She had very solid posing skills and knows how to work with a photographer and lights.  She needed very little directions so it gave me more time to just watch the movements and fire away at the right time.  After every shot she changed poses (unless I asked her to hold a pose).  What I like about Cecilia is that she has very strong / angular features.  This allowed for very nice breaks between shadows if I wanted it. 

 

Because we were moving along so well I even had a chance to switch out the key light with a different modifier.  After I worked with the Octabox for a few sets I switched to an Elinchrom Rotalux 20x51” softbox as the diffuser.   This strip diffuser was put on the Elinchrom RX1200 and placed high over my model aimed down.  The plan was to simply see what effect I could get versus the round diffuser.  It was fun to experiment.

One of the nice things about this shoot is that I had a second model join us for this lighting test.  Laine Lindsey had also joined us.  I was able to allow Laine and Cecilia to take turns during the shoot.  This allowed me to work with both models, neither who I’ve worked with previously and get different looks.  I’ll write a separate post about shooting with Laine later.  Bottomline, I felt I had a good session and we got some really nice shots. 

 

It was enjoyable to work with 2 skilled models while experimenting with new equipment.  I had a general idea in mind what I wanted to accomplish but no hard-defined lighting plans.  I think it worked well and gave me a basis for later refinement.  Oh, BTW the week after the test shoot Cecilia got signed by BMG.  Although this meant I wouldn’t be able to use her again unless I went through the agency I thought it was great news.

After action report:

• Do test shoots with new models.  I hadn’t worked with either model before so this was an experiment not only with lighting, but also with using models I hadn’t worked with before.   I normally don’t do TFP shoots, but in this case I did.
• Try new effects.  I had been using the same lighting setup for about 5 previous shoots and really like it, but it was enjoyable just trying new setups. 
• Make sure the models have a place to set up and get changed.  I had recently moved into a new studio and haven’t figured out the best place to let the models get ready.  I need to work on this.
• If using new equipment set up early or the day before.  It took me about 2-3 hours to figure out how to set up all the new softboxes and get everything figured out
• Remember, if this is a TFP, you MUST quickly follow-up with the model with copies of photos you promised.  I always try to do this.

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.

Tim Burton Style

Something a bit different.  During a Creative Meet-up I was chatting with a model friend, Caroline Nauth. She said she was interested in doing something Tim Burton-like.  That’s like dangling a piece of string in front of a cat, I jumped at the idea.  First, I wanted to do something different versus the fashion-type portraits I’ve been focusing on, and secondly it was an opportunity to play with different lighting / location moods.

I lined up a MUA after we agreed to work together.  I used Sasha Star because she’s good with these types of concepts.  You’ll note from my earlier posts I use Sasha often.  I talked / emailed / FB’d both Sasha and Caroline over the course of a couple of weeks to lock down the clothes, mood, makeup, etc., etc. We locked down a date and off we went.

On shoot day it was interesting because I allowed another photographer, Mike Arledge, to use the studio in exchange for watching him shoot.  Mike has a nice style, so I wanted to pick up a few tips.  Guess what, he had arranged to use Caroline for his shoot as well.  That made things easy.  After Mike’s shoot was over, Sasha arrived and we got to work turning Caroline into a full-on Tim Burton freak. 

Half the fun was just watching Sasha and Caroline work while chatting them up.  I also brought one of my old school Polaroid cameras, so I took a few shots with an expired pack of instant film.  Instagram old school!  Also, while they were working I set the studio up for my shoot.

I planned 2 locations and 2 lighting setups for the shoot.  The 1^st shoot was in the studio, and the second in an industrial part of the building where the studio is located. For the studio shoot, the lighting was straight up.  Like recent shoots I simply used 1 light.  I set up an Elinchrom D-Lite 4 with an Elinchrom 27” beauty dish reflector.  This was shot against a fashion grey seamless sweep.

I used my Nikon D600 with a AF-SNikkor 50mm f/1.4G lens.  I set my speed at 1/160, ISO at 200 and used my Sekonic light meter to adjust the D-Lite power so I could get f/8.  Straight forward.  I set the light at approximately 70” camera right (to start) aiming at Caroline’s midsection.

Makeup on, Tim Burton styled clothes picked out and on, so off we went.  I took about 30 minutes worth of photos against the grey sweep.  During the shoot I moved the light constantly from camera right to camera left and adjusted the height and direction multiple times.  The goal was to get very interesting shadows.  After about 30 minutes we finished with this portion of the shoot.

Next we moved to an abandoned space next to the studio.  The space used to be a garage for the original company that used to be in the building.  Very gritty.  For this part of the shoot I used a second Elinchrom D-Lite 4, but added a simple reflector with a 30 degree grid.  This allowed me to put a focused beam of diffused light on Caroline and get some mystery.  I controlled the amount of light falling on Caroline by moving the light forward or back and increasing or decreasing the power.  Worked great. 

In the space there is an old circuit breaker box so we started there.  Got lots of fun shots, asking Caroline to move constantly.  The goal was to get lots of edge on the photos.  After about 15 minutes I moved Caroline against an oil stained wall and again asked her to move.  This time I also asked her to crouch down and slink around.  Even though the floor was a mess she was a real trooper.  During this time I moved the light all around and at all heights.  

Camera settings for this portion were adjusted to open up the aperture to f/7.1 and the speed to 1/160.  ISO remained at 200.  Also I switched to my AF-S Nikkor 24-70mmf/2.8G lens so I could get a bit wider.

After about another 15 minutes we were done.  Overall the shoot including MU took about 3 hours, and we all had a blast. 

After action: 

• Scout your locations out before hand.  I did this for the industrial portion of the shoot so I knew exactly where I wanted to position Caroline.  When you are paying a model it’s best to spend your time shooting versus looking at your shoot location.

• If you have a Polaroid, bring it.  So much fun.

• Do something different.  As I mentioned earlier I have been on a fashion bender for about 6 months. Doing something completely different while at the same time using lighting techniques I was comfortable with made for a unique shoot.

• Be mindful of everyone’s time.  I knew Caroline had to boogie at a set time, and if I hadn’t been watching the time we would have been there for a couple of hours longer since I was having fun. 

• Experiment.  I had absolutely no idea if the theme was going to be pulled off, but we did it anyway and I think we hit it.

Busy, But Did 3 Shoots

It's been a busy couple of weeks, so I haven't been able to contribute to my blog as I want.  Anyway, as you know from my earlier post I purchased some upgraded lighting and modifiers for the studio.  I've had a chance to use the new equipment 3 times over the past week.  I did 2 lighting test shoots with models I will be working with again in the near future (at least one of the models), and a full shoot with another model.  Not only did I get a chance to try out my new kit, but also work with 3 models I haven't worked with previously. 

 

I'll make a more formal post ASAP, but bottomline, the new Elinchrom and Rotalux equipment is uber.

 

Teaser photos from the shoots

 

Lighting test with model Cecilia Hernandez - won't be able to shoot with her again as she was just signed by BMG

Lighting test with model Laine Lindsey

Model shoot with Cynthia Cai

 

New Model Katie

I recently photographed new model, Katie Willock, at M10 Studio.  I met Katie a few weeks previously when she joined me during a session with Caroline & Emmy.  She just wanted to check out this modeling thing.  During the shoot I told her to contact me if she wanted to do a formalized TFP (time for photo) shoot.  She did, so we arranged a B&W fashion centric shoot.

 

Since Katie is a new model I made sure she was fully aware of all steps and plans for getting together, who the makeup artist would be, what style we were going to shoot, and what clothes to bring.  Also, as always bring a friend if she wanted to.

 

For this session I was doing 3 backgrounds.  One a fashion grey sweep, one against a black backdrop and one against a DIY backdrop.  I simply cut apart a bunch of fashion magazines and taped the pictures on the wall.  It created a really interesting backdrop.

 

 

Katie & my favorite makeup artist, Sasha Star, arrived and we got going.  I set up the studio the evening before, so I didn’t have tons to do until Katie was ready.  Since the shoot was to be processed in B&W I set my Nikon D600 monitor set to monochrome and asked Sasha to apply makeup with B&W in mind.  I’ve worked with Sasha a number of times so she has muscle memory on what I want for this type of shoot.  So easy when you have skilled operators.  I spent my time getting my camera set, chatting with Sasha & Katie, and talking to Katie’s guests.

 

Lighting for this shoot was a standard lighting kit that I’ve used recently.  An Elinchrom D-Lite 4 with an Elinchrom 27” beauty dish reflector with only the diffuser sock.  Also, for the black and magazine backdrop an Elinchrom D-Lite 4 with a 30 degree grid in-front of the bare bulb.  Both studio lights were mounted on integrated Manfrotto boom arm light stand.  During the shoot I used only my AF-S Nikkor 50mm f/1.4G prime.

 

 

Makeup and hair done so off we go.  I started off using my Sekonic L-358FlashMaster light meter to meter to f/11.  I set my camera at 1/125 & ISO at 160.  Pretty standard setup that has worked well for me.  I had Katie in a simply tube top and a very large t-shirt for the first shoot.  The idea was to direct her on some standard poses with the t-shirt pulled down over her shoulder or just hanging loose.   I directed Katie for about 15 minutes and then had her change into a simple white sleeveless top.  Again I posed her for about 15 minutes while shooting her from a standing & sitting position (me, not her).  During the process I showed her what we were getting so she could see what poses and expressions she liked the best.  She was doing very well.  Final shoot against the grey sweep was to have her put on a very loose cabled sweater.  I wanted her to get the feel of having to do multiple changes during a shoot.  Most shoots were done with a 9x12 crop in mind.

 

After this shoot I asked her to change into a black dress and moved her in front of the black backdrop.  These were primarily head shots.  She brought a pair of sunglasses and I had her wear them for part of the shoot.  I switched to the gridded D-Lite for this series and once again I metered the light power to f/11.  We cranked off about 30 minutes worth of images with different poses.  Again, I showed her what we were getting along the way.  

 

 

We got some really nice images against the black backdrop.  I moved her position from the backdrop a number of times achieve different lighting effects.  Also the light was moved around a fair amount.

 

Final set was against the fashion magazine DIY backdrop.  For this shoot I asked her to put on a blue scarf she brought and start off with the sunglasses.  Again, posing, moving and changing up the light.  This was really fun, but a bit more challenging because the studio light created a fair amount of glare on the backdrop.  We simply lowered the light power and moved it around to minimize glare.  I had Katie pose for about 15 minutes while taking shots from various angles and moving the light around to get different shadow effects.

 

OK, one in color!

And with that we were done.  Katie was fun to work with and seems to be a natural in front of the camera.  We talked the entire time and after the shoot about my knowledge of the modeling and photography business – of course, constantly reminding her that my main gig was a business guy, not a pro photographer!  Anyway, as always some after action comments:

 

·         For a new model be very specific about pose instructions.  I’ve become fairly good posing models (at least in my own head) so I enjoyed working with Katie on her posing,

·        Show your model your images, but be careful about showing images that are no good.  The idea is to make sure they are comfortable that you are making them look nice,

·       Try DIY backdrops.  A photography friend of mine had done the fashion magazine backdrop idea first, so I take no credit for it, but it turned out great.  I’ve got to put my thinking cap on to come up with other ideas,

·       Remember not everyone is comfortable in-front of a camera.  Talk and encourage your subject throughout the shoot.  This isn’t really a problem for me, because….well, I just like talking to people!

Model Photoshoots Galore!!

 

Wow, I've been crazy busy in studio doing model photography.  I've been lucky enough to work with some skilled models and makeup artist recently.  12 shoots in January and 3 so far this month.  Needless to say I'm behind on my blog posting about the shoots.  In the meantime a few images.  Blog posts to follow.

 

Model - Mina Vee

Model - Peyton Drew

Model - Emmy Lindgren

 

Sculpted Light with Emmy & Caroline

I recently did a shoot at M10 Studio with models Emmy Lindgren & Caroline Nauth.  The theme for this shoot was sculpted & controlled light.  I wanted to do this shoot in studio and the industrial portion of Circle City Industrial Complex, where M10 Studio is located using controlled and directional light.  The goal was to create a dark atmosphere, but the models lit.  While at it lets squeeze in a shoot against a fashion grey seamless why don’t we.

The first setting was in the industrial space.  I used a single Elinchrom D-Lite 4 with a 24” Vagabond softbox.  The space had only a small amount of ambient light from overhead industrial style windows.  I set the strobe 70” high with the softbox aimed at a spot on the ground about 12 feet away.  The idea was to have Emmy and Caroline walk to me and as they walked through the area where the light aimed take the shot.

To accomplish this I marked a spot on the concrete floor about 8 feet away from the strobe.  When the models got to this point I would take the photo.  I metered the strobe by having them stand at this spot and I used my Sekonic L-358 FlashMaster lightmeter.  I adjusted the power of the strobe so I could get ISO 200, 1/125 second & f/5.6.  I wanted the image sharp enough to get Emmy & Caroline in focus, but the background fairly out of focus.  I wanted as much contrast as I could get between light and dark as these images were going to be processed in B&W (I set my camera monitor to monochrome so I could chimp in B&W).  I also used a large silver reflector camera right on some shots to throw some light back onto my models.  This worked well.

For this series I used my NikonD600 with an AF-S 50mm f/1.4G lens.  I wanted the option to go full bright with the lens as needed with minimal need to adjust my light.

With everything set I backed my models off the spot, and then told them to walk to me.  About 1 step behind the mark I took a 4 frame burst.  This setup took lots of attempts to get it right.  The biggest challenge was that even with a D600 and the 50mm lens I had some focus speed issues.  I switched to manual focus for some shots to help.

We tried this style at 2 locations in the complex.  I asked both models to be as expressive as possible while walking.  Move their bodies, flip their hair, look at each other, look away, etc.  Basically, I wanted to get something like the vibe of walking through a dark city alley after coming home from a night out….you get the idea, don’t you?  Anyway after about 45 minutes we had what I thought were going to be some good shots. 

For the next set we went back into the studio.  I set up our studio’s sofa against a plain dark grey concrete wall in the studio.  The plan for this set was to have Emmy & Caroline sit & recline on the sofa and the floor in front of the sofa.  I was going to light the sofa with a single Nikon SB-600 speedlight with a HonlPhoto Professional ¼” Speed Grid mounted on a boom arm.  The speedlight was triggered with an Elinchrom EL-Skyport.  

The plan was to start with the speedlight overhead and then adjust it throughout the series to get the light to fall at various spots on the floor and sofa.  I initially set the set the speedlight at ½ power, arranged the models on the sofa, turned off the studio lights and then metered the light.  I wanted a dark effect so I wanted the light as low as possible.  The effect was very nice, but with the studio lights off my camera wouldn’t focus…. No dramas, I simply closed down my aperture to approximately f/11, ISO 100, 1/125 and kept the studio lights on.  I metered again and POW.  Worked great.  I got a nice circle of light that I was able to play with by moving the speedlight around on the boom.  I also brought in a second speedlight during the second part of this series at very low power 1/16 & 1/32 to get selective fill.  I mounted a simple translucent domed diffuser on the speedlight and put it on a light stand.  I had to play with this light quite a bit to get the effect I wanted.

For this shoot I moved around quite a bit.  I stood on a step stool, sat on the floor, laid on the floor – I know, this is no way for a FINANCE exec to act…and move around both of the models.  Throughout the series both Emmy and Caroline were changing positions.  

About ready to wrap up, but hey I already had the grey seamless set up, so over to the background where I had set up another Elinchrom D-Lite 4 with an Elinchrom 27” beauty dish reflector.  As I had learned with a previous shoot I left the internal reflector / diffuser off the beauty dish, using only the diffuser sock.  I had both the models switch into a black dress and pose together.  We cranked the music up and had them move to the music.  No more than 15 minutes on the seamless, and we – were – done! Once again this was going to be processed in B&W so the black dresses and the light metered at f/11 created some nice contrasts.

Overall, a good shoot.  It’s always fun working with models that know what they are doing and don’t mind that I spend ½ the shoot adjusting / playing with the lights.