Kabuki Girl

Time for another themed photoshoot.  This time I wanted to do something with an Asian theme.  After some research I decided to replicate a Japanese dance-drama theme with a female Kabuki character.  Of course, I planned artistic license for the shoot, doing something a bit more erotic.

OK, theme selected, check.  

Next, I studied the type of image I wanted, researching and selected images for my storyboard.  I use the storyboard more for a guide for my model and MUA.  Also to give myself an idea of how I want to use lighting.  

Storyboard done, check.  

I already knew who I wanted for my MUA.  I’ve used Sasha Starz before, and she’s a pro.  We work well together so that decision was easy.  

MUA selected, check.  

Next, I needed a studio to shoot.  Hold on, wait a minute.  This is what created a bit of a delay.  I decided to go in with 2 other local photographers and open our own photography studio.  Guess what, it takes time to get a studio set up, so that delayed me about a month.  Time well spent!!  

Anyway, studio in hand, check.

Finally, my model.  This was going to be a bit tricky because a) I wanted someone with long black hair (preferably without a wig), b) natural Asian features (although, I could have replicated this with makeup), and c) someone who was willing to do one set topless.  Mind you, it wasn’t really “topless” because she was going to be covered in white grease paint, and shots with her girly parts strategically covered, but still.  

I figured no way on earth would a model, especially someone I’ve never met want to take the risk and shoot with me.  I figured creeper-city.  I really don’t want a rep as a GWC (guy with camera) in the Indianapolis model community.  Reputation is everything.  So, I turned to Sasha to see if she could help me out, and bingo.  She identified the perfect model, Nora, stage name, Mina Vee.  I suspect I could have found other models who would have worked with me, but for this shoot I wanted Sasha’s support.

Guess what my friends, Nora was perfecto.  She’s got the look, the hair, the style, and willingness to do the shoots I had in mind.

Model lined up, check.

Dates set, we had a gig.  Shoot day everyone arrived on time.  I figured it was going to take about 3 hours of makeup, setup and shooting.  I wasn’t in a rush and I left the entire afternoon open.  One BIG bonus for the shoot is that one of my studio partners, Paul D’Andrea, happened to be coming into the studio and I asked him if he wanted to shoot with me.  We have complimentary lighting equipment so I thought it would help.

We set up 2 backdrops for this shoot in the studio.  One using #20 black SavageSeamless Background Paper, and the other #66 pure white.  The studio has plenty of room for 2 full setups, possibly even squeezing in a 3^rd, but I digress.  Our new studio, M10 Studio is roomy.

The first shoot was to have Nora’s face painted lightly white, deep red lipstick and temporary tattoos on her back.  While Sasha was getting her set, Paul and I put together a clamshell lighting setup to shoot through.  This was shot against the black backdrop.  We also wanted a red halo around our model so we added a couple of Nikon speedlights with red gels.

The lighting consisted of:

·    Elinchrom D-Lite 400 monolight with a 27” beauty dish and diffuser sock as the top of the clamshell

·    Black reflective umbrella on a Manfrotto 5001B lightstand with a Nikon SB-600 Speedlight as the bottom of the clamshell  triggered with an Elinchrom EL SkyPort Universal

·    Kicker lights on the backdrop with a Nikon SB-800 and an SB-600 Speedlight both gelled red. 

The First Lighting Setup - The Clamshell

Nikon Speedlights with Red Gels Against a Black Backdrop

The SB-800 was set as a slave, whereas the SB-600 had another SkyPort to trigger it.  Both speedlights were set at ¼ power and the Speedlight in the umbrella at 1/32^nd power.  The D-Lite was at the lowest setting.

Paul used his light meter and the setup was metered at f/8.  We were shooting the entire in manual mode ISO 200 & 1/160 shutter speed.  All images were shot with a Nikon D300s with an AF-S Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8G ED.

OK, Nora is all ready to go, and we took turns shooting and directing.  Very nice images.  After about 30 minutes shooting it was time to move to the next set.  

For set number 2 we asked Sasha to apply thicker white face paint on our model waist up and harsher makeup on her face consisting of 2 black stripes across her eyes and a red stripe on her body.  This took about 45 minutes, but worth the wait.  

Once finished we positioned Nora in the same location, but this time with a Katana sword.  Again we spent about 30 minutes directing Nora against the black backdrop with the same lighting setup.  This produced some striking images, although in post processing I really didn’t like the effect of the light off the Katana sword.  Paul and I switched off taking turns shooting.

For the 3^rd set we used the white backdrop, and slightly different makeup.  Essentially, we had Sasha darken our model’s lips to blood red and to make one big black stripe across her eyes. 

Sasha and Nora at Work

 While makeup was being applied we set up the lighting.  We did 2 setups.  First,

 

·        Nikon SB-800 & SB-600 Speedlights with blue gels hidden behind a “barn door” to avoid blue splashing onto our model

·        Paul C Buff 64” PLM umbrella and an Elinchrom D-Lite 400 camera right as our key light

The Speedlights were set at ½ power so we could get a solid blue caste on the white background. We set the D-Lite at a setting that would allow us to shoot at f/16. 

Our model took her place, and we shot away.  This time directing her facing different directions, tight face shots, waist up, arms across chest, etc. etc.  We were getting some great shots and everybody was getting into it.  I asked Sasha to help out by putting a maroon scarf around our model neck and holding it up so it looked like the wind was blowing.  We also moved the PLM to camera left.  We also turned off the Speedlights and fired up 2 additional Elinchrom D-Lite 400’s behind barn doors camera right and left to create a dramatic high key effect.  This worked really well especially since our model was painted full white, except for the red stripe and makeup.  We also did a series with the lipstick smeared.  A cool effect if I do say so myself.

Against White Background with Speedlights with Blue Gels & Paul C Buff PLM

Finally, after shooting for about 30 minutes Paul tried one more setup using a Westcott 7’ Octabank with a Elinchrom Ranger A studio light as the key instead of the directional PLM.   He shot this to maximize the high key effect.  Let me tell you, the Octabank is as bright as the sun.

Westcott Octabank & Ranger A MonoLight

Overall, our shoot took about 4 hours, but it felt like 30 minutes.   Everyone worked well together, and we all had fun.  The images are coming out as well as I expected.  A perfect day in the office.

High Key

I can’t wait for another shoot.

After action tips:

·        Bring space heaters.  Poor Nora.  The weather was a bit cool, but for some reason our studio heating (central heating) wasn’t on.  The heat controls are central so no joy warming the place up.  Not good when your model has only a layer of grease paint on.  She was a real sport however,

·        Natural lighting for the makeup area.  We are putting on the finishing touches to the studio and the lighting I had put in was incandescent.  Not good as it’s too orange.  I’ll be switching those out before the next shoot,

·        Spend more time taking notes.  Paul D’Andrea is an expert.  I didn’t take notes of the setup and power settings for future reference.  I’m A-OK with my lighting, but didn’t get everything on the Ranger A or the SB-800,

·        Shoot tethered.  I really didn’t get any good shots with the Katana sword simply because I overexposed do sword.  Sure I could rely on Photoshop, but I’m not going to bother, I had many other images I liked

·        Make 100% sure your model knows what you want to do, and your vision for the shoot.  I would have been very bummed if after the first set she said, “You want me to do what?”  She worked with Sasha, me and Paul and was a true pro.  Loved it. 

Stutz Model Session

One of the areas I’m spending time is model photography.  I’ve combined this with my increasing interest in flash / strobe lighting.  One place to give this interest a workout is through a local Flickr meet-up group, Indianapolis Strobist.  A group of 7 local photographers, including myself, got together yesterday evening for a model shoot I arranged.

The photographers that showed up were: Lora Olive at www.livepixlive.com, Ashley Adcox at www.koruimage.com, Steve Griffey, Dave Olive, Faith Blackwell at www.faithblackwellphotography.com , and Paul D’Andrea at www.pdaphotography.com

 The meet-up took place at the Stutz Building in Indianapolis.  I’d been to the Stutz a few times in the past as it houses many local artist studios, and they have an annual Stutz Artist Association Open House.  I thought this would be a perfect location because the building has old-style industrial windows, lots of dark halls, industrial fixtures, etc.  On top of this one of the photographers in the group, Faith Blackwell, has a studio in the Stutz.  This was perfect as it allowed us to have a base of operation for our equipment.

I wanted to keep the effort organizing this shoot simple as I have a day job that makes WAY more money than my photo gig. With the help of uber portrait & event photographer, Paul D’Andrea we put a call out for local models.  Good thing Paul has good contacts because I came up blank.  I pinged several models I’ve worked with previously, and reached out to several models through ModelMayhem but came up dry.  Either the models were booked / busy or I received no feedback from anyone on ModelMayhem.  Oh well, since I don’t have a reputation as a model photographer I’m not surprised at my results.  However, with Paul’s help we lined up 2 models we’ve worked with before, and 2 models new to many of us.

Models Bovary & Diablo (MM # 720400) are dynamite together.  They know several of the photographers in the shoot so the chemistry was there. Amanda Jo Welch (MM # 18955491 & 1069732) joined us and had major skills, and Olivia Ogden (MM # 365545) was amazing.

As we’ve done before we broke off into groups and photographed in groups of 2-3.  Since I had an extra Elinchrom Skyport trigger it was easy for me to have a couple of photographers join me.  We took turns with a series of shots and then traded off the triggers.  I started off with Ashley & Steve along with model Amanda.  Later Ashley moved to another group and Faith joined the Steve’s.  We worked Amanda in about 5 locations.  One on a bench, against a set of industrial windows with the sun to her back, another location with the sun to her face and natural lighting to her back, one series in a dark hall, and finally a set with a speedlight directly behind her hair.  We shot for about 2 hours.

In almost all shots I used my standard 2 speedlight setups that I’ve discussed in a previous post.  This time however, I switched out one of my LumiQuest Softbox III with an RPS Studio Softbox RS-4030 set up for a speedlight.  This setup as previously blogged makes for a speedy setup and easy to move around.  We also mixed in a red gel on one of the speedlights which created interesting effects. 

Finally, we headed back to Faith’s studio to cool off (it was uber hot in most of the Stutz) and to try our hand with the other models.  I shot about 15 minutes with Bo and Diablo with the amazing lighting setup that Paul had arranged. 

Finally, Lora and Dave joined me and model Olivia to work some of the hallways.  This time I replaced the RPS Studio Softbox with a standard umbrella (I know, old school).  However, it was so hot in the Stutz the adhesive backed velcro on the Softbox delaminated and the softbox kept falling off the holder…no kidding.  I could have used my LumiQuest Softbox III, but I wanted to try for more diffused light.  In one series the hall was so tight that I could only fit one umbrella in.  I simply set it high and shot below it.  Worked great to add diffused light.

Finally, Steve joined me and we moved Olivia in-front of an old freight elevator.  After a number of normal shots using the umbrella setup, I put a second speedlight behind Olivia and aimed it at the elevator.  This gave some really interesting backlighting effect.  Also we then turned it forward and did a number of shots with the flash firing forward.  Overall, some interesting effects.

In all of my shots tonight I was shooting with a Nikkor AF-S 24-70mm f/2.8 lens and set my camera to manual.  Manual settings were 500 ISO, exposure at 1/100 to 1/160 of a second and f/stop at 6.3.  The speedlights mentioned are my Nikon SB-600's.

Bottomline, we had a great time doing our strobist thing.  As always, can’t leave a post without a few tips: 

·         If you are going to shoot in a group with paid models and plan to split the cost, make sure you get the number of shooters tied down ASAP.  Without it you can’t determine the number of models to hire and $$$ each photographer has to pay without knowing the numbers.

·         Make sure everyone knows the location, route and timing to meet.  We spent about 30 minutes of our 3 hour shoot getting people together and organized.  Remember the meter is running on the models

·         Bring nametags – this may sound really silly but for meetups like this not everyone knows each other

·         Make sure everything, triggers, camera & rechargeable batteries on your speedlights are charged.  If not bring extra batteries.  I did this and was happy I did.  I went through all my batteries.

·         Experiment with lighting and model poses.  Some of our setups worked and some didn’t.  But you know what?  The shots that I didn’t think would work actually came out really well.

·         On hot days like yesterday make sure everyone has water and gets a chance to take lots of breaks.  This includes the models as well.

Big Car Service Center Model Shoot

I recently participated in an interesting photo shoot organized by a local photographer thru a Flickr Group called Indianapolis Strobist. This group came about as a result of the Joe McNally / David Hobbie Flash Bus Tour event that took place in Indianapolis this spring. This photoshoot was organized by Paul D’Andrea, a local photog that I’ve known for about 3 years.

Paul arranged for a group of 6 photographers to meet at the Big Car Service Center. The facility is a “retired” Firestone car repair shop being converted into an arts colony / gathering place for all types of art related events. The location is perfect for a grunge / abandoned industrial photo backdrop. Paul hired 3 local models, all excellent. We paired up (I paired up with Stacy), selected a model and went on our way. 

Amanda (Model Mayhem ID #1025679) agreed to team-up with me and Stacy. Amanda came ultra prepared with multiple changes of clothing for different looks, and even a wig. She was skilled so it allowed us to focus on position & lighting.

Because I wasn’t sure how much power would be available at the facility I brought portable flash units. My trusty Nikon SB-600 Speedlights. I used a LumiQuest SoftBox III on each. Both flash units were set to manual and triggered by Elinchrom EL-Skyport universal receivers. Both mounted on generic light stands. This is my typical portable light setup since it’s easy to set up and portable. Although the LumiQuest’s are called softboxes, I think they really act more like large directional diffusers.

The way we operated was to have one photog man the flash units and adjust the power settings and move them around as needed while the other shot. I have 2 Elinchrom Skyport triggers so it was easy for me and Stacy to work seamlessly. We started off putting our model in-front of a large electrical panel, and later in a corner between some industrial grade shelving. Because we got set up first a couple of the other photographers (Ashley & Faith) joined in for a look and a shoot.

I had my camera set to M mode, 400 ISO, 1/125-250 shutter speed & f/5.6-6.3. In all but a few shots I used a Nikkor AFS 24-70mm f/2.8 G ED lens (The Nikkor). Note, 1/250 is the max synch speed I have set for the camera / flash setup. I could use high speed synch, but for this type of work it is not needed. 

One addition was the use of colored gels on one of the flash units for part of the shoot. Red & green turned out to bring in the right mood.

After about an hour with this setup, I switched to the “big room”, mainly because it was getting so hot in the electrical / storage room. There Paul had set up a big piece of peg board. I also used an Elinchrom D-Lite 4it 400w with Portalite soft-box mounted as my key light. I had the key light set head high right from the shooter. I also mounted an SB-600 setup behind the peg board to highlight the holes. Finally another SB-600 setup was moved around the model to change the shadowing. Amanda had changed up her clothes and put on a wig which was almost like having 2 models in one!

One other thing I experimented in this setup was to put a flash unit directly behind the model. The idea was to have the flash fire directly into the camera. I enjoy playing with this sunburst effect.

Overall, we were there or about 3 hours. Part of the time I spent watching the other photographers in my group shoot.

A few after-shoot thoughts and comments:

• The models we hired (Diablo, Bovary & Amanda) were great. They were skilled and completely into the shoot. They were easy to direct and participated in setting the correct mood of the image. I can’t stress enough how important it is to make sure your models know in advance what is expected and that they share your concepts.
• If you are in a grungy / sweaty / dirty environment, bring a towel. I did this time and used it to put my equipment on it versus right on the concrete floor, and to wipe my face. It was sweaty.
• Experiment and try different light settings and gels. Some of my favorite shots were with the gels and unusual lighting locations.
• Watch other photographers shoot. It’s interesting to see how others view a scene and what they create. It also give you a break.
• Plan your shoot. Bring the right kit. It wasn’t as much of an issue on this shoot since we actually parked our cars right next to (and inside) the facility, and multiple photographers meant we would have just about everything.
• Post your images for others to see. We use a Flickr group for these shoots and it was very interesting to see what others captured and processed.
• The Nikon SB-600 flash unit is a good basic unit, but getting a bit dated. 

We’re planning another model shoot next up. This time in another building and in the surrounding alleys.