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I'm a big believer
in building a local artistic community. I also appreciate
that, when I was starting out, there were plenty of more
experienced & talented photographers & models who
helped me out, spending time with me. In particular,
there were plenty of well known models who agreed to pose
for me, despite my lack of experience.
I can't
pay them back, but I can pay it forward. On occasion,
I gladly agree to work with a young, less experienced model.
Like Dominique, here. She contacted me & asked
me to create some photos for her portfolio. I agreed.
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We start with
me "Getting Started" setup -- I really like doing
this. Heck, I would love to do this every time.
I like
Dominique -- she has "attitude".
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I was Dominique's
idea to save the scarf for last. I approve.
I'm glad she's bring her ideas to the sitting. |
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Heretofore,
Dominique & I were using the strobe lights, but this
day was a rare sunny winter day. When the sun shone
especially bright, we raised the shade on the window &
shut off the strobes. I like how the hard angle light
looks on the background. |
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This being
the Pacific Northwest in winter, bright sunshine is rare,
and it never lasts. Still, Mother Nature makes good
light. Hard or soft shadows -- I do like this light.
The light
changes rapidly. The image below was made just a split
second after this image to the left. Check out the
shadows.
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As is the tradition
with winder Pacific Northwest sunlight, it goes away without
notice. So, I fire up the strobes again.
I'm using
the large softbox, which creates soft light. It provides
an interesting contrast with the images that immediately
preceded this one.
I like
the "unguarded moment" of the expression on Dominique's
face. For the record -- I don't have an assistant,
so all the work falls on my shoulders:
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Half my attention is devoted to the aesthetics -- what
is it that I want to photograph; what should the photograph
look like?
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Half my attention is devote to the technical aspects
of the photograph -- what exposure should I use; what
do I need to record in order to achieve the final photograph?
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The final half of my attention is devoted to communicating
with the model; I like natural reactions on the model's
face -- what should I say to get the appropriate reaction
from the model?
Yes,
that adds up to 1½ or 150% -- that's how
it feels sometimes. So, I devote my attention to these
topics in turns -- so when I'm setting up the lights, for
example, I might not be communicating with the model.
Hence, expressions like this.
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It'll be interesting
to compare this picture to the left with the one directly
below.
The
image to the left was lit only with the big honkin'
softbox -- sure, Dominique's far side is catching a
bit of the reflected light that's bouncing off the wall.
I
added a back light off the right side of the image to
fill in some of the shadows.
At the
time, I thought I was improving the lighting by adding the
second light, but in retrospect, I think I like the original
light a lot more.
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