New Studio Shoots

It’s been a very hectic time recently.  I’ve now got the War Weekend photo galleries uploaded and managed to squeeze in two studio photoshoots.  The first on September 27th was with Sian once again as I just love working with her to try out new techniques and outfits.  With each trip to the studio I learn a great many useful tips and tricks from Spike, particularly for shooting indoors which is the area that needs the most attention.

The session was based around a simple premise of Sian wearing a loose shirt over classy lingerie.  She could twist and pull this in striking poses whilst I got to grips with controlling the depth of field, shadow management through lighting and shutter speeds suitable for the settings.

As always we got a bit creative once I’d warmed up.  One wall of the studio is covered in a ubiquitous blue backdrop suitable for any occasion, whilst the adjoining wall consists of white painted breezeblocks.  Spike has sprayed a mural on here and added a wall-mounted candleholder giving it a gothic appearance.  Ah ha, could this work?  The candles were lit, lights dimmed and Sian went into lingerie for some great moody shots.

After that there was no stopping us once again, Spike had ideas for partial silhouettes using screens and backlighting.  These worked extremely well.  We ended with a virtual blackout apart from a small spot around Sian on the floor clutching a teddy bear.  The photos work because of a pained, faraway expression in her eyes.

We uploaded the photos and Spike went through some editing techniques to change colours and effects.  The end result is stunning gallery that may be seen here, with some beautiful portraits and lovely poses.  This is my favourite set of photos from Sian and I’m pleased with them.

Next up on Wednesday evening was a new model that Sian came across on Net Model, a site where models and photographers enter their portfolio details and locate each other for work.  Using the studio as a base, Kaz came down for a two hour shoot.  Sian acted as make-up artist, thoroughly preparing Kaz for the shoot, so that by the time I arrived everything was in place.

Naturally I was quite apprehensive, this was the time to put the lessons I’ve learned from Spike into practise as I set about creating the shoot.  This was quite difficult to begin with as I was concentrating on my camera settings and rather left Kaz to come up with her own poses which isn’t really acceptable at all.  Fortunately Kaz was a natural, and seamlessly slipped into elegant and classy poses with a variety of facial expressions from flirty to fury!  I love working with facial expressions, as to my mind they make a photo, particularly a headshot.

Sian was on hand throughout the shoot, and she gave advice and suggestions which helped a lot.  As the session went on we got more relaxed and the ideas began to flow more freely.  The camera was properly set up by now, so I could focus my attention on Kaz, which was the point of the exercise.  Sian scurried off every now and then and came back with interesting props that were very useful and instantly transformed a scene.  My favourite was the set of ten tea-lights that she laid out on the drapes, and with low light I could picture Kaz reading a book, gazing into the flames and gently waving her hands over the candles.

We ended up with a good set of pictures, and the session was rewarding overall.  It was a useful experience to work with a new model as I need variety to add to my portfolio.  Kaz was easy-going with a great sense of humour, and after the initial apprehension wore off we had a relaxed and productive evening.  Taking on board some of Spike’s editing ideas, I used some basic effects to alter the pictures and try out new ideas.  The resulting gallery may be seen here.

So who’s next?