What a day!!! I got up early (5:45 AM) to prep for the shoot. My eldest came over around 9:00 AM to help me set-up the lights, backdrops and run last minute errands. I used all three lights, a red, yellow and blue gel. On some shots I used the softbox, on others just a single strobe with a honeycomb grid.
The girls (since they are under 30) left Fresno at 8:00 AM and arrived promptly at 10:00 AM. Models Anahy and Emily were ready to go with dresses and props in tow. This is the second time I've had the privilege to shoot with these two lovely ladies, and I knew I wouldn't be disappointed.
We started with Emily in a cocktail ensemble, simple high fashion lighting using softbox, reflector, hair spot, and secondary fill with diffuser. I'm getting to know my strobes, better because I set the camera to ISO 100, f8 and 1/125 and again no clipped highlights and preserved the shadows. We then moved the shoot from Studio In The RAW, to my backyard and finished shooting Emily in her cocktail dress. During our shoot, Ramona, the MUA, arrived and began her magic of transforming Anahy into the first of our three Project AAA themes; Geisha. Anahy and I really owe a lot to Ramona since she ended doing double duty on today's shoot as both the MUA and Hair Stylist, so a HUGE thanks to you again.
Roll commercial: If you are ever in Bakersfield and want to get that retro look, or something cool and hip, go to a "real" pro, and visit Ramona at Norma Jean's Atomic Kitten Salon & Boutique in downtown, Bakersfield. Call her at 661-323-7653.
While Ramona and Anahy were doing make-up and hair, Emily changed into a burgundy summer dress and we kept the shoot strictly outside under my new covered patio. Light meter was displaying f8 at 1/60 for ISO 100, so the only clipped highlights were from the sun's reflection off the pool, but who cares, the pool was not the focus. I probably should have used my polarizing filter and will try it next time. After Emily's summer dress session, Emily changed into a gray dress for a single spot session that was full-body single spot with a honeycomb grid at full power set at camera right. We covered a ladder with the black backdrop and had my son hold it so Emily could lean into it without falling. Again, we really got some interesting shots that I think Emily will really like.
At that point, Anahy was ready to go. You can see two of the photos on my photography web-site. We did several variations on the Geisha with all three colored gels (red, blue, and yellow)and several props, including a fan, parasol, katana and a sai. We shot a majority of the Geisha inside and then several more outside with just the fan as a prop. I employed my typical studio lighting, which consisted of three lights and reflector, key, background, hair and reflector fill. We really played around with lighting to evoke a range of emotions. Outside, I used a lot of backighting to show off Anahy's beautiful red hair. Once satisfied with the amount of captures, it was time for another change of make-up and onto Anahy's favorite, the Ragdoll. During this time Ramona and Emily were working on a puppet-themed look for a close-up session.
Emily and I shot the close-ups pics to showcase her eyes and expressions. This lighting was strictly softbox directly behind the camera turned horizontally at about 6 feet high with no other lights. We got some great captures, which will also be posted on my web-site this week and that ended my photo sessions with Emily.
By this time it was approaching 5:00 PM and we needed to get some outdoor time with Ragdoll Anahy. We drove to our Association's Community Pool and Park and shot some scenes on a playground, park bench and sidewalk. As we were walking from one location to another, a father with his little boy and girl (ages 5 and 3, respectively) stopped and looked at Ragdoll Anahy in either terror or fright. I'm bad, because I got a kick out if. Once we lost the light, it was back to the studio for some last minute indoor shots and one backyard shot. During the day, Anahy and my scruffy dog, Breeze became friends so she decided to use him at the dumpster scene. Again, single spot, camera left, to simulate a street light. Anahy was seated next to the dumpster, among an old tire, cardboard and other "clean" pieces of trash. By the time we finished it was 8:00 PM and everyone was tired, so I'm saddened to say that we didn't get to shoot the Dark Princess theme, but that will be completed before the year is out. The girls still had a two hour drive ahead of them so they finally got on the road by 8:45 PM.
(Above Picture Note)
This photo of Model Anahy as a Ragdoll, was shot with a strobe 45 degrees from camera left with a honeycomb grid, barndoors, 6 feet high and set to full power and a background strobe with barndoors and a blue gel set to 1/8 power. My light meter suggested f8 at 1/125 for ISO 100. As you can tell the photo is pretty well exposed, no clipped highlights and no shadow detail lost.
... and That's a Wrap!!!
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