Katrina's friend, Angie, asked me if I would be willing to shoot some risque photos of her in military style clothing so she could put a Calendar together for her boyfriend who is serving in our U.S. Military. I figured why not and help boost the morale of one of our boys. We scheduled the shoot for May 28, 2009.
One of my co-workers plays "air soft" and so I asked if I could borrow some of his gear, i.e. clothing, guns, and anything else that had a military look. While planning for the shoot, Katrina called and informed me that her beau was shipping out for Marine boot camp and wanted to give him some pics of her to help get him through the next few weeks. So two risque shoots in one night.
May 28 rolled around and I debated using the U.S. flag as a prop, but a buddy (Mike), who served in the military said that he buried too many buddies and felt, in his opinion, that using our Nation's Flag would be disrespectful. I honored his opinion. The shoot began around 5:30 and my co-worker, Ty, showed up with a foot locker full of gear and weapons. SWEET!!! Angie was so excited she got a little choked up. Katrina was playing double duty for that day's shoot. Katrina is attending beauty college for cosmetology. First wardrobe for Angie was camo bikini (pictured above), we used the rifle and the foot locker as a prop, and shot in and around our pool. I need to buy a full-length reflector since she wasn't evenly lit in some of the three-quarter or full-length shots. Katrina wore the black bikini (pictured above). We did some single and couple shots and then as the sun began to duck behind the house we moved into the Studio.
Earlier in the week I did some test shots for a newbie model, Ashley V., and experimented with "cosmo" style lighting via softbox and a reflector. So I decided that this would give their pictures that high fashion/glam look. Time for a wardrobe change, Angie put on her camo short-shorts and that was about it. We did some pin-up poses with strategic placement of her arms, or the props. Then it was Katrina's turn. Since we've worked together a fair amount her session was pretty quick, we did similar poses, but also did one full nude. I know people are thinking that these girls are running around topless, or fully nude. Trust me, they weren't and I wouldn't have been comfortable shooting them. You'll just have to take my word.After a couple hundred shots we weeded them down to about 20 for each girl. The girls were extremely happy with the results.
So what did I learn:
Actually not too much, except that I need a full body reflector, I believe I can pick up a 4" x 8" piece of reflective foam board at Home Depot or Lowes for cheap.
I make it a habit to double-check my camera settings before each shoot so I can minimize post work.
It was definitely a fun shoot and I learned a lot about lighting the human body...
Set-up info for indoor session:
24" x 36" softbox with no diffuser suspended from Manfrotto boom directly above camera with the bottom of the soft box about five feet off the ground and slightly angled downward.
Strobe pointed at a 42" oval white reflector. The reflector is placed directly below the camera and angled slightly upward to remove any shadows cast by the softbox and set at 1/3 power.
White cloth backdrop, but it appears grey since the models are about 4 feet away.
Photo Info:
Program Mode: Manual
f-stop: 3.5
ISO: 100
Shutter: 1/125
Focal: 70 mm
...and That's a Wrap!!!
P.S. I was going to post our "Wrap" shot, but I need to get permission from the girls.
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