Beauty Meets Brains

Quick post about my shoot with Model Mayhem model Tonya Greer. I can't recall what prompted our initial communication, but I believe it was on MySpace, where I also have an account to showcase my pics. After a couple exchanges, I found out Tonya is a Computer Engineer student at a local university and half Filipino. How could I turn down photographing a fellow Pacific Islander? I look at her portfolio on ModelMayhem and agreed to work with her. As we were planning our shoot, Tonya also mentioned she likes video games, comic books and anime. Wow!!! a geekette. So I had an idea about including her in my White Sheets series and also throw in some props that us nerds/geeks would recognize. This shoot was really about having fun for me, and to give Tonya some nice pics for her portfolio.

The studio shots were done with three strobes, two in softboxes (Key and Fill) and one strobe with a 1/4" grid for accent. I also used the silver side of a reflector below bed level to provide for my typical Clamshell lighting. Tonya was actually attending school down in Florida, but circumstances had her return to Bako. While attending college, Tonya worked at The Wing House, so the first image is dedicated to her employer.

We also did some bikini shots, which came out well, too. Anyway the next two images in this blog were my idea and she happily complied. They are dedicated to the nerds, geeks, gamers, or however you decide to categorize yourself, around the world.
What did I learn?
Well aside from getting to know Tonya, not much, except for the fact that I either need a bigger space for more creative lighting, or a new set of lights that will stop down to 1/64 or better 1/128. Which is cheaper? Adding on to a house, or buying some new Alien Bees? Oh, I wish Tax Refund season was here again.

Sorry, lost my train of thought. We had a great shoot and I do plan to work with Tonya some more, just need to find the time and ideas for something creative. If you are a photographer, check her out on Model Mayhem, she is GREAT to work with.

As my favorite comic book writer used to say, "Excelsior!!!
Postscript: Yes she is actually holding my #1 Iron Man Comic Book, published in 1969