As you may have noticed, I've been doing wintry shoots lately, starting with Ashlee Rose back in November. So to continue that trend, I messaged Model Mayhem Model Jenna Sherrill to see if she would consider doing a shoot with me back in mid-November, but we couldn't sync our schedules until Dec. 20. I figured she had already worked with better photographers and was only being nice to me. Anyway, we figured Dec. 20 would be close enough to Christmas, so why not turn it into a Holiday themed pin-up shoot.
Jenna made arrangements to have her hair done by Model Mayhem Hair Stylist Aundrea. I mention Aundrea since she was wonderful enough to donate her Hair Stylist time and materials to the Help Portrait shoot December 12. Jenna called me at 4:00 PM and said she was finished with Hair and Make-up and ready to shoot. Upon arriving, Jenna showed me her wardrobe, which she did an excellent job putting together. Jenna has only been on MM since June of this year, and yet she is very good at posing. It was refreshing to work with a model and not have to give her directions. A majority of the lighting was clamshell, but with an accent light.
We worked on several different looks with the Santa's Helper Outfit, some "typical" pin-up and some Glamor. After an hour, Jenna changed into a white sweater and we moved inside my house. Two months ago I purchased some bamboo wood flooring (chair mat) to give our floor a warmer look for model shoots. Our house is floored with 20" tile, so it looks great, easy to clean, but kinda looks sterile, too. The lighting set-up was similar to my Black and White Lingerie shoot with Tonya. I placed a softbox outside at full power pointing back through a window towards the camera. I placed another softbox about 30 degrees camera left and at 1/4" power for fill point at Jenna. We worked for another hour or so and then called it a wrap. Jenna had worked that day and drove down from Porterville, which is an hour North, NorthEast from Bakersfield to work with me. So we called it quits around 7:30 and while Jenna was waiting for her ride, we reviewed the pictures. She is definitely hard on herself, but no more than I am about my photography.
So what did I learn?
1) Really communicate with the model regarding theme, wardrobe, and poses prior and during the shoot. Jenna and I didn't have any problems with any of the issues cited, but we could have had a lousy shoot, too. There are plenty of "I should have"s for this shoot, but again they are minor in my opinion.
2) Don't be afraid to videotape parts of the session. I wanted to video the set-up for both sets, but forgot since I was too busy working with lighting and trying to keep things moving. I managed to record about 13 seconds of the session prior to the shot above, but I really needed to show the lights. I promise to do this for my next shoot. Here's the video. .
Have a Happy Holiday, whichever one you and your family choose to celebrate. Peace Out and That's A Wrap Until Next Year
Jenna made arrangements to have her hair done by Model Mayhem Hair Stylist Aundrea. I mention Aundrea since she was wonderful enough to donate her Hair Stylist time and materials to the Help Portrait shoot December 12. Jenna called me at 4:00 PM and said she was finished with Hair and Make-up and ready to shoot. Upon arriving, Jenna showed me her wardrobe, which she did an excellent job putting together. Jenna has only been on MM since June of this year, and yet she is very good at posing. It was refreshing to work with a model and not have to give her directions. A majority of the lighting was clamshell, but with an accent light.
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