Send Me an Angel

Okay, so that was a song by Real Life released in 1983.  Last Wednesday I received a call from Angel asking if I could do a Hair and Make-Up shoot for him.  Apparently he interviewed for a Reality Show called Hair Wars that airs on VH1.  Well he got the call and the nod, and needed to submit some photos before Jan. 17.

I was able to get three models lined up for the shoot.  Two would arrive at 1:00 PM and the third at 3:00 PM.  Angel was ecstatic and we arranged the shoot for Sunday, Jan. 10.  Thank goodness my New Orleans Saints had a bye.  Model Sammy, Sammy's friend Jackie and MM newbie Carlye were all excited, however, two of the three models have never participated in a Model Shoot.

Angel arrived at 1:00 PM as we discussed with another model in tow.  Apparently there was some miscommunication, and Angel thought I only found 2 models.  The more the merrier, I told him.  The only drawback with the model he brought was that she has black hair.  Black Hair really absorbs the light and you lose detail.  Anyway, Sammy's friend, Jackie was up first.  Being a blonde I figured a black or dark background would show off her hair better.    We shot some, but I didn't get the look I wanted, so I moved a strobe directly behind her hair, pointing towards the camera to really shoot through and rim light the hair. Aside from the adjustment, mostly clamshell lighting on Jackie.

Sammy was up next and same type of lighting for the headshots.  Since Sammy brought a dress and funky shoes, we did a few 1/2 and full length shots. This shot was done with two softboxes 90 degrees from Sammy and on opposite sides, heathered towards the white seamless paper.  I had the PLM behind me to act as fill.  Boy did that work nicely.  We also played around with some single light effects, specifically one to simulate a concert. This was easy lighting, single strobe and reflector.  Feather the strobe in front of the model and place a reflector bouncing back .  Overexpose about a 1/2 stop and voila.

Once we were done, the last hair model Jasmine came out.  She grew up with Angel and came along for support and because he asked her.  Similar Clamshell lighting with some rim lighting, but with jet black hair, it is really hard to get some detail.  I had Angel apply extra hair spray to produce a more reflective surface.

What did I learn?
1) Shooting light to medium colored hair is way easier
2) Set expectations - I told the models we were only doing headshots so just bring strapless, patternless and solid colored blouses.
3) Big Hair makes it easier to hide strobes with barndoors.

The shoot came together pretty quickly and Angel was spectacular as usual.  We plan to do some really wild stuff in a couple weeks with paint.  So stay tuned, be civil toward sone another, keep shooting, and That's A Wrap!!!