Tres Padres

After Thanksgiving and feeling satisfied with some of my black and white images of Eddy at the Padre, I decided I would try some more.  This being the third time I've shot at The Padre, I figured I had the lighting down, so I thought.

I asked two models to help me out and see if I could create some more emotive images.  The first model Noel, is a friend of my buddy Rob's.  She has a very exotic look and we actually shot a little more edgy than emotive.  In fact, the "toilette" image above is one of my favorites from the session with Noel.  The other model, many have seen before, is fitness model Ashley.  Both have different looks, so I knew I would create some contrasting images.

A majority of the images were shot with only Available Light and a Reflector, except for the "Toilette" shot, which was done with a HONL 1/4" Grid on my SB-900 on a Nanostand, and manipulated by Rob.  I shot with Noel for an hour and then Ashley arrived.  My friend, Clara, did Ashley's Hair and Make-up.

I think Ashley was a bit apprehensive about the shoot and it took some time for her to relax.  After a couple hours shooting and me struggling with the light, struggling means opening and closing the drapes and sheers on the windows, we wrapped.

What Did Learn?

Honestly, I didn't accomplish what I set out to do.  I wanted more shadows and should have brought my black backdrop to flag/gobo certain windows depending on the pose. As Mikey would critique, the images are really clean and well-lit.  That's a good thing for Glamour images, but not for emotive, or dramatic images.  Therefore 2013 will be the year where at least one image from each shoot will be very dramatic.

As the old saying goes, "The Third Time is a Charm," but not for me.  Maybe next time I'll try a different room at The Padre and see if I can get better results.