We finally managed to get the studio shoot underway with Kimberly our model for the next two hours, she was very punctual and arrived with a couple of bags full with clothes and accessories and a folder of ideas (always a good idea) Pip was the Roadie, (an extra pair of hand and advice is alway appreciated, thanks Pip) moving lights taking light meter readings (thanks Eric for the loan of the light meter) and occasionally straightening the odd stray piece of hair.
I was using my studio flash equipment which are the Interfit EX 150, two 150w flash units with variable modelling and main flash power setting, two cones a square soft box and a flash through umbrella, synced by a flash sensor and a cable to the camera ,watching out for the tripping hazards, think health and safety! (well I was more concerned about pulling over the units and smashing them) a Lastolite tri-flector and a 5in1 circular reflector with the black light absorbent side fitted.
I was using my studio flash equipment which are the Interfit EX 150, two 150w flash units with variable modelling and main flash power setting, two cones a square soft box and a flash through umbrella, synced by a flash sensor and a cable to the camera ,watching out for the tripping hazards, think health and safety! (well I was more concerned about pulling over the units and smashing them) a Lastolite tri-flector and a 5in1 circular reflector with the black light absorbent side fitted.
Paula and the children were were ushered off to the swimming baths to clear the way for Kim (you wouldn't believe how disruptive a 3 and a 5 year old can be!)
Cups of tea were made, plans of sorts were made and Kim was sent upstairs to change and put on some makeup.
The initial setup was with a white muslin background (not sure why it has to be muslin) a soft box up in front of Kim with the Tri-flector bouncing it all back up into her face, and the second flash flooding the background.
I set the camera (Canon 5D MKII and 24-105mm F4 L) to a shutter speed of 200 to sync with the flash and the shutter, the ISO to 100 for maximum quality. Having pre-set the light meter up for these settings I got Pip to do a light test whilst I activated the flash, this gave me an F stop of 11, which was a just about the right depth of field that I wanted, any more and it would be bringing the background into focus. Kim was positioned on a high stool for comfort, approximately 1/2 meter from the background and I positioned myself about 1 meter in front of Kim, camera in hand not on a tripod, as I was using a faster shutter speed than my focal length of my lens, which also has image stabilisation I wasn't worried about camera shake and I felt this gave me more flexibility.
All was going well so we tried some accessories, which didn't! so off they came, next we tried the black background (my favourite) and a slight change in lighting, moving the background flood the the opposite side of the soft-box positioned high to highlight Kim's hair.
throughout the shoot we were periodically doing micro adjustments to the power setting, flash and reflector positions and each time taking a light meter reading.
After 2 hours we were happy to finish, I had forgot how hard it was to direct someone, Kim was thanked and with a promise to post the discs over to her a farewell was made, Pip also went on her way, I welcomed Paula and the children back in, tided up, moved the furnishings back into the conservatory, then backed up the Photographs.
Later on I selected a couple to edit, here they are:
f/9.0 - 1/200 - ISO 100 - focal length 32.0 mm Spot metering - Manual setting
You can notice from this shot that the lightbox I'm using wasn't big enough to put any light on the lower half of kim's jeans, I will have to get extra light or a bigger softbox for full lenght shots.
Next shoot this Friday, same venue, different model with the same name (how Spooky) I going for a modern twist of the Horst P Horst Corset photograph
I'm not sure if we will be able to do this one though?
Just an update, a no show from the model I'll have to reschedule for another day.