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Yes, I often
return to reoccurring themes during my photo sessions.
For example, I will probably start nearly all of my sessions
with the "Getting Started" theme, like I did for
the images on the first page from these session.
But I
also want to try something different or new each session.
With any luck, I'll expand my skills, and bonus -- I might
create a new & interesting image. Finding something
new to do, however, is easier said than done.
Inspiration
can come for many different sources. Sometimes I might
see a photograph that makes me want to try something similar.
Sometimes, I just think about the habits I've formed &
challenge myself to do the opposite while creating interesting
images. Both these techniques are at work here:
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Lately, I've been using larger & larger soft boxes,
so the opposite would be using a harder light (i.e.
a smaller soft box or simply smaller reflectors).
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I've seen some glamour images which feature a hard light
somewhat above the model & close to the model.
So, that's
what I'm trying here -- there's a hard main light above &
in front of Keira (look at the shadow of her chin on her
neck), and there's a fill light below the camera to soften
the hard shadows somewhat. In addition, since featuring
Keira's hair is a theme for this session, there is a hair
light highlighting her hair.
So, that's
what we play with for a while.
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Okay -- first
learned lesson: Normally, I design lighting setups
that allow models a little freedom of movement. This
lighting, however, changes radically for every little change
in position by Keira. That's often the case when the
light source is close to the model -- little changes can
result in radical changes in the light.
Keira
does a marvelous job with the restrictions of the setup.
And to compensate, we take the opportunity to play with
Keira's hair.
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In retrospect:
this was an interesting lighting setup, but in practice,
it was restrictive, and we couldn't generate the kind of
variations that we typically like.
So here's
a tip for all photographers -- when in doubt (e.g. when
things aren't moving), give the model something to do with
her hands. I give Keira a red scarf, and she immediately
plays with it by tying up her hair.
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I still consider
myself to be a B&W photographer, and I think I still
greatly prefer B&W images. But to be fair, some
of my aversion to color images might come from my inability
to balance the color. The colors here are fine --
the red of the scarf works well with Keira's skin tone &
her brown hair, but the color balance is off -- to me, the
color image looks a tad too magenta. I had always
assumed that strobes were daylight color balanced, but I'm
wrong. In future sessions, the least I can do is choose
the "tungsten" color balance setting in my camera
-- I should probably learn how to custom set the color balance
based on the actual setting & lighting. I did
try to use my photo editing software to adjust the color
balance, and I failed to find acceptable settings.
(I do love it when I discover new things I've got to learn).
In the meantime, I'm quite happy using my sepia toning.
I'll present a mix of color & sepia here. |
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The theory
says: If some is good, then
more is better. My original idea was that
Keira would animate the scarf, draping it across her figure,
but as soon as I handed it to her, she immediately did her
magic & used it to tie up her hair, and I liked the
result.
But the
original intent was to give Keira something to occupy her
hands (since she really couldn't move around much).
So, we grabbed a branch of curly willow that I had hanging
around.
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... But our
curly willow detour doesn't last long.
When
I look at a photograph & assess its aesthetics, I often
start by asking "why?". If I can't come
up with a good answer, I tend to dismiss the image.
In this
case, I couldn't tell you "why" Keira was holding
the curly willow branch. There was no purpose, and
therefore, the curly willow was simply an affectation.
So, we drop it, but I allow Keira to move a little more.
Keira
moves very well and does an excellent job in working within
the restrictions of the setting.
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