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Photoshoot: Angela with Warren

Bo — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 01:45:10 +0000

Ever so often, I look back at my photography and question where I am developing with my photography and try to figure out where I want to go. This often last a week or so and is rather depressing as I try to reflect what I’ve done and blindly search for the guiding light of where I need to develop. Then it occurs to me…the final solution…keep on shooting. As a photographer I think everyone should constantly keep shooting and never slow down. As you shoot, you will learn new things and new opportunities will develop.

It was during one of my slow periods that I decided to look through the DC area for new models and scout for hot undiscovered talents. This is when I came across Angela.

Hit the link for more photos.

Angela has a very unique face and that’s what we often look for when we look for a new model. Warren and I partnered up for a beauty story. We started with very simple things at first but the ideas and concepts simply developed and we went all out for some fun crazy drastic makeup and beauty shoot ideas. Warren made a beauty grid on Angela’s face using a stencil and then Warren brought a piece of gridded metal which made for a gorgeous contrast with the softness of Angela’s features.

As for the lighting, these were taken with a simple beauty dish to camera high right with a AB800 with small umbrella camera left low and to the left of the model a white board to fill in the shadows. Enjoy the pics.

Photoshoot RECAP: Malynda-Dec08

Bo — Thu, 25 Dec 2008 14:19:27 +0000

Having been stuck outside in the cold doing on location photoshoots for the past few weeks, it was a refreshing change to be back in a studio again. This time it was with courtesy of Paulo Francesco and his carriage house studio in DC. I am helping him to put together a new photo co-op for DC’s fashion/urban/figure photographers. These shots were taken during the second open house night gathering.

The original theme to the night was smoke and mirrors. Paulo brought in dry ice and vintage mirrors…however we were not able tot get the dry ice to lift or move about easily without dispersing everywhere. As for the mirrors, I’ve never worked with a mirror on a shoot before, and hence I was a bit lost for ideas. I had a photographer’s block earlier in the night and it was kind enough of Paulo to step in to take on the first shoot with Malynda, the model.

After a few different unsatisfactory attempts shooting in front of the black bg, I was a bit lost on ideas and decided to shoot against the wall of silver insulation. The high reflection of the silver was a pain at first, but it worked to my advantage to bring out the techy/edgy side of things. This was the second time I worked with Warren, the MUA. I had worked with him previously on Jordyn’s shoot. This time he pulled out the tricks and we got the colours in which just worked magically. I focused more on portraiture for this shoot and here are the results. Enjoy.

This was my FAVOURITE shot from the shoot. Love Malynda’s expression…just fabulous!

This is second on the fav list.

This was one of the only 3/4-full length shots I took. I only used my two speedlights, I think this shot would’ve worked a lot better if I had a ring light to eliminate the harsh shadow. O well, got to work with what you’ve got.

It’s the header of my blog….hence I love this picture too, a bit of dual tone play in post process if anyone is interested.

Eye shot, as Jamie C pointed out, I did front focus a little. This was taken with the Tamron. When everything clicks, this lens is one of the sharpest I’ve seen.

As for lighting, all these were taken with the same lighting setup. One SB to my left aimed at the bg with a blue gel, another Sb to my right aimed at Malynda. Overall I’m quite satisfied from this night of quick snaps. I’m back in the studio groove .

Model: Malynda
MUA: Warren

Photoshoot RECAP: Darina-Nov08

Bo — Thu, 25 Dec 2008 12:16:46 +0000

If the Natasha photoshoot was cold like Maine, then this photoshoot is the equivalent of Alaska. It was one of these deceiving winterdays with blue sky, white clouds but absolutely bone chilling brisk air. This was a challenge on the model, Darina. Even though she was wearing slightly more clothes than my two previous photoshoots, today was simply much much too cold. her fingers froze white, cheeks and ears turned red….not an easy shoot. For this shoot, we met up in an empty parking lot just north of the MCI centre. Again, walking around town taking photos on the go. I love the different textures and architecture throughout DC. Although DC is not as unique as say New York or San Fran, but certain areas of the city can still prove to be quite a gem.

Here are some photos from the shoot. enjoy

Bright sunny day causes harsh shadows, so I decided to use the flash to make her pop and hence I can drop the bright sky and background.

Wanted to go for the nostalgic, a bit film noir look.

The ray pattern comes from a flash set below the staircase and aimed upwards…worked out surprisingly well.

I’m still not 100% happy with the processing on these…might let these sit around a while and come back to them for processing.

Stylist: Tamira
MUA: Marie
Model: Darina

Photoshoot RECAP: Natasha-Nov08

Bo — Thu, 25 Dec 2008 09:46:26 +0000

This was a back-to-back photoshoot to the previous shoot with Jordyn and Taimur. Working without studios, I was shooting on location again. However, it just happened…this turned out to be one of the coldest and windiest days. Cold days are always a challenge for everyone. Models become frigid and cannot pose as easily. Then there’s the red cheeks, the goosebumps and the shivers. As for the photographer, it tends to be stiff fingers. This shoot was no different, although I have to give credit to the models. Even though they were posing in quite skimpy outfits, they were still able to pose magnificently.

With this photoshoot, I was working with Natasha a local stylist with clothes provided by NelleArdnae. I chose on the Georgetown location for our shoot. We were shooting on the go, walking around a three block area.

Here are some shots:

This is Mynae shot with the sun setting down shinning on to the brick wall behind Mynae and SB800 and SB600 shooting through a reflector at the model (more on this on-the-go setup in a later post).

Erica-braving the cold!!!

This was captured with the sun peeking in and out as it was setting down. I positioned mynae so that her face would be perfectly lit by the sun and I exposed the photo for her face. As you can see from the photo…the wind was strong!

These two are my favourite shots from the shoot. Story behind the shot is a bit of a lucky story. During my photo scouting, I had talked with the parking attendant at a small underground parking garage, who was fascinated by photography. When I asked whether he’d mind if we photographed in the garage, he agreed and I was thrilled. This was taken in the garage with Mynae standing under a fluorescent light, SB600 behind her to create rim lighting and SB800+reflector shooting bare in front of her for fill. In my opinion the lighting balance worked out perfectly. I love these two shots. Linda’s edgy makeup added the photo even further.

Erica’s last outfit was a bit of leather and corset. So I wanted a bit of the grunge look in the garage. Erica’s strong pose made the shot.

On location shots are so much fun, they are a challenge, but it’s just brilliant to find interesting location and meet great people who can help you out with the shoot.

Stylist: Natasha

MUA: Linda

Model: Mynae & Erica

Photoshoot RECAP: Jordyn-Nov08

Bo — Thu, 25 Dec 2008 07:28:48 +0000

This was the first photoshoot I did when I arrived back in the US. I was working with Taimur, a local DC designer, to provide images for his new fashion line for the northern Virginia fashion competion/show. Taimur had planned most of this shoot, the location was selected as the National Portrait Gallery. I scouted the location and we started shooting on a busy Saturday morning with the full DC tourism crowd.

We photographed mainly in the courtyard. This was my first shoot with the D2x and also the 70-200 2.8 Tamron. I had fiddled with the camera/lens set up for a couple days to get familiar with everything. Here are a few photos from the shoot, the stone walls work really well.

We had a bit of a stone ledge, which luckily we got Jordyn (the model) to balance and stand in. I love this one…so doll like.

Jordyn is a brave model. She jumped and flaunted her dress multiple times, keeping a perfect expression while I snapped away. And all this on 4 INCH HEELS!!! I had taken an earlier shot of her jumping, but she was blending too much into the background, so this shot was set up with the sb600 on a shoe box about 4 feet behind Jordyn.

Shot with the Tamron…I’m still trying to get used to the long focal length.

This was shot just outside the museum. I am in my shadows phase at the moment.

All in all, it was a pretty good shoot. Although I am still post processing the photos…such a backlog.

Designer/Stylist: Taimur Baig with Mirza Mperial

MUA: Warren

Model: Jordyn