Shoot-a-week #12: Public Art
Not too long ago, I treated myself to some new lighting toys. This shoot, I made an excuse to use the portable battery, which lets me bring my studio lights out into the field. Went with a really simple setup - one light, with just an umbrella - because it was just going to be me and the model, and it was my first attempt at using flash outdoors. For a first attempt, I'm really pleased.
This is a technique I couldn't have done without the flash. Well, that's not true. I could probably have done it with a reflector and an assistant. But with the flash, I was able to control the light much more easily, and avoid the "squinting into the sun" problems that a reflector generates. By balancing the light from the flash with the sunlight from right behind her, I got a good exposure on the model, without having her looking right into the sun, and without blowing out the sky behind her. OK, sure, I boosted the saturation of the sky a bit. Creative license. I'm allowed. Plus, thanks to the position of the sun, if I wanted to get it behind her, I had to get down on the ground and shoot upwards, which made for some interesting angles, which is something I don't often do.
The main jumping-off for this shoot was playing around on a sculpture on the Reed College campus, called "Trigger 4." No idea what the title means - I just don't understand abstract sculpture - but it made for some fun posing. That's why I'm still calling this one "Public Art," even though the main picture I'm posting has nothing of the art in it. Again, creative license, etc.
All in all, a very successful shoot.
This is a technique I couldn't have done without the flash. Well, that's not true. I could probably have done it with a reflector and an assistant. But with the flash, I was able to control the light much more easily, and avoid the "squinting into the sun" problems that a reflector generates. By balancing the light from the flash with the sunlight from right behind her, I got a good exposure on the model, without having her looking right into the sun, and without blowing out the sky behind her. OK, sure, I boosted the saturation of the sky a bit. Creative license. I'm allowed. Plus, thanks to the position of the sun, if I wanted to get it behind her, I had to get down on the ground and shoot upwards, which made for some interesting angles, which is something I don't often do.
The main jumping-off for this shoot was playing around on a sculpture on the Reed College campus, called "Trigger 4." No idea what the title means - I just don't understand abstract sculpture - but it made for some fun posing. That's why I'm still calling this one "Public Art," even though the main picture I'm posting has nothing of the art in it. Again, creative license, etc.
All in all, a very successful shoot.