Vik the Victorian
I'm cross-posting this from my photo blog because I figured folks around here who don't necessarily read all my photography ramblings might enjoy seeing Vik as a Victorian (and as a ghost in some of the shots).
Having run out of workdays, and thus not having coworkers around to talk into sitting for portraits, I cast my net wider on Saturday. I knew that Vestival, the 2010 version of Festival of the LARPs, was running at Brandeis this weekend, so I asked around to see whether any friends wanted to pose for me in costume. On Saturday I drove over to Brandeis, where Vik and I had an entertaining photo shoot in the drizzling rain.
Luckily, when I got to Brandeis another friend returned the cowboy hat Matt had lent out the night before, so I wore that to keep my head and camera mostly dry while we shot. So, these can all be pictured as Vik standing in her Victorian garb while I pranced around in jeans, a sweatshirt, and an enormous cowboy hat shooting photos.
Anyway, back to the photos. The rain caused somewhat of a problem because once again, it was pretty dark. The slow shutter speeds are beginning to be a problem for me - I need to sit down and do some trouble shooting around that issue to figure out whether the issue is user-based, or if I really need to invest in (read: justify) a lens that will be happier in low-lighting situations. All the same, I think we got some pretty good shots even though some of my favorites in terms of pose and composition turned out to be too dark or blurry to be usable.
I love the following photo because I think of this as Vik's scheming face...the one that shows up when she says things like "I wonder if I can make a 15-layer ice cream cake..." I can only imagine what plans she might have for this tree. I turned it sepia because the ISO noise was pretty bad on the black of her jacket, and I thought it was less obvious in a sepia toned version.
The orange security lighting that came on around dusk turned out to be great for dramatic, warm lighting - even if the background was less than desirable.
Finally, toward the end we got a bit silly and decided to try a few ghostly images. It seemed only appropriate, what with the Victorian dress and all.
Having run out of workdays, and thus not having coworkers around to talk into sitting for portraits, I cast my net wider on Saturday. I knew that Vestival, the 2010 version of Festival of the LARPs, was running at Brandeis this weekend, so I asked around to see whether any friends wanted to pose for me in costume. On Saturday I drove over to Brandeis, where Vik and I had an entertaining photo shoot in the drizzling rain.
Luckily, when I got to Brandeis another friend returned the cowboy hat Matt had lent out the night before, so I wore that to keep my head and camera mostly dry while we shot. So, these can all be pictured as Vik standing in her Victorian garb while I pranced around in jeans, a sweatshirt, and an enormous cowboy hat shooting photos.
Anyway, back to the photos. The rain caused somewhat of a problem because once again, it was pretty dark. The slow shutter speeds are beginning to be a problem for me - I need to sit down and do some trouble shooting around that issue to figure out whether the issue is user-based, or if I really need to invest in (read: justify) a lens that will be happier in low-lighting situations. All the same, I think we got some pretty good shots even though some of my favorites in terms of pose and composition turned out to be too dark or blurry to be usable.
I love the following photo because I think of this as Vik's scheming face...the one that shows up when she says things like "I wonder if I can make a 15-layer ice cream cake..." I can only imagine what plans she might have for this tree. I turned it sepia because the ISO noise was pretty bad on the black of her jacket, and I thought it was less obvious in a sepia toned version.
The orange security lighting that came on around dusk turned out to be great for dramatic, warm lighting - even if the background was less than desirable.
Finally, toward the end we got a bit silly and decided to try a few ghostly images. It seemed only appropriate, what with the Victorian dress and all.