Tawny in Green

I totally lost any bearings about where to post what, so here it goes...

1. OPF, meet Tawny!

She is a college student, a singer and a personal trainer (not mine, unfortunately:





2. No, it's was not another boring "old masters" muslin in the first shot:



3. And I didn't use PS to paint the colors either;-)



Canon 40D, EF-S 17-55/2.8 IS USM and EF 70-200/2.8 IS USM. Processed in ACR, minor touchups in PS.

Hi, Nikolai,

Nikolai Sklobovsky said:

I totally lost any bearings about where to post what, so here it goes...

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Oh, you certainly posted these in the right place.

Superb - no. 2 is my favorite.

Thanks for letting us see these.

Doug_Kerr said:

Hi, Nikolai

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Hey Doug, wazzup!

Oh, you certainly posted these in the right place.

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As in "A place for those who don't know what they're doing, but think they are"? LOL

Superb - no. 2 is my favorite.
Thanks for letting us see these.

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Thank you, you're very kind!

Hi Nikolai,

This is the right place! (For Riskit!, it's "good" to state your intention for the work and the long-term purpose for this great investment of effort. When you have reached the point that the gap between what you want and need will be very small, then what?

You do much better here with a better model and a far better backcloth! The girl is better looking. Nature serves you far better than a cramped studio. From your work you do like some fire or other in the sky, LOL, so why not make use of this. You have made a good decision. Congrats for moving up.

1. Cloth folds/wrinkles, roillups, a general but important point! The lady is curvaceous but the stretch-dress in picture number #1 is a challenge as it rides up over her buttocks with untidy distracting folds. Now if her skirt was held up in a provocative way, not my choice, then the many folds would work as it would be balanced by increased sexual drama. Here it's plane untidy. Just as Will Thompson's recent pics had a crumpled background, the material here also detracts from the quality of the work. This is a general point for us to look out for.

2. Did you use flash and if so what was it and where placed. In pictures # 2 and 3 did you do anything to the thighs? Either there is shadowing of levels in the skin or, most unlikely you retouches locally.

Unless a model is very lean, it's easy to get irregularities in flesh due to side lighting. That I suspect is what's happening.

For this type of work requires attention to details so nothing spoils a great image.

Again, good show,

Asher

Asher,
thank you very much for your detailed comments.

And yes, I did use flash

ie background

Almost looks like Ojai or Lake Cachuma...

Nice use of the Sunpaks. Your work is improving shoot by shoot...I still think that you would benefit from a stylist. Not sure your source of models, they are brave if you haven't met them before to go to the wilderness. In any case, keep it up.

Ok, Nikolai,

The setting, composition and concept are well thought out.

Now what were the lens settings? To me the sky and water are underexposed. What would you think of perhaps using a shutter speed and aperture such that the sunset would be fully realized in all its splendor?

What flash was this? I know you have a lot of studio gear, but I guess it requires AC power.
I ask because of the shadows on her thighs. A reflector or additional flash would get rid of that artifact.

Thanks for sharing?

Asher

Kathy Rappaport said:

Almost looks like Ojai or Lake Cachuma...

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Nope. It's right here in Westlake Village...only... not many can get to it. 25 minutes of a *fast* hiking, steep (sometimes *very* steep) uphill all the way.

Nice use of the Sunpaks. Your work is improving shoot by shoot...

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thank you!

Not sure your source of models, they are brave if you haven't met them before to go to the wilderness. .

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I make them a promise in writing that I won't rape them
LOL
JK

In any case, keep it up

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Oh, I can promise you that

Asher Kelman said:

Ok, Nikolai,

The setting, composition and concept are well thought out.

Click to expand...

Now what were the lens settings? To me the sky and water are underexposed. What would you think of perhaps using a shutter speed and aperture such that the sunset would be fully realized in all its splendor?

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Setting were different from look to look since light kept changing fast. As to the underexposure - I like it this way, so I did that on purpose, otherwise it would be very blah...

What flash was this? I know you have a lot of studio gear, but I guess it requires AC power.

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It's sunpak 555, powered by 6 AAs. I have a portable brick for big lights, but that one is h*e*a*v*y.

I ask because of the shadows on her thighs. A reflector or additional flash would get rid of that artifact.

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I had two flashes when I started the shoot:



One fell off the cliff a few seconds after this shot was taken:-( It's a very treacherous location...

Flash survived (as I verified when I got home), but I lost my battery cartrige and could not use 2d one for the duration of the shoot.

Ah, I know where

Thanks, Nik - I know the reservoir. Yes, you are unlikely to find me there with my Sunpaks and a model. Straight up is not my kind of trek. Flat is where it's at!

Kathy Rappaport said:

Thanks, Nik - I know the reservoir.

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Sometimes I wonder what all those peope leaving accross the reservoir think, seeing all those flashing on top of the rock

Hi, Asher,

Asher Kelman said:

The lady is curvaceous but the stretch-dress in picture number #1 is a challenge as it rides up over her buttocks with untidy distracting folds.

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Now, Asher, if you or I had been there as a stylist, we could have smoothed that out.

Best regards,

Doug

Lighting stands are for studio work.

Nikolai Sklobovsky said:

It's sunpak 555, powered by 6 AAs. I have a portable brick for big lights, but that one is h*e*a*v*y.


I had two flashes when I started the shoot:


One fell off the cliff a few seconds after this shot was taken:-( It's a very treacherous location...

Flash survived (as I verified when I got home), but I lost my battery cartrige and could not use 2d one for the duration of the shoot.

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Nikolai,

I will suggest to you what I was told years ago:

Lighting stands are for studio work.

Instead, go out and buy some cheap tripods for field work. You can even use umbrellas and other kite like diffusers in a slight breeze safely.

a thought,

Sean

Doug_Kerr said:

Hi, Asher,



Now, Asher, if you or I had been there as a stylist, we could have smoothed that out.

Best regards,

Doug

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LOL
I bet you'd love that
OK, sherpa/smoother position is open, any takers?

Sean DeMerchant said:

Nikolai,

I will suggest to you what I was told years ago:

Lighting stands are for studio work.

Instead, go out and buy some cheap tripods for field work. You can even use umbrellas and other kite like diffusers in a slight breeze safely.

a thought,

Sean

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Sean,
it's a very solid idea, I was thinking in that direction myself (as in "how nice it would be to have a tripod instead of this -bleep- lightstand").
But let me ask you: how do you get high?
Most of the basic tripods I've seen only go to, like, 6-7 ft, top. I need at least 8ft as a norm and preferably 10ft or higher :-(
I'm all ears!

Nik, maybe

If you aren't hiking a zillion miles up, I might chaperone and style. We can leave the smoothing to Asher since smooth talking is natural to him. The girls at the restaurant next to the studio are still talking about him.

Kathy Rappaport said:

If you aren't hiking a zillion miles up, I might chaperone and style. We can leave the smoothing to Asher since smooth talking is natural to him. The girls at the restaurant next to the studio are still talking about him.

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Oh, I can imagine having you two on the shoot, it would be a blast...

Unfortunately, all my sunset places are chosen on "hard to reach" idea. You remember my Sunset Hills vista point. That was 5 minutes tops. Reservoir one is 25 minutes or more, and it is almost as steep most of the times and it is *much* steeper in the final 10 minutes section...

However, that very fact saves us from the crowds and ladies feel much more comfortable being dresses scantily (or not at all)... Plus not many photogs know about those, and even lesser amount have proper location gear to light things up the way I do... I must tell you, if I didn't have my extensive hiking experience from my past life, I probably wouldn't go there either...

I used to hike

I used to hike my self extensively. 4-5 miles at a time. Love the hike to the waterfall at the end of Arboles. There is a great hike in Pacific Palisades to a waterfall. And spent many days hiking Russian River Gulch in Mendecino, Big Sur. A small fact about me: i was the first girl that was a Boy Scout in California that was also not a Girl Scout!

Once upon a time a Girl Scout could be an Explorer Scout but I was the first Explorer Scout that was NOT a Girl Scout and the first in California! That was when I first took up photography! In 1970....

Studio Lighting in the Field

Nikolai Sklobovsky said:

Sean,
it's a very solid idea, I was thinking in that direction myself (as in "how nice it would be to have a tripod instead of this -bleep- lightstand").
But let me ask you: how do you get high?
Most of the basic tripods I've seen only go to, like, 6-7 ft, top. I need at least 8ft as a norm and preferably 10ft or higher :-(
I'm all ears!

Click to expand...

Mount a boom arm on it. I wanted to get stable, so I went to the lighting store in Seattle (Glazers), told an experienced salesman what I wanted (to mount modifiers on a tripod) and it was a new thing to him*. So I explained it some more and he set me up with the the parts needed to which I added an umbrella clamp for angular control all mounted on the epoxied in center column of a broken tripod (center column permanently in the lowest position. The assembly is unstable when loose and must be held into place while tightening, but it is very versatile. With a second umbrella clamp a small softbox can be pointed upwards from ground level.

To get higher, simply get a longer boom arm.

* I later learned of the online strobist communities and they would be a likely resource for more info and other solutions.

Here is a macro lighting example with a small softbox close to the ground. This illustrates getting off center and lower, but centered and higher is easy too.



With a more expensive tripod you could probably use a screwdriver or such to remove the bottom segment from a light stand and directly replace the center column in a tripod. That was not possible here and my goal was getting close to the ground on top of getting higher.

enjoy your day,

Sean

Sean,
thank you very much for the detailed info and sharing pictures!

I got the idea. Boom arm on a tripod. With a 5-6ft tripod and 3.5 ft arm I can see that working just fine.

I guess a trip to Sami's is in order, since this is really something you need to see IRL and fiddle with to make sure you can actually assemble them together...

Sean,
the more I think about, the more I'm leaning towards an idea of simply having a couple of lightweight C-stands (which I was going to get anyway). Their construction makes then naturally adjustable to difficult terrain and they already have a boom hand by design. Yes they may not be as compact as tripods, but you can't have everything...

Nikolai Sklobovsky said:

Sean,
the more I think about, the more I'm leaning towards an idea of simply having a couple of lightweight C-stands (which I was going to get anyway). Their construction makes then naturally adjustable to difficult terrain and they already have a boom hand by design. Yes they may not be as compact as tripods, but you can't have everything...

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Nikolai,

What the stands lack that tripods have is wide bases. They can handle a larger shift in center of mass before tumbling over which allows the usage of umbrellas. It cost me a couple of umbrellas to learn that lesson. I am just glad umbrellas are inexpensive.

enjoy,

Sean

Sean,
I got your point. I'll explore both directions more...

Yum. I won't ask how you produce certain anatomical effects....

doug anderson said:

Yum. I won't ask how you produce certain anatomical effects....

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LOL
It mostly comes natural. For the rest, there is PS