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American Honey #15
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American Honey #15



behind the lens badge
cameraCanon EOS 70D

settings Aperture f/4 ISO 1600 Shutter 1/40 Focal Length 20/1 

upload_dateFeb, 2016

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1 Comment |
john_arsenault
 
john_arsenault March 22, 2017
how can i not award an image of my favorite vice?
dkpaulson
dkpaulson March 22, 2017
Cheers! ;)

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Behind The Lens

Location

I took this photo in my living room; believe it or not. This was essentially my first attempt at doing studio photography.

Time

Sometime during the evening.

Lighting

I did this shoot prior to investing in some various studio photography equipment--including lighting--so I really just used what I had, which was the overhead lighting in my living room and a floor lamp with a task light. I knew I wanted to shoot something that was a little bit on the dark side, with muted or B&W color. So I used the floor lamp to direct most of the lighting on the right side of the subjects to create more of a stage lighting effect, since I wanted this to feel like an acoustic performance in a small barroom or something similar.

Equipment

Aside from my Canon 70D, not much "equipment" was used in this shoot. As I mentioned above, I did this shoot before investing in some studio equipment (backdrops, lighting, etc), so while my vision for the outcome was fairly specific, how I arrived there was rather humorous. The backdrop was composed of a bed sheet, held up by my fully extended camera tripod on one side, and a coat rack on the other. The bed sheet is draped over a sofa, and in the foreground I used a bar stool to hold the glass, bottle, and for my model to prop her feet on.

Inspiration

I had been itching to try my hand at studio photography, and I'd already been doing some standalone shots of the American Honey bottle because I found it very aesthetically pleasing. I saw the Commercial Shots contest opening and decided to shoot something specifically for this contest. I wanted something that felt very warm and--well, American. What better than a beautiful lady in a plaid shirt, blue jeans, and boots, with a glass of whiskey? The guitar was actually an afterthought. I began with some shots of my lovely model holding the glass and/or bottle (you can see a few of these earlier shots on my profile), but I wasn't entirely satisfied with the outcome. Then I realized a guitar would really round out the whole scene and make it feel more authentic.

Editing

I don't currently have the budget for PhotoShop, so I'm a big fan of Picasa Photo Editor. I commonly use some pretty simple effects, in this case focal B&W and then I de-saturated some of the color.

In my camera bag

I try to keep it pretty simple. Extra batteries, an external flash, various UV and color filters, and my shutter release. Lenses: 18-55 and 75-300 for my Canon 70D.

Feedback

First, don't give up on an idea if it isn't going the way you planned. Sometimes something better comes of it. If I had decided this shoot wasn't working and gave up on it I might not have realized I needed another element that really brought everything together. Don't get in the way of your own creativity by being overly analytical. Being critical of yourself is important for growing yourself as an artist, but don't let it choke out your creativity. Second, don't think that because you don't have the budget to afford equipment or post-editing programs that this puts you at a disadvantage. It doesn't! It actually gives you more opportunity to get creative! Use what you have available to you to the best of your ability and always stay humble enough to learn more than you did the last shoot.

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