johnmcnairn

Attic Life

Amber Bliss

Amber Bliss
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NIKON D810

settings

Aperture f/5 ISO 640 Shutter 1/200 Focal Length 360/10

upload_date

Jun, 2017

Views

4484

Likes

+328

Awards

Peer Choice Award

Honorable Mention in Image Of The Month Photo Contest Vol 23

Contest Finalist in Image Of The Month Photo Contest Vol 23

Staff Favorite

Peer Award

+95

Outstanding Creativity

+22

Absolute Masterpiece

+20

Superb Composition

+11

Top Choice

Magnificent Capture

Superior Skill

All Star

Emotions

Impressed

Top Ranks

Top 30 rank week 1

Behind The Lens

Location

This shot was taken in a derelict fisherman's hut off the coast of Scotland near Montrose, it stood just behind some dunes that separated it from the cliff behind and the sea, quite a sheltered spot. I suspect the attic space that was used allowed the fishermen of old to store crates of fish and dry them by hanging them from the rafters.

Time

It was late morning by the time Amber, the model, and I got there. It was a new location for us and we took a while to find it so this shot was taken about 11 am

Lighting

It was a dull overcast kind of day with the threat of rain so the light coming through the old skylight was fairly consistent, just enough light to fill the area needed without the use of flash, the pool of light in the attic is all natural light. The difficult thing of course is to ensure the skin isn't burnt out by excessive light.I thought that the lighting the body in this way would be quite tricky but because the outside was overcast it softened what could have been harsh and bold contrasting skin tones. I did spend more time than usual making sure I got it right in camera before carrying on with shooting the theme.

Equipment

For this attic theme I used a mixture of a 70-200mm f2.8 Nikon lens and a Tamron 28-70mm f2.8 lens on a Nikon D810, this particular shot used the Tamron 28-70

Inspiration

Dereliction and nude work seem to be suited to each other and is quite a popular theme. This shot however was one of the last in a series, I wanted to use the light in a different way to lighten the upper body but not have the lower body in too much darkness. In the end I just wanted something different from the usual and I do like to experiment quite a lot when I work with art nude models. I had to demonstrate the pose myself to ensure it was practical, much to the hilarity of Amber.

Editing

Yes, post processing is mainly a must for me when working with art nude, most models come with bruises and scratches and other things that need to be edited. In this case though very little editing was required, firstly getting the lighting right in simple ways to ensure the skin isn't burnt out, so basically the highlights were turned down and the shadows increased slightly. Then a little skin smoothing was applied to Amber and the whole image converted to mono via Sliver Efex, and finally a vignette was added in Lightroom.

In my camera bag

My bag always has the same equipment in it, but most is never used. The Nikon D810 with 4 lenses, the Nikon 70-200mm, Nikon 50mm, Tamrom 19-35mm and lastly my much used Tamron 28-70mm. I have one speedlite flash, hardly used, and various filters which are also hardly used. Suntan cream and painkillers, a pen style lens cleaner and spare batteries. Oh and one other item I have found handy is a Samsung 8 inch tablet, this is good for showing how you want the model to pose if you have a similar styles already in a previous image.

Feedback

Spend as much time as you need getting it right in camera, the chances of blowing out the skin tones are very high. Don't be scared to use a high ISO. This was taken on a warm day but if its cold I'd recommend doing some clothed test shots first as the model will get very cold very quickly. Also consider bracketing the shots with various shutter speeds, hopefully that will cut down on blown out highlights on the skin.

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johnmcnairn

johnmcnairn

Attic Life

Amber Bliss

Behind The Lens

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