Girl
Canon EOS 5D Mark III
Aperture 4/1 ISO 100 Shutter 1/80 Focal Length 105/1 
Tonawanda, New York, US
Jun, 2023Views
575
Likes
Awards
Contender in the Photography Awards
Winner in Fine Nudes in Black and White Photo Challenge
Peer Award
Superb Composition
Top Choice
Absolute Masterpiece
Top Ranks
Top 20 rankCategories
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Behind The Lens
Location
This image was taken in my shared studio with the marvelous traveling model @aliceAntoinette. I wanted to do a series of figure studies, and Alice was absolutely perfect for this look!Time
Alice was available all day in the studio, but this was my last series with her. She must've been tired by then, but she posed like a trooper, going through pose after pose. This was my favorite from the series, and black and white seems to do it more justice then color.Lighting
So, I placed Alice center stage with two black V-flats forming the back and sides to envelope her and make the lighting dramatic! I then placed a single strobe in a 1X4 strip box above her and slightly in front and shot away!Equipment
At that time I was shooting with my Canon 5D mkiii with a 24-105 F4 zoom - my favorite and go-to lens in the studio. It allows me to shoot portraits as well as full figure without moving a great deal and gives the model some space.Inspiration
I've always like dramatic lighting, and Alice was such a fantastic model that I couldn't resist recreating some dramatic images that I had seen in the past.Editing
Probably the most processing was removing the feet of the light stand, and then increasing the contrast to make the blacks black and the whites white. The great thing about shooting in color and then converting to B&W is the ability to change the color balance to highlight different parts of the model/scene. In this case, I could push the image towards yellow to favor Alice's blond hair.In my camera bag
Because I share a studio with 4 other people, I normally keep my lights and camera with me, while leaving the heavy light stands and modifiers in the studio on shelves. Therefore, I am usually carrying a single ad-200 plus 2-3 speedlights for accent lighting plus a trigger, along with gels and small modifiers. I like the MagMod system of magnetic mounts and use their gels, grids, and softbox.Feedback
The main point I would make is that professional models can take your creativity to a new level. I do a fair number of TFP shoots both in and out of the studio to explore creative ideas. But 1-2 time a year, I splurge on a professional traveling model and the collaboration can make all the difference in bringing your creative thoughts ( and theirs) to life!
