In despair
Feb, 2015Views
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Awards
Contest Finalist in Captivating Portraits Photo Contest
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Contest Finalist in Dark Portraits Photo Contest
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nandicmb
September 27, 2015
Congratulations on your Contest Finalist win in Dark Portraits Photo Contest!
Same photographer See allBehind The Lens
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Behind The Lens
Location
This photo was shot in a studio I rented in downtown Los Angeles during my time as a photography student at Brooks Institute of Photography. I always spent my weekends here to improve my portrait photography and gain experience in working with different people. Testing studio lighting, camera gear, posing and the overall interaction with the person I'm shooting.Time
This is one of the last frames we shot that afternoon. We had been shooting beauty shots before and then thought it would be fun to play around and get a bit messy. We were all feeling a little tired after hours of shooting, but in this case it worked in our favor and we were able to match the styling with the expression of the model.Lighting
I used a simple 1-light setup and the key light is a diffused beauty dish to the right of my camera. Because of the wet stripy hair and the messy makeup I wanted to shoot this portrait a bit darker then the earlier stuff we had been doing that day. So I had the model move away from the white backdrop and pushed my key light as close as possible to her face, this gave me a darker gray background but still kept the seperation between the dark hair and background.Equipment
This was shot on a Canon 5D mark ii with a 85mm 1.8. The strobe I used was an Einstein from Paul C Buff with a 22" beauty dish from Mola.Inspiration
By the end of the day we allowed yourselves to do some creative experimentation. Together with the talented make-up artist Archangela Chelsea and model Sharon Wu we decided to go for a grungy look and shoot some darker images in contrast to what we had been doing earlier in the day. So I allowed myself to be inspired by the people around me and then added my experience and knowledge to capture an image that matched the styling and mood.Editing
Some basic adjustments in PS and then some color grading and vignetting. Added some subtle blurred lines to the background.In my camera bag
Trying to switch up the lenses I shoot but my favorites are the Canon 85mm 1.8 prime lens and my 24-70mm 2.8. Hope to add some more prime lenses to my bag but it's not easy being a struggling photographer these days.Feedback
The only tip I can give is to keep moving out of our comfort zone and experiment with styling, light and ways of shooting. If you have more time after accomplishing your planned shoot, try some new stuff and enjoy the creative process without being afraid of failing. This is how I keep my passion burning and these fun challenges keeps me developing new skills as a photographer.
