Ice Queen
Oct, 2013Views
1073
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Awards
Top Shot Award 22
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Absolute Masterpiece
Superb Composition
Outstanding Creativity
Magnificent Capture
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akhtarkhan
October 06, 2013
Ice cool beauty queen. Yes......beautiful blue eyes have it all, great expression......fabulous looking close up........brilliant capture.
PRO+
Ingleman
January 08, 2015
I like the way her beautiful face fills the frame. Another great shot, well done.
JimMonty
April 17, 2015
Penetrating gaze, but serene at the same time. Beautiful woman, great image!
Platinum
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Behind The Lens
Location
This was the result of a quick shoot with a friend in the backyard, it was shot under a balcony next to a pool. I really liked how the pool gave bright blue catchlights and exaggerated her eye color.Time
We had a couple of hours to kill in the afternoon and decided to take a few portraits, it ended up being the perfect time to shoot as the time of day allowed the pool to work as a reflector and light the whole shot for me.Lighting
I had been using a couple of softboxes earlier to give more dramatic lighting but then decided to shoot a couple with just the natural light and they came out even better. Sometimes simpler is better!Equipment
I used a Canon T2i with a kit lens to shoot this, no tripod, no flash, and no filters.Inspiration
Seeing the light on her eyes made me want to lock the focus into her stare and make a captivating headshot, the bright blue catchlights made the shot, sometimes a good location is just the one you have!Editing
The post-processing was pretty straightforward, I wanted to highlight the powerful blues so I dropped the yellows out and that gave the silver color to her normally blonde hair, after retouching some skin blemishes adding a little blur to the corners finished it off.In my camera bag
I no longer shoot with the canon t2i, I now use a 6d paired with a few prime lenses and one wide angle zoom. I carry an 85mm, a 40mm, and a 17-35. I love reflectors and will sometimes add a gelled speedlight.Feedback
The simplicity of this shot is great, place a model in open shade and shoot straight on, playing with the camera settings until you have the exposure you want. I chose a balanced exposure but there is no reason a darker or brighter look wouldn't work just as well. The more you shoot the more good shots appear on the mem card! My only advice is to shoot and then study your results.
