The Body Series
Mar, 2015Views
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Behind The Lens
Location
I took this photo in my studio at The Goat Farm Arts Center in Atlanta, Georgia. The Goat Farm is a very frequented area for different artists, photographers and film crews. Some of season 1 of The Walking Dead was filmed on the grounds as well as scenes from The Hunger Games: Catching Fire. I'm new to the studio so maybe one day I can snag myself a movie star..Time
Me and my model shot for hours! I believe we started at around 5:30 in the afternoon and didn't stop til around 9 or 10! What can I say, I love shooting, I could do it all day long if my models didn't have to eat or sleep.. This was one of the first shots we ended up getting. I had to close the curtains to keep the sun out. Probably the main reason we lost track of time in the first place.Lighting
I am a sucker for dramatic lighting. I really love playing with shadows so I wanted to make them a huge part in this shoot. This was actually my first time shooting in a studio and working with studio lights, so this is a product of me literally just playing around with the big, expensive, heavy, equipment my friend let me use. I had what I wanted in my head, it was just a matter of getting things perfect.Equipment
I shot this with my Canon 7d. I believe my settings were ISO 100 | f/8.0 | 1/200sec with my 10-24mm. I used a beauty dish and a regular stage light on either side of her. I shot her in front of a white back drop. Oh! And a perfectly lined up playlist on spotify playing in the background.Inspiration
Well this photo is part of my latest project The Body Series. The whole purpose of the series is to empower every type of person and their particular body type. I was inspired to do this project when a friend of mine told me she was being bullied on the Internet over her size. She said "I used to hate myself. I wanted to crawl into someone else's skin who I thought was beautiful. But then I realized that while I was busy hating my body, it was keeping me alive. It was loving me and doing it's job no matter how much I wished it wasn't mine. So I fell in love with it." That's such a positive message that so many of us need to hear. So I wanted to shoot a number of different body types; fit, average, fat, thin, old, hairy, pregnant, scarred, tattooed, etc. I wanted keep my models faceless as well so you are only focused on their body. I chose to light my "bodies" in a very dramatic way. I want to show of curves and muscles and wrinkles with shadows and accentuate what I want to be accentuated. I am asking for volunteers around atlanta to participate in The Body Series and I already have had a number of people say they want to jump on board. Many people are excited about this, as well as myself. I hope I can inspire at least one person to love their beautiful body when my series is complete.Editing
Yes yes yes. I always do a little editing. This one honestly didn't need much though! I use Lightroom 5. I want to keep all my shots in The Body Series black and white because I just love how romantic black and white can be. I also knew I would be shooting differnt body types for this so instead of having to worry about red rash-y skin or some kind of unflattering discoloration, I figured I'd make it easy on myself and just stick to my trusty b&w. I burned a bit of the curve in her abs just to accentuate it even more and I dodged her hand a bit because it was a little too dark for my liking. I also boosted the clarity because I wanted the details in her skin to really stand out. But that's it! Sometimes I'm surprised at how less and less I rely on post processing.In my camera bag
I have a Canon 7d which I love so much I have named him Phillip. He goes with me everywhere. I have a 18-55mm, a 50mm, a 75-300mm and the newest addition to the family is my 10-24mm. I mainly use the 18-55 and the 50 but I make good use out of all my little friends. Just depends on what's in front of me at the time.Feedback
My advice is to be on fire for your desire. Have what you want in your head and go after that shot! You might have to be creative to get it to come out perfect! For example, I couldn't get this shot right the first couple of times because my model was tense. She knew I wanted a shot of her hands so she wasn't being natural with them. So, I told her to start doing some yoga poses. She thought I was taking pictures of her whole body doing whatever it was she was doing, but I was completely focused on her hands and she had no idea! And that's how I ended up with this beauty you see here. Completely natural and in the moment. Photography to me is capturing a persons personality or their emotion and you have to get your subjects to feel comfortable and relaxed in order to get who they really are. Your photos will be ten times more amazing if they are of something real and not posed or forced.
