Hotel Room Dreams
Jun, 2015Views
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Behind The Lens
Location
This photo was taken at the Hilton Suites BWI just south of Baltimore MD. I got this room because this shoot happen to come on the days of the Baltimore riots. I could get to my studio because the had pretty much shut down that part of the city. There was also a curfew. If you were in the city you had to be off the roads by 8pm. I wanted to go out and do some night photography so I got the room to avoid having any problems going home after the curfew.Time
The shoot took place around 2pm. The window had a southern exposure so I had little to no direct sunlight going in. When I saw it I thought it would be great for a photo shoot.Lighting
I had brought some small lights with me as well. At one point I set them up just to see if I could improve on the photo with some fill light. As it turned out all I needed was the window. Having more is not always betterEquipment
This photo was shot with a Nikon D810, ISO 800, at 70mm with a Nikon 35-70 f2.8, 1/160 sec at f5.6. I also used -1EV just to get the mood a little better. The lens had no VR so I did use my trusty Manfrotto tripod.Inspiration
I was inspired by the large window and the light quality. As I walked into that room and looked to me right the first thing I thought was, "That's my first set right there.' I don't shoot window light often so I was ready to go.Editing
As far as pst goes there are a few thing that I do to most of my photos. For this I used "Tonal Contrast" in NIK Color FX Pro to punch the the photo up a bit. Then I used a bit of Portraiture to bring the skin back in line. And finally I used NIK Silver EX Pro to do the black and white conversion. I like NIK for this because I feel it gives you the most options to make a great black and white.In my camera bag
I carry my D810, Nikon 14-24mm f2.8, Tamron 24-70mm f 2.8, Tamron 70-200mm f2.8, Nikon 105 f2.8 macro, Nikon 35-70 f2.8, 6 Yongnuo YN685 Wireless TTL Speedlite with a built-in YN-622N radio transceiver. With these speed lights I get complete radio slave functionality with my YN-622N transmitter. I have the Lighware Foursquare with 30" soft box. And to round it all off I have Paul C Buff 51" High reflective Silver PLM. I use this outside mainly.Feedback
The best advise I can give you if you are trying to capture window light is to use fast glass, or a camera with great high ISO capabilities. The faster glass like a 50 f1.4 or 1.8 not only let's you shoot at a lower ISO or higher shutter speed but it also has great focal fall off, giving you great blur in the background. And remember it never hurts to use a tripod and shutter release.
