Just Thinking
Jan, 2014Views
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DavesPhotoStudio
September 25, 2022
Superb example of how you make a simple shot look stunning! Love it!
Same photographer See allBehind The Lens
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Behind The Lens
Location
I took this photo at Hallam Mill photography studio near Stockport, Manchester, UK.Time
Around 2pmLighting
I used four studio flash heads for this shot: one to the left of the shot aiming towards the models shoulders, one to the right of the shot aiming at her legs. Both had soft boxes and were aiming down at approximately 45 degrees. There were also two more flash heads aimed at the white background to ensure a nice white backdrop.Equipment
This was taken with my very first DSLR (a Canon ESO 600D) and it's EF-S 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS STM kit lens. Although this is only a cheap lens, it offered the focal range I needed for most of my studio work at the time and I was never disappointed with the image quality. No tripod or additional filters were used.Inspiration
Tamsin and I were doing a lingerie & nude photoshoot. I had just taken a series of test shots and was assessing the images for lighting quality & exposure. Tamsin adopted this pose naturally whilst she was waiting for me. I thought it was a great natural, candid pose and took a quick shot whilst she wasn't expecting it. Funnily enough it turned out to be one of my favourites from the day's shoot.Editing
The image was originally taken in colour, but the bright white background and black lingerie & heels just screamed for a B&W conversion. I applied a black and white filter in Photoshop, sharpened the image a touch to make the detail in the stockings stand out a little more, and played around with the levels histogram to improve the contrast.In my camera bag
I have upgraded from my Canon 600D to a 6D because I wanted to go full-frame. The lenses I usually have on me are a 50mm f1.8, a 70-200 f2.8, and a 24-105 f4. I also have a x3 teleconverter for the 70-200 (making it a 140-400 f5.6).Feedback
If you have never tried studio photography before then see if your local studio holds camera clubs or social evenings. These are a great way to learn about studio lighting. At these events the studio gets in a model (usually working fashion - lingerie) and for around £10-£15 you, and a handful of other photographers, take it in turns taking photos. The studio owner or another experienced photographer will set up the lights for you, you can watch them taking their photos to see what they do, and if you have any questions then you'll find everyone is more than helpful and very friendly. Once you have a little studio experience and you're ready to do a shoot with a model on your own then search the internet for inspiration on poses and save a few images to your phone or tablet (this is very helpful when trying to explain your ideas/directing the model). Finally...don't restrict yourself to using the lighting set-ups that you have seen others do - never be afraid to experiment with lighting. In fact...the more creative the better. Some of my best work was achieved by using a simple one-light set up and playing around with its position to achieve interesting shadows.
