Crimson
A shoot with a hint of vintage at the old fishing town of Hastings UK. The town itself has many vintage shops and the hat was kindly lent by one of the shop own...
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A shoot with a hint of vintage at the old fishing town of Hastings UK. The town itself has many vintage shops and the hat was kindly lent by one of the shop owners.
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Feb, 2016Views
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Behind The Lens
Location
This photo was taken in the old harbour of Hastings in the UK. Hastings is a historical fishing village in the south coast of England famous for the historical event "Battle of Hastings" in medieval times. Nowadays, Hastings is a vibrant seaside town with quirky shops and lots of fancy dress events. It has been rated as the top 15 places to visit in the UK!Time
This photo was taken during mid afternoon in December 2015. As you can imagine, England in the winter is not particularly warm and the sun set relatively early during those months. We headed straight out to location after doing hair and make up in an apartment near by. The wind was quite strong that day but luckily we had no rain. With these conditions, I must say our model, Joanne did extremely well.Lighting
The shot was taken all with natural light. It was an overcasted day and the sky was like a large softbox. This sort of lighting can be so diffuse at times and can take away shadows and depth, making a photo look "flat". Positioning, posing and direction of the model therefore becomes very important in order to create interesting shadows and depth. The hat in this scene helped create some nice highlight and shadows. My assistant also held a white reflector to bounce some extra light to the face.Equipment
I used my Nikon D5300, Nikkor 50mm 1.8g lens. My assistant had a 5 in 1 80cm collapsible reflector. No flash or tripod were used.Inspiration
Hastings is a town with a vintage feel where ever you look, from the shops that sells vintage furniture and clothes, to old wooden fishing huts and boats. I love being by the sea side and I have walked through the Hastings old harbour many times being inspired by the rows of different sized boats parked on the pebble beach. Some of these boats are still in use, some have been sitting there quietly for years. I love the whole vintage feel to this place Combined with my fascination with elegance vintage clothing, I got inspired to do a vintage model shoot in this location. The vintage hat was lent to me by a local shop called "20th century funking junk". I loved the big bow on it, and it matched the colour of our models hair. I recall this disused rowing boat in the harbour that was crimson red, and immediately I thought "woah, this can create something really nice." Colour matching and palette I find is a very important element to any photograph, and i think the red in the hat, the hair, the lipstick and the boat helped direct the viewers eyes to all these areas to keep it interesting. I always thought there is a sense of mystery in the harbour, and that inspired me to use the hat as a prop to create the mystery in this photo too.Editing
I always retouch my photos and i pay attention to extreme details. I always shoot in RAW and so the first thing I did was export it into my library in Lightroom. I then adjusted the white balance, and boosted up the exposure and contrast slightly. I always shoot slightly underexposed in camera to make sure there is no blowouts in the subject. It is always must easier to bring back some details from shadows than from overexposed areas. Once I was happy with the raw processing, I export it into Photoshop as jpeg. In PS, I work in layers in non-destructive manner. The first thing I do in PS is use heal brush or clone stamp to tidy any distracting elements (from stray hair, spots, stains on the boat etc). I then add a 50% grey layer for dodging and burning. This give extra depth and contrast to the photo. Finally I add a colour toning layer and I play around with the shadows, mid tone and highlights in different hues. In this photo, I added a little bit of blue to the shadows and red to the highlights.In my camera bag
I like to travel light because I move around a lot on location shoots. Everything i have pretty much goes into a single bag, which has my Nikon D5300, nikkor 50mm, 15-55mm, 50-300mm telephoto lens, 2 Yongnuo YN-560 IV speedlites, flash remote commander, even my 5 in 1 80cm collapsible reflector. Add to that I always carry some extra SD cards, colour gels, ND filters, lens hood, pen/paper, some small clothing and hair clips. Recently I added a Meike LCD viewfinder to my collection. I use this now all the time on-location to review pictures in much greater detail without glare on my LCD screen. It is also a great tool when shooting film.Feedback
Plan your shoot. It is often so understated for model shoots. You have to think about your location, the lighting, the clothes, the hair, the make up, your model and any props. Everything counts towards the final image. I always make a mood board before any shoots to gather ideas and inspirations. I then show this to the team and also to the model well ahead before the shoot so everyone have a clear idea of my vision. Scout your areas before your shoot. Look at the lighting in the area, look at the colours and tones, look at all the possibilities for great compositions. One useful way to look at the tones and bokeh of the area is to put your lens on manual mode and spin the focus till its blurred. Take a photo and look at the bokeh, and look at the melted colour tones. When it come to fashion, look at the outfits. Styling is so important, and again, having a nice colour palette will really help you create a stunning image. Also look and research on poses and expressions, these all help to create a specific mood in your picture. Of course you have to balance pre-shoot planning to going with the flow on the set, and you have to be able to adapt quickly to the change in the environment, the wind, the mood and your team. Lastly, be the leader and play nice. You are the photographer with the vision and your team are there to help you reach that. Make sure everyone in the team is involved and feel appreciated. The make-up artist may have ideas that you never thought of, the stylist may spot errors that you would have otherwise missed, the lighting assistant can help you light up your subject in the dullest of days. Look after your model especially in these harsh outdoor conditions. I always say to everyone "to create a stunning image is a team effort".
