obsession
woman gazes at camera over her shoulder
woman gazes at camera over her shoulder
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May, 2016Views
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Behind The Lens
Location
I took this photo at a friend’s house in Cape Town, out on his back porch. The person in the photo is my youngest sister, Jamie. At that time, she was a model in the fashion industry in Cape Town. She was relatively new to the industry so we decided to do a practise round (test shoot) one morning so she could teach herself to relax in front of the camera. It was quite a chaotic shoot! The house was busy being renovated so half the floor was missing! We managed to squeeze through the mess and found a perfect grey wall outside to shoot againstTime
We shot during the morning, around 10am if I remember correctly. But, we were lucky that day. The weather was overcast, so we didnt even need any fancy reflectors or screens. The sky was our giant softbox!Lighting
As I mentioned above, the fact that it was cloudy really worked in our favour. This picture would not have worked in sunlight. There would have been shadow and we needed soft light. We also shot against a charcoal coloured wall, which definitely helped to soften the light as wellEquipment
Seeing as this shoot was totally spur of the moment, I had no equipment with me whatsoever! Its moments like these that make you realise that you dont need the best equipment to take good pictures. I phoned a friend and we managed to find a Canon G12, a little point and shoot camera although it shoots in RAW. The camera itself is tiny - it will fit in your handbag - but its image quality is very good and its really easy to use. And that was the sum total of our equipment!Inspiration
Calvin Klein’s Obsession campaign with Kate Moss and shot by Peter Lindbergh, in my opinion, has to be one of the most successful campaigns ever done. Klein’s whole philosophy and approach to jeans was cutting edge, sexy and for the most part, didnt involve a pair of jeans at all! Most of the pictures are of Kate Moss in little black briefs, topless, with no makeup and wet hair. All the images are black and white. To pull this off, or rather should I say, to use these images as inspiration, it really comes down to the model. Jamie has dark hair and big brown eyes. As a person, she has a natural energy that is contagious but also sensitive. She is just one of those people that everyone wants to be around. She doesnt need a lot of makeup or clothes to just be so I made a point of stripping everything away so that it was just her, the lens and myself in the space.Editing
I used photoshop cs5 to work on the image.In my camera bag
When I am prepared for a shoot I have my Canon 5d with a 50mm f1.4, 35mm f2 and 70-200mm f2.8. I also have a 700d as a back up body. The 50mm is probably my most used and preferred lens. I do a lot of documentary shoots now so the 50mm is the easiest one to use and its fast. I have a long wish list of other lenses and bodies I want to get in the future.Feedback
Less is more. As a photographer, I never shoot fashion. There is just too much stuff you need from flashes, lights, diffusers, makeup artists, stylists, hair... The list is endless! So even though this picture was for Jamie’s modelling portfolio, the focus was on her as a person. I would like to think that the viewer feels like they know this girl when they look at the image, she is vulnerable and open and present all at the same time. Spend time with the person you are shooting. Get to know them. I am a firm believer in a one-to-one dialogue that is happening all the time when you are shooting someone. You have to draw that person out of themselves. Obviously having Jamie as my sister means we are already close. But thats why we did the shoot. For a beginner, it was vital for her self confidence to be in a space she could trust and explore. And I always love trying new things so it worked out very well. One thing that perhaps deserves a mention - when the images were finished, the modelling agency did not like them and didnt want to use this picture. It has sat in a folder on my computer for some time now until I decided to put it on Viewbug! Thank you for noticing it and liking it! Makes one realise just how subjective this medium is and how important it is to have the right audience.
