Gaze
The energy between these two is electric! Every shoot with them is a pure joy. For this shoot we put an old turn of the century bath tub into a house under reno...
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The energy between these two is electric! Every shoot with them is a pure joy. For this shoot we put an old turn of the century bath tub into a house under renovation. It made for a really fun scene!
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Aug, 2016Views
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Awards
Winner in Passion Photo Challenge
Peer Award
Superb Composition
Outstanding Creativity
Absolute Masterpiece
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Behind The Lens
Location
For the inspiration of this series, we wanted to leverage a house that Mark (who is one of the models in this photo) has been renovating. We timed the shoot so that it was executed while all the walls in the house were back to bare studs with unfinished ceiling and floors. I was really interested in creating a deconstructed theme for this series both with the background of the house as well as the models being stripped and bare in the old rusted claw foot bathtub. We purchased the 100 year old clawfoot bathtub, which weighed about one million pounds, if my back recalls correctly and brought it onsight for this shoot! We also thew some random construction materials in various positions. In addition, on some of the photos in this series, I staged some pieces of lumber just in front of the camera for a border effect.Time
Since this was indoors and I wanted the focus on hard angles with construction, we shot this series after dark using strobes on stands and soft boxes.Lighting
I used two 4'x4' soft boxes on each side of the models and two SB-800's placed around the room to accent the floor's wood grain and highlight the open walls.Equipment
This photo was taken with a Nikon D600 and a Nikon 50mm f1.8 lens handheld.Inspiration
I have seen some great claw foot bathtub photos from other photographers and I was really excited to try my hand at this idea. Luckily, these two were totally on board for planning and preparing for this series! It was a lot of work because we had to acquire a claw foot bathtub and also plan the shoot when the house was completely torn apart. I have about thirty photos from this series and as with every shoot with these two, it was an absolutely pleasurable collaborative experience with lots of ideas and feedback from both models! I often get too focused on gear and forget to step back and reflect on the overall plan. So having a creative production assistant with an eye on the overall plan, as I am lucky to have with Emily, is highly recommended!Editing
Nearly all my photos undergo some level of post processing. I use Lightroom and shoot RAW, so usually I will do some basic manipulation. I bumped the blacks and used mild split toning to de-clutter. A minimal amount of Photoshop liquify here and there to smooth things out. I'm not a big fan of the plastic look that I often see in professional modelling photography, so I really make an effort to employ a light touch with my post processing to retain the character and expressiveness of the model in their face, eyes and skin texture and tones.In my camera bag
Depending on the project, I have a couple different bag options. For excursions where flight may be possible, I use a PolarPro DroneTrekker backpack which contains my Phantom 4, PolarPro Cinema filters plus my Nikon D600, 28-300 VR, 85 1.8, 50 1.8 and occasionally a Nikon 14-24 2.8. If the project calls for more mobility I have a smaller Kata backpack where I usually carry the Nikon D600, 28-300 VR, 14-24 2.8, 50 1.8 and occasionally one or two SB-800's. When I'm doing a portrait shoot like this one, I'll also pack a lighting bag with a couple SB-800's, light stands, two soft boxes and a couple tripods.Feedback
A lot of planning went into this series, Emily operates as my production coordinator on these planned shoots and helps tremendously with logistics and creative input! I highly recommend creating a plan collaboration document using a service like Google Suite to share your ideas and prep list with everyone participating. We worked out the logistics a couple weeks ahead so that when the day came, we had a solid plan to minimize issues and we could really focus on getting what we wanted out of the shoot (and having fun!). I also recommend models with experience who have a positive attitude and are excited and inspired with theme of the shoot. It really helps to have them participate in the planning process and provide valuable creative feedback as the plan comes together!
