Raphaella
Model: Raphaella
Location: Hallam Mill Photography Studio
Dec, 2016Views
12051
Likes
Awards
Chatter Award
Zenith Award
Legendary Award
Contest Finalist in Behind You Photo Contest
Contest Finalist in Stillness Photo Contest
People's Choice in Dramatic Photo Challenge
Prize Bundle
Contest Finalist in Black is Back Photo Contest
Runner Up in Faceless Photo Contest
Contest Finalist in Faceless Photo Contest
People's Choice in Dancing any form Photo Challenge
Contest Finalist in Image Of The Month Photo Contest Vol 17
Contest Finalist in The Female Form Photo Contest
Peer Award
Superb Composition
Top Choice
Absolute Masterpiece
Outstanding Creativity
Magnificent Capture
All Star
Superior Skill
Virtuoso
Genius
Top Ranks
Top 20 rankTop 20 rank week 1
Top 30 rank
Top 10 rank
Top 10 rank
Categories
PRO
PRO+
Fidster_Arfon
February 06, 2017
Thanks to everyone who voted for this image in the Image of the Month competition finalist, Female Form finalist and the People's Choice award for Dancing any form. Truly honoured :)
Platinum
Platinum
Brandibaby17
April 21, 2019
super. my kinda shot. everything is perfect, the room, the tones, everything
Same photographer See allBehind The Lens
Discover more photos See all
Behind The Lens
Location
This image was taken in 2014 at Hallam Mill, a studio in Stockport.Time
If I recall, this was mid-afternoon on an overcast day.Lighting
The beauty of working at Hallam Mill is the vast, rustic and characterful floorspace, which, although may not be the typical flooring for dance/ballet, but the ceiling to floor windows which surrounds the outward facing walls bathe the studio with so much natural light that it is perfect for such images.Equipment
Nikon D7000 with a 50mm lens at f2 (why f2 and not f1.8 or f2.8? Honestly, I had not long purchased the lens and was still in my first full year of model photography and learning the basics about fstops, aperture, depth of field etc. At least I knew that at f2 I would have a greater amount of light hitting the sensor, which was needed on the overcast day). The camera set on a tripod and cable release, to avoid any camera movement.Inspiration
I had only been doing model photography as a hobbyist not even for a full year when I arranged the photoshoot with Raphaella at Hallam Mill. When I joined the portfolio hosting site, in order to network and showcase the work I was doing, there were so many terrific dance images, namely at the studio and also by Raphaella the model that, it was my aim to emulate some of the great work I'd seen as inspiration, but also to test my abilities at capturing static dance poses in natural light. In some ways, I perhaps bite off more than I can chew with the challenges I set myself, particularly without tuition, but the harder we fall, the quicker we learn to dust ourselves off and try again.Editing
Just a Grayscale conversion, as far as I can recall.In my camera bag
I always carry more than I need and have yet to whittle down to the bare minimum as, guaranteed, the one day I will have left something behind, I will need it. Usually it is camera, a Tamron 18-270mm, Nikon 50mm 1.8, Sigma 17-50mm, Tokina 11-16mm lens, Nissin flashgun (and plenty of batteries!) and softbox, tripods and a monopod.Feedback
Set the camera on a tripod, and if possible work with a cable release/trigger on continuous shutter as, in natural light, you want the camera as steady as possible in case the shutter speed needs to be slow (even with a higher ISO). A slower shutter speed will work with static poses, but may cause motion blur for any active poses. Give the model plenty of ideas and inspiration images beforehand to set the mood and pose ideas and always work within the model's capabilities (i.e. don't ask a model or dancer to do en pointe if she has never done ballet before). You can either count the model in, or, if she is facing away from you, she can count you in so that she is most ready for the pose. Don't be surprised to find that, with continuous burst images you will end up with lots of images to delete either side of the best pose in a group. Give the model plenty of time to warm up before and during the shoot and don't labour too much over the fine details with several retakes of the same pose as this can tire the model unnecessarily and no 2 retakes will ever be the same again.
