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Location
In a field on the outskirts of Durham. I often have my eyes open for possible locations when I'm travelling about, and the ripe wheat appealed to me, so when I booked Kirstie Marie for a shoot at my home there, it was only a short diversion to take advantage of this spot.
Time
This was mid morning in summer, and so the dynamic range was challenging; shadows would disappear to black and skies and highlights would blow out to white. As the field sloped upwards it was relatively easy to fill my backgrounds to keep the sky out of shot but the model's skin along her shoulders and collar bone were still at risk of specular highlights blowing out.
Lighting
I didn't need any additional lighting for the reasons above. In fact I could have done with a large scrim overhead to diffuse the harsh sunlight, but as I was working on my own this wasn't an option. I'd taken some black voile with me to experiment with and shoot through, but by having the model wear it as a veil it solved the lighting problem by acting as a wearable scrim!
Equipment
Canon 5d Mk III with a 70-200 lens to compress the background
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Inspiration
Although the model's online profile stated that she shot nudes, I sensed that she was less comfortable doing so outdoors (though we were in a secluded location) and so having props gave her something to cover up with.
Editing
Very little; the voile did enough filtering to take away the need for any skin retouching.
In my camera bag
I've now upgraded to a 5d mk iv, and carry a range of go to lenses that cover me from 17-200mm focal lengths (which I can take further with a 1.4 extender) I'll often swap out my wide angle 17-40 for either a macro 100m or my 50mm and 85mm primes, depending on whether I'm planning to shoot nature or people. For all other occasions my go to lenses give me options.
Feedback
Much of the success of this shot was down to having the voile. Though I don't always do it, I find having props gives you and the model ideas to bounce around and can often lead to something unplanned but rewarding.
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