Arcana - Bladesinger
Model: Gillian Church
Model: Gillian Church
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Nov, 2017Views
644
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Awards
Contest Finalist in Fashion And Costumes Photo Contest
Peer Award
Outstanding Creativity
Absolute Masterpiece
Top Choice
Superior Skill
All Star
Top Ranks
Top 30 rankTop 30 rank week 1
Top 10 rankTop 10 rank week 1
Top 20 rank
Same photographer See allBehind The Lens
Behind The Lens
Location
This was shot in a wooded area between parks in Northern Virginia, near Alexandria.Time
Late afternoon.Lighting
I was trying to mix the remaining daylight and some strobe light, as the shoot started mostly daylight and as the shoot ended, mostly strobe light.Equipment
I was shooting with my Canon 7DMkII, 28-105mm lens, and a Canon 430 ExIII speedlight, with remote triggers.Inspiration
This was part of a series we call Arcana. We've been doing a bunch of cosplay shoots based on fictional magic using character types. We've done Druid, Dark Witch, Voodoo, and in this one, Bladesinger. For those who don't play a lot of D&D, a Bladesinger is a Elf warrior who combines magic and sword skills in battle.Editing
Lots of color and light boosting. We brought up the contrast and wanted the greens and colors to really shine. I also did a bit of shaping to the models face and figure, to draw out and exaggerate the elf like qualities of the model.In my camera bag
For a shoot like this, I usually have a pair of speedlites, triggers, a mid range lens (28-104, F//4) and a few prime lenses (a 50mm and an 85mm).Feedback
Find yourself a model who has dance and fight training. Look to cosplayers and theater professionals. On the shooting side of things, make some strong choices about how much you want to keep the photo realism, and how much you want to exaggerate.
