Torup Castle and Melissa
This was supposed to be a spring session but the snow surprised us. We packed all the flashes and softboxes and just went with natural light and it turned out g...
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This was supposed to be a spring session but the snow surprised us. We packed all the flashes and softboxes and just went with natural light and it turned out great!
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Sep, 2018Views
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Contest Finalist in Social Exposure Photo Contest Vol 17
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Martensvensson
September 20, 2018
Thank you! Great model, nice clothes and good location. No excuses for not making good photos even if this was very far from what we planned for!
Same photographer See allBehind The Lens
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Behind The Lens
Location
This is Torup in the south of Sweden. The castle is owned by the municipality and photography is permitted if non-commercial. I always greet the gardeners on location and let them know what I do, it´s just polite.Time
So me and Melissa had planned for more than a year, never really being able to match our schedules. Then suddenly we both had time on our hands and we just went for a spontaneous spring-inspired shoot. And got snow instead. Lots of snow. Gotta love Sweden :) I had to pack the flashes and the expensive lenses and the whole shoot was transfered from light, happy spring portraits with flash to fashion in natural light. I think this was shot in the early afternoon, just after the lunch we did not have.Lighting
With me on the time of shooting was four elinchrom quadra heads, a variety of umbrellas and softboxes, lightstands, sandbags, the full camerabag with backup body and at least 10 lenses. I did not use any of that because of the snow. But the overcast sky gave me a perfect soft light that matched the scene and the snow perfectly. Just aim and shoot.Equipment
Canon 5dmkIV, canon 85/1.8 and merrino wool socks and beanie.Inspiration
The whole thing with changing weather suits me perfectly. My inspiration usually comes from a location and there are plenty of wonderful locations all over Skåne. Then I try to make the location come alive by placing a person in it. When this particular location came alive with snowfall AND Melissa, all I had to do was to focus and expose. So the inspiration is usually made up by person, location and mood. The interaction with the model is a source of inspiration aswell.Editing
Most editing is done in lightroom and I have to confess there is a preset involved. I usually don´t use presets, I have a bunch of them installed but they never really work for me. But this one did. After the preset I changed some settings to get the look I wanted, and after that a quick and dirty frequency separation in photoshop, mostly to even out skin tones. I don´t always do that, but I think I did this time.In my camera bag
I am a gemini. I constantly change, so at one shoot I will use several flashes, changing lenses constantly. And after that I might use a body and two primes. But if I am photographing people I always bring my 5D mk(latest model) and a tele prime and a wider prime. Usually 135/2 and/or 85/1.8 (oh how I long for money to buy the 85/1.4 L IS!!!) and 45/1.8 and 35/1.4 L. Then again I have a 14/2.8 and a 120-300/2.8 that I use sometimes along with a few other lenses. Then ususally some elinchrom quadras and 135 octa, 70 deep octa (in case of wind), some umbrellas, light stands, weights, HS-sync, monopod and tripod that I never end up using because I´m lazy. Oh and the boom stand. That thing is wonderful.Feedback
Well its hard to plan for snowfall, but the thing is to keep shooting and having fun. Be open and try to capture the shots that will work well under the circumstances you are given. In this case, gear was not important. The lens in question was released in 1992 and that makes the design three years older than the model. For me, including the model in the creative process is important. That does not always work, not all models can do that. Basicly it´s about finding your method, your way of creating. Do that by photograhping a lot, change your ways constantly, try out whatever commes across your mind and have fun.
