IMG_7366
Sep, 2018Views
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Awards
Top Shot Award 22
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Peer Award
Top Choice
Absolute Masterpiece
Superb Composition
Magnificent Capture
Outstanding Creativity
Virtuoso
All Star
Superior Skill
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Same photographer See allBehind The Lens
Behind The Lens
Location
This photo was taken in my apartment. I think this was around the time I had bought my first studio lights, but I didn't have any backdrops or anything. I bought some black poster board from the stationary store and taped it to my wall.Time
The thing I like about studio lights is that there isn't anything stopping you from getting great lighting. I don't have to worry about time of day or having a big enough window to get right in or diffusion if the sun is too harsh. And because I was using studio lights, the time of day didn't matter too much to me. My shift at work was like 1pm until 9pm so after coming home, I quickly set up my poster board and started shooting.Lighting
I would love to say that I planned this shoot out, but I really didn't The weekend before, on a whim with the model (my best friend) in the photo, I decided to splurge on studio lights. This was probably my second time using them. I am self-taught with nearly everything I do in photography so everything about this photo was new for me. My friend had never modeled before, but she liked her shirt and her sunglasses so we went with it. I didn't have a plan to make this photo black and white until I was editing and a lot of the time that's how it happens for me. I just sort of go with whatever ends up looking good even if it wasn't my original plan.Equipment
For this photo (and still most photos I take to this day) I used my Canon Rebel T2i. I have had this thing for over 10 years now and it never fails me. I know it like the back of my hand and I still love using it. I think I may have still been using my kit lens at the time. It just goes to show that you really don't need super fancy stuff! I did have a studio light to get the lighting just right in this photo as well.Inspiration
I feel like my answers are all the same, but sometimes that really are where the best photos come from. I was just hanging out with my friend and she said she just ordered a new shirt and it came in. So we decided to have a photoshoot! I knew I wanted the photos to kind of have a rockstar feeling to them because of the shirt, but I also wanted the personality of my friend to shine through. She can be a rockstar, but is also a bit shy and I think it really shows in this photo.Editing
I almost always do post-processing. I don't have that many programs I use. I like to use Lightroom a lot because it cleans up the image quite well. Especially with black and white photos, I like to crank up the contrast since I can't really mess with saturation much.In my camera bag
It really depends on the shoot. I try to pack light because I don't want to be switching too many things because I feel like I lose moments when I do that. I will always keep my camera and my 50mm lens with me 100% of the time. Sometimes I will pack an extra lens or I will pack my speedlite. I am pretty good at improvising if I need things, but I don't know what I would do without my camera and 50mm!Feedback
When you're shooting portraits you sort of have to have a split perspective. You have to think about what the model might be thinking and what they are portraying, but you also have to think about how people are going to see that. Sometimes a "smize" might actually look like a stare down to someone else. I try to make sure I am always shooting and giving direction (but not too much) because I like to make sure I don't miss moments, especially pure, real ones.
