Melody
Nov, 2019Views
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Awards
2020 Choice Award
Peer Award
Outstanding Creativity
Superb Composition
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Same photographer See allBehind The Lens
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Behind The Lens
Location
The photo was taken at a beach in St. Petersburg, Florida. At one end of the beach there is a jetty made of rocks that protects the beach from an inlet, and it's a great spot for portraits.Time
This was taken about half an hour before sunset. You can see the golden light on the rocks in the background.Lighting
I liked the way the direction of the light from the sun was casting shadows across the rocks, but because of where she was laying in the sand the sun was lighting her back. I compensated by putting a speedlight on a light stand just to the left of me. I used a shoot-through umbrella to make the light on her face nice and soft.Equipment
I used a Nikon D80, my first DSLR, with a 55-200mm f3.5 lens. Handheld, with a Yongnuo YN560 speedlight on a light stand and a translucent umbrella.Inspiration
I had been taking shots of the model laying in the sand in different poses. When she rolled onto her side facing me, all of that course sand was covering her wet jeans and skin and even in her hair. I really liked the contrast of all that texture next to the smooth skin of her face.Editing
I used Topaz Adjust to enhance the texture of the sand and the fabric, of course removing the effect from her skin. Then I did some frequency separation in Photoshop on her face and arms.In my camera bag
This photo was taken a few years ago. At that time I was using a Nikon D80 with a 18-55mm f3.5 lens and a f55-200mm 3.5 lens and a Nikon flash. Today I use a Nikon D7000 with a Blackrapid strap and mostly use a 18-105mm f3.5 lens and a 50mm f1.8 lens. If I need some distance, I use a f55-300mm lens. I have also been using two Yongnuo flashes on a light stand, each with a diffusion dome. I made a bracket to hold the flashes side by side on the stand. And for portraits if it's not windy or I have someone to assist me, I use a shoot-through umbrella. The flashes are fired by a radio transmitter.Feedback
For someone who hasn't done a lot of this kind of photography, I recommend looking up videos on youtube about how to pose a model. Even if you're just doing some shots for a friend, knowing how to pose someone makes a huge difference. There are a lot of small details that you need to watch for, things you want to see and things you want to avoid, to make portraits that are better than average. The other thing I recommend is using a flash, and getting it off of your camera. It doesn't have to cost a lot. You can get a flash unit pretty inexpensively and my first radio trigger set cost $30 and I used it for years. I took this photo with a $65 Yongnuo flash and that $30 trigger set.
