Sophia_1133
Stunning lady in a beautiful rustic setting.
Stunning lady in a beautiful rustic setting.
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Canon EOS 70D
Aperture f/4.5 ISO 400 Shutter 1/250 Focal Length 70/1 
Ermelo, Mpumalanga, ZA
Mar, 2020Views
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Behind The Lens
Location
I am very fortunate to have family with a farm here in Mpumalanga South Africa. There are a specific ideal spot on the farm that works as a stunning outdoor studio. One can spend two day shooting morning till evening without doubling on the setting. Open field, corn fields, trees, large fallen trees trunks, old farmhouse ruin with natural stone and brick, old rusted car wreck, stone border wall and a large patch of prickly pear cactus. So many "backdrops" makes for many photo opportunities.Time
I love afternoon shooting, anytime from 15:00 till sundown. In this location with the trees and old ruin anytime makes for good shooting. But afternoon shooting just add that warmth to the images. This specific images was taken at 15:37.Lighting
I love combing ambient light with fill in flash light. All depending on what I want from an image I will make the ambient light darker or lighter using shutter control. Flash tend to help bringing "life" to the eyes. On fast moving shoots I will always use my strobe on camera. Only when shooting stationary for a theme shoot or an hour shoot will I move the strobe off camera. Especially on location where the ground level is very unpredicting and equipment tend to by unstable or can be bump over easy, is it more safe on camera.Equipment
On this shoot I used my trusty Canon EOS 70D with a Tamron 24-70 F2.8 first edition lens. Canon EX580 EXII speedlight with a Gary Fong Dome. Good quality and easy to use.Inspiration
Sophia is just one of those beautiful woman that inspires one to take photos. No matter what the setting or backdrop is, she makes any photo look good.Editing
I don't do much post-processing. I may crop a little, or just darken an image slightly if need be. In this image I just darkened the edges of the image slightly. I like to do that, it just tend to emphasize your subject more and still look natural.In my camera bag
I always take two camera bodies with me on shoots. Both Canon, EOS 70D main, and EOS 60D as backup. 3x Lenses, all Tamron - 24-70mm F2.8, 70-200mm F2.8 and 10-24mm F3.4-4.5. 2x Canon Speedlights - EX580 EXII and 550EX. Gary Fong Soft dome, collapsible one. Spare batteries for cameras and speedlights. A remote trigger for the cameras and for the speedlights. And a Manfrotto 290 tripod that is light but sturdy.Feedback
The one thing I have learned through the year of taken people images is get to know the person. Talk to them and make them feel comfortable with you as a photographer and person. Do not "order" your subject to a position, advise them on what makes them look good and what is going to make the image look good. Decide what your aim is with a specific image. When you know that you can adjust your ambient light accordingly, use your flash as fill-in on your subject and frame your image the way you like. Always try to take different distance shots with more or less of the background. Maybe a further shot that include more of the picture feel whereas moving closer gives you more of the person and their character. And if you are not doing a specific theme shoot where you want a specific look, let your subject do what they want, be more of themselves.
