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Sep, 2021Views
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Awards
Contender in the Photography Awards
Chatter Award
Contender in the Visual Poetry Project
Top Shot Award 22
Winner in Female Nudes That Tell a Story No PORN no Off Topi Photo Challenge
Peer Award
Superb Composition
Absolute Masterpiece
Top Choice
Magnificent Capture
All Star
Outstanding Creativity
Emotions
Impressed
Top Ranks
Top 30 rank week 1
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Behind The Lens
Location
This image was captured in a small local studio here in the Northern Virginia area. The choice of the plain, painted concrete brick wall as a backdrop was purposeful, as not to detract from the emotion being shown by the two ladies..Time
The image was captured around 10pm, but since this was an indoor studio shot, using studio lighting, the time of day isn't particularly relevant. The ambient lighting room where this shot was taken was set very low, so only the studio light was at play (i.e., no ambient light from room lights or windows, etc.).Lighting
I wanted to make this image look a bit dark and moody to emphasize the emotion of the scene. A single light was used for this image. The light used was a 22" beauty dish with a grid to control the spill of the light. As you can tell from the image, the beauty dish was above the models (on the camera side) and pointed down and toward the wall. The models were posed close to the wall so the light from the beauty dish formed a natural vignette.Equipment
This particular image was captured with a Canon EOS 5D Mark III, using the EF 24-105 f/4.0 lens. The camera was hand held. Specific camera settings were f/4, 1/100 sec, ISO 100. The focal length for this shot was 55mm. The single light used was a Paul C Buff Einstein strobe and a 22" beauty dish with a grid. And just a note about the choice of the zoom lens.. I frequently use the Canon 24-105mm f/4 lens in the studio because it provides a great deal of flexibility for framing the images. The aperture of f/4 is adequate for most studio shots as background blur is often not needed for studio shots. Where more background blur is needed, I will use either the 50mm f/1.2 or 85mm f/1.2 lens.Inspiration
I tend to like darker, more moody images. For this shot, the two models available for this shoot had a particular chemistry in working together that made this shot work. Additionally, both models had long, black hair that worked well for the moody, emotional shot that I was looking for.Editing
Post processing on this image was minimal. I used Lightroom to convert the image to B&W and adjusted the various controls to tweak the toning of the image. Additionally, I applied some sharpening to the hair in the photo.In my camera bag
I have been a Canon user for many years. This image was taken with my Canon 5D Mark III. I have also moved to Canon's mirrorless camera bodies recently and am not shooting with the Canon R5 mirrorless most of the time. As for lenses that are always in my bag, they include the trusty Canon 24-105 zoom, a 100mm marco lens (that I use for macro as well as portrait images), and usually an 85mm f/1.2. Other equipment that I tend to have in the bag for indoor/studio shoots include a Sekonic light meter with flash measuring capability. And of course lighting, light modifiers, triggers, etc. if needed (when shooting in a studio that isn't yours, lights, modifiers, and triggers are often available as part of the studio equipment).aFeedback
For they particular image type, my basic advice is to keep it simple ;-) This image was taken with one light. While multiple lights could have been used, a one-light setup enabled me to capture this image - including the heavy vignette shown in the image. Not to say that you shouldn't try other setups, tweak your selected light setup, etc. You should. But keeping it simple is a great place to start!
