garyhurdman

Scarlet Jane

A recent Studio shoot

A recent Studio shoot
Read less

Dec, 2016

Views

1847

Likes

+350

Awards

Contest Finalist in Unforgettable Portraits Photo Contest by Zenfolio

Peer Award

+101

Absolute Masterpiece

+27

Superb Composition

+19

Top Choice

+15

Outstanding Creativity

All Star

Magnificent Capture

Virtuoso

Emotions

Impressed

Top Ranks

Top 10 rank

Top 10 rank week 1

Top 10 rank

Top 10 rank week 1

Top 10 rank

Top 10 rank week 1

Top 20 rank

Top 20 rank week 2

Top 30 rank week 1

Top 10 rank

Top 10 rank week 3

Top 10 rank week 2

Top 10 rank week 1

Behind The Lens

Location

I took this image of a local model, Scarlet Jane at a local studio, Aura Photographic Studio in Birmingham. I have my own studio lighting but find the versatility of a professional studio an irresistible draw.

Time

What time of day? It was night, well late evening. It was certainly dark outside. At a good studio with full control of lighting the time of day is irrelevant.

Lighting

Scarlet is naturally beautiful. I wanted lighting that didn't interfere with that. I lit her from above and a few feet in front with a honeycombed beauty dish. I used a triflector to bounce some light back up to give me the beauty look I was after but with a few shadows to make sure the light wasn't too flat.

Equipment

There's nothing special about the equipment. My camera is a couple of years old now, I used my D90 with a standard kit lens, 24mm to 105mm. The studio uses Bowens Flash, modified with a honeycombed beauty dish and a triflector to just take the edge off those shadows and offer a clamshell type of lighting set up.

Inspiration

I like studio photography. I had wanted to shoot with Scarlet for a little while so jumped at the opportunity when it arose.

Editing

Scarlet being the natural beauty she is, little processing was required for this. The tiniest bit of frequency separation just to help lift Scarlet's face, a little work to bring out the colour of her eyes , some sharpening for her eyes and hair and then the usual tonal tweaks a RAW file needs using curves and levels

In my camera bag

When I'm working in the studio I find less is more. Always in my bag is a camera, the kit lens, a 50mm prime and a 105mm prime. There's a set of Cokin ND filters on the offchance I ever want to use the wide apertures offer by the prime lenses. There's spare batteries and memory cards of course! Then there's also a lot of stuff I carry around but never gets used in the studio, speedlight, other filters (polarizer etc).

Feedback

If you've never worked in the studio, before buying the kit go and speak to your local studio. A studio hire works out cheap, gives you access to lots of equipment and props and the studio owner will be keen to help you with your lighting. If you've never shot with lighting before, you'll learn more on one hour with a good studio than you will in a weeks worth of YouTube videos. But make sure you also watch those videos. Hiring an experienced model will also increase your chance of great results if you've never worked with a model before. Sounds expensive but it's all cheaper than you think and worth every penny.

See more amazing photos, follow garyhurdman

garyhurdman

garyhurdman

Scarlet Jane

A recent Studio shoot

Behind The Lens

See more amazing photos, follow garyhurdman

Share photos. Enter contests to win great prizes. Earn coins, get amazing rewards. Join for free.

Share photos. Enter contests to win great prizes.
Earn coins, get amazing rewards. Join for free.