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Cover girl
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Cover girl



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upload_dateSep, 2017

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6 Comments |
vastdreamer
 
vastdreamer June 16, 2018
Love this photo so much.
vastdreamer
 
vastdreamer August 02, 2018
I choose your photo because sometimes the eyes of a person stops you in your tracks. It captivates you as if they've known you forever. I call this "The Soul Stare".
vastdreamer
 
vastdreamer August 02, 2018
Congrats on the win of my Photo Challenge
DaveLoucks PRO+
 
DaveLoucks August 02, 2018
congrats, beautiful image
christiankieffer PRO+
 
christiankieffer August 02, 2018
excellent +++
ashley_renee_0408
 
ashley_renee_0408 July 31, 2019
Stunning

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Behind The Lens

Location

Interesting story about this photo! Inna (the model) and I were planning this shoot for a few days until we finalized it at a beach in New York; however, it was at that very day she let me know that her parents were coming along for the shoot which I found weird. Nonetheless, I wanted to shoot so I said ok since it was last minute and I had all my gear ready to go. Ironically enough, her parents were very helpful in making this picture happen. They helped with poses, lighting, locations to shoot around the beach and even provided their own food service of home made meals (which I loved). So my initial feelings about the parents joining us on this shoot changed and made Inna and I more comfortable as it shows in this photo.

Time

This is my favorite black and white image I have to date. This shot was taken in the early summer season in late June of 2017 and approximately around 1:30-2:00pm. It was semi-hot but we managed to keep ourselves cool with soft drinks (again, provided by her parents awesome food service) and dipping into the water where this shot was taken.

Lighting

The lighting was a bit tricky here as the sun was out blazing with little to no shade anywhere to be found so we had to deal with what we had (which was a lot of hard light). Luckily, I brought my 5-in-one bendable light diffuser/reflector to soften the light and reflect it where I needed it to be. This was a difficult shot to get as she wore contacts and the hard light reflecting off the water was hurting her lens making her squint and cause her eyes to water frequently. So, to counter this I told her to close her eyes, then refocused my shot on her eyes, and when I told her to quickly open them I quickly took the shot and boom! You have the picture you see before you.

Equipment

For this shot I used a Sony a7ii with a Carl Zeiss 55mm lens and a reflector for this shot. In addition, my camera bag contained micro fiber cleaning clothes for my lens since sand tends to play a huge role in whether or not it can mess up your gear on the beach alongside the winds, a lens hoodie, some extra batteries and a small dust blower incase sand creeps up into my camera sensor.

Inspiration

Before this shoot, I was looking through cover girl, vogue and cosmopolitan magazine and was amazed on how they get a "cover girl" look. I was inspired by the pose, direct eye contact they had with the camera which made the viewer seem as though they were looking right at you and you were there with them in that moment and how they made the overall image just pop-out from the cover or page. I wanted to try and see what I can do with the images I had in my mind and something even better transpired when I got this shot. I was very shocked and pleased with this one.

Editing

Yes, I did a few edits to the image in post. I made sure my lens correction was fixed as well as my WB (whit balance) and even took out some blemishes with the spot removal tool. In addition, I wanted that gaze to really grab the viewer and since my model naturally has light blue eyes, I decided to make them a bit more clear by boosting up the clarity in her eyes and even lighting them up a bit more. This gave me the effect I was looking for as she looks as though she wants you to come closer to her in the water. Lastly, I changed from color to black and white in my HSL panel in Lightroom to see how I could make the best black and white photo I could possible using what I have recently learned from "Mastering Black and White Photography" by John Walmsley.

In my camera bag

I normally carry my Sony a7ii with two lenses; my 55mm 1.8 (Carl Zeiss) and my 85mm 1.8 (Sony) along with a few microfiber clothes, a small dust blower to keep my sensor clean and extra charged batteries.

Feedback

Yes! Look at magazines that inspire you and always read books on the techniques you are trying to learn. The more knowledge you have the better. Don't get took caught up in the technical stuff but do know that it is important to know and practice. Spend a good amount of time practicing that one or two techniques but no more as this will help you get better with practice and once you feel you have mastered that move onto something else and continue the same steps. Photography is a constant learning experience and when you find yourself challenging yourself and pushing your boundaries, the creativity is endless. Also, know the camera triangle (Aperture, Exposure, ISO) as this is a big help in certain situation. Lastly, and most importantly, have fun! Smile, laugh, think on the fly and don't be afraid to try different things. The more fun you have the more confident you'll become and it will show through your pictures. Never stop creating.

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