One HOT November!

It's November here in Florida. Of course, you won't find us bundled up next to a campfire, sipping on some hot tea, singing Kum-bah-yah (ok, so we did it at the Georgia meet...so what). Oh no...we're outside on the beach, shooting models in lingerie!

Last night we got to hang out with Barbara and Chris. I've gotta tell you, these guys are troopers! They did such an awesome job, and I want to thank them so much for volunteering for my project! I wanted to remake a 90's classic, however with more of a modern touch. We shot the series in both available light, and using strobes. For me....the shot with the strobes just have so much more impact! I heart using flash!

Can you tell what we we're trying to re-make?


Be creative. Sometimes the things you want to do have already been done. The way to be different? Just find another way to do it.

Here are the single shots, and a little bit about how they were set up.

The sun in this shot is sitting off to the right. The back of his shirt is blown out just a bit for my taste, however in this case, I didn't feel that it was too distracting. A Canon 580EX was set on a stand to the left, strapped with a full CTO, and power was adjusted to 3/4. An additional 430EX was set slightly lower than the camera for fill, strapped with a 1/2 CTO, and power adjusted to 1/4. Flashes were triggered with Pocket Wizards. WB adjusted to 4200 in Lightroom.

F/11
1/200th



We stayed in the same spot for this shot, and just had Barbara jump in. I wanted her to be, "teasing him." I think she got it. 580EX was set on a stand to camera left, fitted with a full CTO, and set to full power. Another flash was set to the right side of Chris' head. A 430EX with another full CTO, and set to 3/4 power. This flash pretty much blocked out the sun. I wanted to create my own sun because when the WB is adjusted to compensate for the CTO, his head would have turned blue. I wanted to maintain an average color temp across the board. The flash was triggered with Pocket Wizards, and the WB was adjusted to 4200 in Lightroom.

F/7.1
1/200th



This one's my favorite! This shot reveals the true beauty of speedlights when used just right! If you look at the top of the photo, you can where the sun is hitting. By the time they sat down on the ground, they were in shadow, so we made our own sun! A 580EX was set to camera left, strapped with a 1/4 CTO and power adjusted to 3/4. A 430EX was set directly across to add some light to the back of them. Another 1/4 CTO was added, and power adjusted to around 1/2 I think. We do not use umbrellas, softbox's, diffusers or anything like that. There are several tricks to make hard light appear relatively soft. On this run, we use these...and we use them quite frequently. Flashes were triggered with Pocket Wizards, and WB was adjusted to about 5000 in Lightroom.

F/5.6
1/60th



This shot was taken in the same location, we just turned towards the sun...which by this time....was beginning to already set! A 580EX was set directly to my left, and relatively close...really close...about 2 ft away close to appear soft! Flash was set to 1/4, and fitted with a 1/2 CTO. A 430EX was set to 3/4 power, and set right behind the couple to give a very subtle backlight mimicking the setting sun, as by now it was already gone. Both flashes were triggered with Pocket Wizards, and WB was adjusted to about 4800 in Lightroom.

F/10
1/200th



For the last shot here in the series, I wanted Barbara to basically act like she was running away. Like...she was all into Chris and then at the very end...."buh-bye!" No light stands on this one, just my assistant and another aspiring photographer named Shem. She came out to watch, and to help my assistant, as she is trying to enter this industry herself! Great job Shem! My assistant Chris (yes, 2 Chris' on the shoot), was holding a 580EX to camera left. It was strapped with a full CTO, and power adjusted to 1/4. Shem was holding the 430EX on the opposite side, strapped with a 1/2 CTO, and power adjusted to 1/2. We pretty much ran in a pack...took a few tries....but I like the way it turned out. Flashes were triggered with Pocket Wizards, and WB was adjusted to about 4200 in Lightroom.

F/5.6
1/60th

As we grow, I learn new techniques, and new ways of doing things. Up until a few weeks ago, I was anti-post-workup-in-the-photoshop-thing. Since then, I do open up SPECIAL files in CS2 to give them a little more.....pizaaz! Levels, curves, and a special little plug in that I have fallen in love with! Tell you more on another post!