Sexy model bikini photo shoot
July 21st, 2009
This is another photo from our late night fashion swimsuit shoot. This time I only used the one 4′x6′ soft box in a horizontal position about 5 feet from the model. But this time I tilted it up so that the log wouldn’t be so bright and what that also did was throw some light on the background sand. I could have used a black cutter set under the box to block out some of the light but I didn’t have one lol. My camera settings were ISO 200 , 1/80th @ f/10. I used my Canon 28-70mm 2.8 L series lens and shot it at 30mm. This means I was very close to the model and zoomed out wide. I did this because I wanted to include more of the scene. Remember, the longer the lens you use the more narrow your field of view is. Of course the opposite is true with a wide lens. Oh and I was sitting under the soft box. I’ll make a diagram and post that.
July 21st, 2009 at 4:30 pm
great tip on tilting the SB so that there would not be a lot of light on the sand… I imagine this “black cutter” set is some sort of scrim?
Why didn’t you use a beauty dish with sock instead of the SB? SB’s in the wild to me seem more cumbersome especially in windy conditions….. just curious.
Thanks for the post!
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Jason Christopher Reply:
July 22nd, 2009 at 10:54 am
Thank you Tom. A black cutter is used to block light or feather light. I will draw a diagram. But click this link http://www.calumetphoto.com/item/MW3472/ They come in many different sizes a popular brand is Mathews.
I didn’t use a beauty dish because it would be too harsh of a light source even with a sock on it. I wanted her skin to shine and it does. My make up artist applied a shimmer body make up all over the model, talk about a fun job
lol. Yes the wind did make using a soft box a huge pain in the ass but because I come from a film background working on movie sets, I saw how crews did whatever and I mean whatever it takes to get the shot. On this particular shoot both my assistants held the soft box in place because it was so large it actually would buckle if they didn’t hold it in place.
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July 21st, 2009 at 7:26 pm
Hi Jason…As I wrote in facebook….Iwas doing a search as I haver to shoot a womans success story for on weightloss. The editor said : try some coloured backdrops” I went ???? I shoot white ,greys and black. I dont have aqua or pink !!! So I was looking to see how I could maybe create a few pools of colour or shadows and came across you on Flikr and folowed the links…
Can you give me any suggestions ? I feel a little stale…Or maybe a site to get further inspiration?
regards
ric – australia
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Jason Christopher Reply:
July 22nd, 2009 at 11:32 am
Hi Ric,
Well the first thing you could do is buy those colored background paper rolls and charge it to the client. I remember one time my client wanted 10 different colors so I bought them and included them in the invoice. But an easier way is to use the Chromazone system developed by photographer Dean Collins.
I only have one roll of background paper in my studio and that is an 18% gray. With this I can create any color I want by placing for example a red gel on the strobe and exposing it for whatever shade I want. For instance if I want a deep dark red, I will under expose the back light by two stops. If I want a lighter shade I will over expose my back light by one stop and then try two stops etc. until I am satisfied with the shade. I can do the same for blue, green, yellow and more. The best thing to do is buy the dvd and study it. Dean passed away from cancer in 2005 but his knowledge lives on.
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July 21st, 2009 at 10:32 pm
why at 1/80th if shooting only with flash, it seems that there isnt enough ambient to worry about capturing. so why not at 1/200th or whatever highest sync speed – btw LOVe these blog entries
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Jason Christopher Reply:
July 22nd, 2009 at 11:41 am
Hi Dave,
That is a good question. I really didn’t need to shoot at 200th of a second because 80th of a second is still fast enough to give me a sharp photo. I was using a wide lens so my shutter speed didn’t need to be so high. If I was using a 100mm or 200mm lens then yes I would choose 200th of a second.
Thank you for the compliment ! Please don’t be shy, ask and comment on any other posts. There is a wealth of info here
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July 22nd, 2009 at 7:21 am
Hey Jason, good to see you are doing your thing down there in beautiful Malibu..Love the photo and the write up.
Keep getting those gigs man, so you can come up here and shoot Newfoundland with me
The icebergs await….
Cheers
Dave
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Jason Christopher Reply:
July 22nd, 2009 at 9:25 am
Thank you Dave ! I see you are putting the skills you learned from taking my workshop to good use
Cheers !
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July 22nd, 2009 at 11:44 pm
HI Jason,
So If you had to do this same shot, and did not have the money for the big lights, could you of gotten away with an off the camera speed light, attached to an umbrella and an c clamp? I am student and unfortunately they continue to limit us to using speed lights ,and or natural light… I am trying to work with what I have got.. any suggestions?
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Jason Christopher Reply:
July 23rd, 2009 at 2:13 pm
Hi Aj,
Well you could use an off camera speed light with an umbrella however it won’t look the same. I needed to use a soft box to achieve that nice shine on her skin and you can’t attach a soft box to a speed light. I also used a strobe for the back light and the reflector attached to it. I am not aware of any light modifiers like this for speed lights. If someone does know please reply to this post. So are you saying that your class will not let you use any other lighting than speed lights ? That is really ridiculous. I really suggest you take my fashion photography workshop as well as some others. I am not afraid to say this : Photography schools are a huge waste of time and money. I never went to photography school and most shooters haven’t either.
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August 28th, 2009 at 10:15 am
Great image. I was surprised that you could shoot at 30mm close to the model without wide angle distortion. Is the camera position critical to avoid distortion when working this close?
Thanks for sharing.
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Jason Christopher Reply:
September 4th, 2009 at 2:14 pm
Hi Craig,
Thank you for the question. I apologize for not getting back to you sooner. I just posted about my recent surgery.
I am glad you asked this question about distortion. You can only shoot this wide and up close when you are using a very thin model. The model we used for this shoot is not sick skinny but VERY thin and tall. Remember the camera ADDS 10 pounds to people. This is one of the reasons designers and photographers use thin models. So if you use a model that is not tall and thin then yes she or he will look very distorted and well….. fat. Because I have shot so many different body types I know now just from looking at a model what I can and cannot get away with. Remember to click the RSS feed to follow this thread.
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September 5th, 2009 at 8:18 am
Jason,
Thanks for the reply. Hope that you have a quick and full recovery from your surgery.
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Jason Christopher Reply:
September 10th, 2009 at 9:20 pm
Thank you Craig.
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