Tag Archive for: light

Subtle expressions

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During the photoshoot it’s very important to have a “connection” with your model.
If you don’t the images will turn out…. well pretty “standard”.
To get more interesting images it’s often enough to play with very subtle expressions.
During the workshops I always have a lot of attention for this, and today I share some images we shot during a workshop with Lenaa, now very closely look at the expressions that Lenaa shows, in my opinion this is one of the key elements in the photoshoot, of course light is important etc. but if the model looks “standard” or “empty” well…. you end up with something that could have been much better.

 

Now don’t get me wrong, the expression will always be very personal, what one loves the other one hates, so find your own way, but start experimenting with the very subtle expressions and then go to the more extreme ones.

Lenaa December 28 2013 (19 of 79)-Edit

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Playing with light

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Light is our language in photography.
When you play around with language you get poetry.
So why not play around with light……

 

All images were shot during a workshop with Lenaa using one strobe from the back.
Meter was used aimed approximately 45 degrees away from the camera to get the right balance between blowing out the sides but still keep enough detail in the face.

 

So don’t be afraid to break the “rules” because in “art” there are no rules in my opinion, it’s one big play area where you set the limits to what you do.

Lenaa December 28 2013 (33 of 79)-Edit

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Try something simple for once….. or twice

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A lot of people always complicate light setups, if we bought we 4 lights we better use 4 otherwise the “wife” will be angry “why did you buy 4 if you only use 1” right?
However sometimes simple can be so much more spectacular.
Today two images with an incredibly simple light setup.

 

I used one Elinchrom head with the standard reflector and a grid.
Now most books, videos, workshops (including my own) start with the tip to get the light OFF CAMERA, well yeah that’s true… however that doesn’t mean that sometimes it’s very cool to shoot in the same direction as the light. In this case the light is of course OFF CAMERA, for the very simple reason that you “can’t” mount a studio strobe on your hotshoe (although I’m sure somewhere on ebay you will find an adaptor), but for this setup it’s actually just a little bit above my camera, so I’m shooting almost with on camera flash (only it’s placed about 40-50cm above the camera).

 

As you can see there is nothing wrong with the effect, it’s actually pretty cool.
The background is also very simple, it’s just wallpaper, we have several movable walls in our studio that are covered with wallpaper, we need app 2 rolls per wall so it’s very cheap and easy to change wallpapers if I’m bored with them.

nadine dec 27 201317646-Edit

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The glamour pose

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One pose I can’t get enough off is the ones you see in this post.
A lot of people ask me for a glamour shot but often the models are not experienced models so posing can be a bit difficult. With this pose you can really work some magic with inexperienced models, now add a really good model and you have (well at least in my opinion) a great powerful shot.

 

The trick is to shoot this from a low angle and as wide open as possible, you could for example only use the modeling lights from the strobes if you have too much power. I used a very narrow beam of light by using a reflector with grid, but the same pose actually also works really good in hotel rooms (on the bed/floor etc.) with broad natural light.

 

The main thing you have to take care of is the way the “angle” works, find the curves in the body and let the model play with her arms and chin, I like the pose best when there is a lot of tension in the body of the model.

 

So the next time you are asked for a powerful “glamour shot” think about this one.
Good luck.

Marie November 21 2013-130-Edit

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