styling Archives - Frank Doorhof

Results from the Landschaftspark workshop with Nadine

May 16, 2023/0 Comments/in blog/by Frank Doorhof

This weekend it was time for an awesome workshop.
The location: Landschaftspark Germany (Duisburg Nord). For Photo + Aventure festival
An awesome location where I taught a workshop a few years ago. The plan was to come back the year after but Corona had other ideas. So after a few years… this weekend it was finally time to visit this amazing location again.

For a location like this we of course want some fabulous styling and a great model, so we brought Nadine with us 😀
With Nadine, we always know we get some kick-a$$ styling and great poses.

Gear is also essential when working on location. In Landschafstpark we can expect some locations that will be very bright but also some very dark areas. Luckily the Hensel Porty system has no problems with any location you throw at it.

The first set in this workshop is shot with our fiberglass Rogue umbrella.

The nice thing about this umbrella is that it’s very sturdy due to the fiberglass. And on location, an umbrella is easy to bring and has loads of options for lighting your model. And on the Porty we can even shoot in the bright sunlight without any problem.

The first set we did outside with one of the buildings in the back.

For the next set, we move “inside”.

I’m using the 14″ reflector and a slightly smaller reflector to really focus the light on Nadine.
By adding a blue gel I added a touch of color and mood to the set.

We still had a few minutes left before lunch so I quickly set up another option by using the nice structured wall and one strobe under an extreme angle. By moving around the model you can get some cool results very quickly.

After lunch, we decided to take some shots in a beautiful part of the park where you can really work with some nice angles.
I started with the light straight at Nadine as a sort of fill-in flash.

There is nothing wrong with this setup but I really wanted some more drama and “oompf” in my shot, so we moved the strobe to the side and got these results.

When we saw these shots we knew we still had more than enough time to add at least one more set. But how do you improve this I thought?

We decided to go for a location where we could let Nadine interact with the building and use the sky a bit more prominent with some strong shadows and leading lines.

The next shots were done with one strobe with the 14″ reflector and grid.

Sometimes we have these amazing shots and we are happy and stop.

But …..
Over the years I’ve learned that you should always also try different angles. And believe it or not, in most cases those images are at least as good. But often a lot better. The reason is that we as photographers often chose an angle that feels “natural” and it can create breathtaking shots. But when we start to experiment with stranger angles or simply move to the other side….. it often is a lot more interesting.

I absolutely love teaching workshops so I never stop exactly at the time the organization sets 😀

That meant that we decided to not go back to the meeting room but add another strobe with a red gel, move the whole set a few meters to the right, and ended up with maybe my favorite shots of the day.

Many thanks to Nadine for the awesome styling and posing.
Annewiek for filming the whole day (video will be uploaded tomorrow)
And of course the Photo+Adventure organization for inviting me over.
But not to forget the awesome group of students, we had a blast 😀

If you also want to visit a workshop visit www.fotografie-workshops.nl for the agenda.

When styling and background comes together

February 16, 2023/in blog, Visions and technique, Webinars and instructional videos/by Frank Doorhof

Using one of my favorite #clickpropsbackdrops backgrounds, the art botanical for these images.

Sometimes Nadine finds a dress that matches a background perfectly. Together with her styling and poses, she hit the nail on the head!

I’m using different levels of the red gel to add some mood. As a main light, I’m using a Hensel striplight with a grid and the Rogue umbrella as a fill-in light.

These were shot during the live stream of the Digital Classroom, see the broadcast here, and see how I set this up, plus a complete other set.

Digital Classroom ‘RED’

Wait before you throw something out

May 19, 2019/in blog, Visions and technique/by Frank Doorhof

Don’t just throw stuff out. It can be awesome material to make clothing or accessories

Over the years I’ve shot some bizarre clothes and accessories all made out of material that you would never expect in a photoshoot. Ofcourse it helps to have a crazy creative stylist and model like Nadine 🙂 the images in this blogpost are a mix of styling by myself and Nadine.

For example think about some packing paper and old curtains

Or for example some Christmas paper

But also postal bags work

But one of my favorite must be this heavily inspired by the 50s pulp SF movies shot which is almost completely build up from paper bags

Staying in SF what about a robot all made out of cardboard

But it can also work with a newspaper of course.

Or what about handkerchiefs

And when we are on that route… Some toilet paper ?

And sometimes a lot of fun after the shoot with bubble wrap

And staying in plastic, what about some thrashbags? Not possible? Oh yeah it is

And finally (although I have loads more) what about using some plastic material and don’t use it as clothing but as background

What did you use as a creative solution?

UK Here we come…. for some cool workshops

May 28, 2016/in blog, News etc/by Frank Doorhof

It’s almost time for our yearly UK tour.
Every year we travel to 3 locations in the UK with a model to teach a full day workshop.
This year we will do it slightly different because we will also be teaching one of the very successful “Mastering the model shoot : A-Z” workshops in the London area.

Our team for this year:
Me (of course)
Annewiek : assisting, filming
Nadine : Styling, model

So where will we be?
We kick of the tour on June 4th in London with the “Mastering the model shoot : A-Z”
This is a full day with a complete explanation of my workflow, starting the with planning of the shoot, the light setups, retouching, sharing and business tips, all in a very flexible setup with loads of room for questions and fun.

Price of the workshop : 50.00 pounds.
Register via : UK tour “Mastering the model shoot” June 4th, (A to Z)

After that we will teach a full day workshop on June 5th in the London area.
This workshop was one of the fastest ever to sell out (within a week), but you can also mail us for the reserve list if someone drops out.
These workshops are small group workshops where you also shoot yourself and trust me… you will go home with some amazing shots and an incredible amount of information.
More info via : UK tour “Mastering the model shoot” June 5th, “hands on workshop”

Because London sold out so fast we added Manchester to the list where we will be on June 8th.
This workshop is also a combination of studio and outside work with Nadine telling about styling.
For Manchester we have 3 seats left at the moment so if you want to join register via : UK TOUR “Mastering the model shoot” June 8th, “hands on workshop”

Some samples from location workshops we did