19. April 2014 15:04
by Rene Pallesen
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The photoshoot last week provided a lot of lessons...some learnt and some where I need more practice.
My main reason for participating was to gain more experience working with models and especially be able to pose models better. A secondary objective was to get some great photos that I can use for my portfolio and for this website.
I think I succeeded with both objectives although I definitely need more experience with posing.
I had no idea what to expect before getting there apart from knowing
that there would be a number of models, makeup artists and a number of
different sets.
The format is pretty simple...first come first serve to a set. You use
the time effectively, work quick and take 20-30 shots with each model
and after that you let someone else have a turn and move onto a
different set.
This means that you have to work very effective with the models and try
and get a good photo. You cannot change the set and you cannot change
the light setup so in terms of creativity this is quite limiting.
It came in very handy that I have done some studio photography and have a
good understanding of the theory. This means that it was easier for me
to work with the variables that I could change, mainly changing my
position on the set to get different shadows
and lights and then also let the models move closer or further away from
the lights to change this. I definitely think that this allowed me to
get some pretty unique photos, but I definitely something I need to do
more of if I get the chance to do this again.
Also, some of the models were professional models and others had done
absolutely no modelling before. They all presented different challenges,
as the professional models will give you the model poses and looks and
it it hard to change this without it being
pretty obvious that you only have little experience. The ones with no
experience required a lot more guidance and this was where I really
struggled and I definitely need some more standard poses that I can pull
out for these situations. That said some of the
models with no experience did really good and the most of the models
were rally good fun to work with.
I especially found it really hard to pose with the male models.
Another thing is how social media works. The agreement was that you
would put your shots into a dropbox folder so that the hair and makeup
artists as well as the model could access low resolution files and at
the same time get access to your contact details
if they would like prints/hires files. I also posted the photos on the
groups facebook page and the response was amazing compared to what I
normally get on photos. Lots of likes and suddenly everyone wants to be
my friend on Facebook (they may be disappointed
when they see the stuff I normally post) and most amazing is the
response from the models and the hair and makeup artists...a number of
them are already using the material to promote themselves (which I am
fine with as long as it doesn't go beyond that) and
they are leaving comments/shares saying things such as 'this is my
favourite photo from the day so far'.
Not knowing what gear to bring I brought pretty much everything I terms
of lenses and even a couple of flashes and grey cards. I ended up
shooting with my 85mm f1.4 pretty much most of the time and occasionally
changing to a 50mm f1.4 for full body shots or
on the sets where there wasn't much space on the set. What I didn't
bring was my 105mm macro lens. I could have used this lens for getting
in close for detail type shots and wish I had brought this along.
I should also have brought an ND8 filter for shooting natural light at
f1.4...even with the Nikon D800 it was next to impossible to not
overexpose using that bright light.
They have announced that they will be holding another shoot in august
which I am planning to participate in and they also have a nude workshop
in July that I am trying to convince Kim that I should go to...but we
will see.