Finding The Light - Christmas Day Photoshoot with Kayo in Tokyo

One of the most valuable lessons I learned in photography came from Master Photographer Irvin Yamada, who told me to "learn to see the light".  If you look carefully, you can find amazing natural light for your subjects.  Even in the middle of a crowded city like Tokyo.

Recently I had the good fortune of working again with one of my favorite models in Japan - the always amazing Kayo. I first met Kayo-san years ago through Model Mayhem and every time we collaborate on a shoot, it's always a lot of fun.  Though this was sort of a last minute impromptu shoot, we were able to create some great images in a short amount of time with very minimal gear.

The nice thing about shooting in Tokyo in December when the sun is low in the sky is that there are lots of pools of reflected light coming from the low sunlight bouncing off of the many windows and glass walls of the buildings around you.  By simply walking around, you can find lots of places where you can get both a front light and back light. Then all you need to do is put your subject in that spot.

These were all shot in a park next to our hotel - no need for a reflector or even fill flash. Pretty much everything was shot with the sun behind the model and the reflection from a nearby window filling in the front.

Everything was shot on a Sony a7ii with either the 55mm f1.8 Zeiss lens or the Sony 70-200 f4 G lens.

At one point we did get stopped by a security patrolman who informed us that doing a photoshoot in this park without a permit was not allowed, so we moved to a spot on a bridge just outside the park to continue our shoot.

The 55mm f1.8 Zeiss was a lens that I had just picked up on this trip and I really liked how it looked shooting wide open.

It was a bit chilly that day, so we wrapped after a few more images and headed back indoors.

I'm really glad that I had the chance to work with Kayo-san after such a long time. Not only did I get to hang out with an old friend, it also gave me the chance to test out a new lens and get more practice in "Seeing the light".

Tokyo studio shoot with Kayo

Canon 5D mkII 70-200mm f2.8L IS II lens iso 400 1/125 @ f5.6

This past December I was extremely fortunate to have the opportunity to work once again with one of my favorite models in Japan, Kayo Fantastic from Model Mayhem.

For this session we shot in the Force Studio in Edogawabashi.  This studio had a much darker theme compared to the previous studio we shot together in, which made it much easier to control the lighting. This worked out really well since we were going for a slightly edgier/sexier look for Kayo this time and I wanted to light her a little differently compared to our previous shoot together.

Our lighting for this session consisted mainly of 3 Nikon SB26 flashes triggered with Pocket Wizard Plus II tranceivers.  The light modifiers used were primarily the Westcott 43" Apollo Orb and two Westcott Apollo Strip Softboxes. We also used a Gary Fong Lightsphere and a  Lumiquest Softbox III for a few setups.

There were several potted plants near a bench in the middle of the studio and to keep things simple we used this as our first set.

An SB26 with a CTO gel and a Stofen Omnibounce was used behind the plants for a background light.

The Westcott Apollo Orb was used as the main light and the two Strip lights were used on either side of Kayo  to help separate her from the background.

Canon 5D mkII 70-200mm f2.8L IS II lens iso 400 1/160 @ f5.6

Canon 5D mkII 70-200mm f2.8L IS II lens iso 400 1/125 @ f5.6

Next we went into some headshots against a wall on the other side of the studio. Used the Westcott Orb as Kayo's main light, overpowering the existing window light.

An SB26 with a CTO gel and a grid was used to light the wall behind her.  Another SB26 was aimed at the back of her hair for a rim light.

Had a Vornado fan nearby to add movement to her hair.

Canon 5D mkII 70-200mm f2.8L IS II lens iso 400 1/160 @ f5.6

Canon 5D mkII 70-200mm f2.8L IS II lens iso 400 1/160 @ f5.6

Canon 5D mkII 70-200mm f2.8L IS II lens iso 400 1/160 @ f5.6

In one corner of the studio we found a set of prison bars.  This looked like it would be fun to work with but the space behind the bars was completely black. In order to give the shot some depth I knew we would need to light it somehow.

In the small corner behind the bars, we used a Nikon SB26 with a red gel and a Gary Fong lightsphere.  This lit both the background and rim lit the model in red.

Once Kayo had changed outfits, she found this great hairpiece to use which gave her a totally different look. We used one of the striplights for her main light, but positioned low in front of the bars and aimed up at her face to add a little more drama to the shot.

Canon 5D mkII 70-200mm f2.8L IS II lens iso 400 1/160 @ f4

After taking a couple of shots behind the bars, we then brought Kayo around to the front. There was a large window next to the bars which you can see in the photo below, and we did some natural light shots while still using the rear lights for background and rim light.

Canon 5D mkII 70-200mm f2.8L IS II lens iso 1600 1/125 @ f4 

Canon 5D mkII 70-200mm f2.8L IS II lens iso 1600 1/125 @ f4 

Since Kayo was now in front of the bars, the window light wrapped around her more, which greatly reduced the effect of her rim light.

Canon 5D mkII 70-200mm f2.8L IS II lens iso 1600 1/125 @ f4 

Canon 5D mkII 70-200mm f2.8L IS II lens iso 1600 1/125 @ f4 

To change up the lighting and go back to more of a glamour look, I added another SB26 to the lightstand behind the bars and aimed it towards Kayo.  I also swapped out the gel on the background light for one that was a little more red.

For her main light, we used another SB26 with a Lumiquest III Softbox.

Canon 5D mkII 70-200mm f2.8L IS II lens iso 400 1/125 @ f5.6

Canon 5D mkII 70-200mm f2.8L IS II lens iso 400 1/125 @ f5.6

While Kayo changed into her next look, I thought it would be nice to do a few more shots with the windows on this side of the studio since they had an interesting kind of high techy pattern on them.

A bare SB26 was set in the corner to act as a hair light.

Canon 5D mkII 70-200mm f2.8L IS II lens iso 800 1/160 @ f2.8 

We did a few shots with the window light as her main light, then switched to using the SB26 with a Lumiquest Softbox III.

Canon 5D mkII 70-200mm f2.8L IS II lens iso 800 1/160 @ f5.6

Canon 5D mkII 70-200mm f2.8L IS II lens iso 800 1/160 @ f5.6

Our final setup resulted in one of my favorite shots of the day and it worked out way better than I had originally planned.

This was a shot where we tried a combination of a fan and a length of red organza fabric wrapped around Kayo.  To be honest, I didn't really have a solid image in mind when we started working on this set (that's something I need to work on - getting a clearer idea of what I want to shoot BEFORE the shoot).  I only knew that I wanted to show fabric in motion, some mystery, and some sexiness without being too revealing.  I really have to thank Kayo for this one because she was extremely patient with me while I set everything up for this shot.

Although I had brought a small Vornado fan for the shoot, it wasn't really strong enough to keep the fabric flying upward out of the frame like I had originally planned. We had to figure out a way to suspend the fabric above Kayo.  Ideally in a situation like this we would use a stand with a boom arm or an assistant. Since we did not have a boom arm available (there's only so much lighting gear that I can bring when I travel), a bit of MacGyvering was needed.

Our solution was to use 2 ball bungies to strap a small light stand to the back of a chair to create an impromptu arm to which we could then clip the red fabric to:

Had to put some extra gear onto the chair itself to weigh it down so that it would not topple over onto Kayo.  Always think of your model's safety when suspending objects above him/her.

To light this we used two Westcott Apollo Strip Softboxes positioned on either side of Kayo.  In the setup shot, you can see all that stuff in the background.  By bringing in the lights very close to the model and setting the power levels to 1/2 power (or maybe it was full power?), we were able to overpower the existing light in the studio and hide all of that in darkness.

So now that we had that setup, I positioned the fan so that it would add a little motion to the part of the fabric that was suspended.  If we had been lucky enough to have had an assistant, we could have had them to point the fan at the fabric and move the fan from side to side until we got just the right look.  Since it was just Kayo and myself that day, I would take a couple shots, adjust the fan position, shoot a couple more frames, move the fan again, etc.

Like I've said before, assistants are invaluable on a shoot. :-)

Canon 5D mkII 70-200mm f2.8L IS II lens iso 100 1/160 @ f3.5

I also had Kayo shift her position slightly between shots so that we would get subtle differences in the feathering of the light across her form.

This shot was one of those where everything came together just right - the fan caught the fabric and made it ripple and Kayo's hand pose created some shadows that added a sense of mystery to the image that I really liked.

Canon 5D mkII 70-200mm f2.8L IS II lens iso 100 1/160 @ f4

It was so much fun to work with Kayo again, I just wish that we had more than just 3 short hours to work together this time as there was so much more we could have done together.  Will just have to save the ideas until next time.

Studio shoot with Kayo and Yasuko

Canon 5D mkII 85mm f1.2L II Lens iso800 1/60@f2.8

Kayo is a model in Japan that I have wanted to work with for a couple of years now, but everytime we tried to setup a shoot, our schedules just would not allow it.  We caught a break and were finally able to do a studio shoot together this past December.  We shot at the White Studio near Edogawabashi station, which I used on a previous shoot with model Stephanie Kei.

Kayo also brought along another model, her friend Yasuko.  Having a second model on the shoot who could also assist made setups go much quicker.

I also got to give my dream lens a proper workout - the Canon 85mm f1.2L II lens. I picked it up secondhand the day before at Map Camera in Shinjuku along with the first generation IS version of the 70-200 f2.8L. I had originally planned to pick up the IS II version of the 70-200 f2.8L, but by trading in my older versions of these lenses and using my saved up points, I was able to get two lenses for less than the cost of the 70-200 IS II lens.

For this shoot I used the 85mm for about 99% of the images. I only swapped it out on two setups- one where I used a 24-105mm f4L to get just a little wider and then for the 70-200mm f2.8 L IS when I needed to compress a background.  Using a prime lens really helps you think more about setting up a particular shot and working out angles.  You have to "zoom with your feet" as opposed to just standing in one spot and moving the zoom in and out.  In run and gun wedding situations, a zoom lens is still essential IMHO, but I think in the near future (when I can afford it), I might switch to using just primes for model photoshoots.

For the first setup we kept it pretty simple, and just used the large softbox light provided by the studio.  I positioned this off to camera right and we started shooting, alternating between Kayo and Yasuko.

Canon 5D mkII 85mm f1.2L II Lens iso200 1/80@f2.8

Canon 5D mkII 85mm f1.2L II Lens iso250 1/100@f2.8

While we were changing to our next setup, I noticed the light from a window near the bed cast a nice streak against the wall.  Working fast, I had Yasuko switch outfits and positioned her in the path of the light.  Unfortunately the angle of the light from outside did not cast enough light on where she was, so we had to cheat it a bit.  I setup an SB26 with a cardboard snoot to camera right and raised it as high as I could on the light stand.  I then had Kayo angle it down so that the light came down onto Yasuko's face, mimicking the angle of the light coming in through the window.  We were trying for the look of early morning light coming in through a bedroom window.

Canon 5D mkII 85mm f1.2L II Lens iso400 1/160@f8

Once we finished with this, we started with Kayo's second look - an open men's shirt with a tie.  I had her lean against the wall and lit her with an SB26 in a Prokit beauty dish.

Canon 5D mkII 85mm f1.2L II Lens iso200 1/160@f5.6

In order to clear this section of the wall, I had moved a table that had a mirror on it.  While shooting Kayo, I happened to notice her reflection in the mirror.  With a few more positioning adjustments, we were able to get this shot using the mirror as a frame.

Canon 5D mkII 85mm f1.2L II Lens iso200 1/160@f5.6

For Yasuko's next look, we moved back to the first area.  This time, instead of using the large studio softbox, I used the SB26/beauty dish combo, and another SB26 with a ProKit reflector as a kicker/edge light.  I added a CTO gel + 1/8 CTO gel to both flashes and set the camera white balance on tungsten to add a bluish tint to the light coming in from the window while keeping the model's color normal.

Canon 5D mkII 85mm f1.2L II Lens iso200 1/160@f4

Also tried adding a bit of motion with a hair dryer.

Canon 5D mkII 85mm f1.2L II Lens iso200 1/160@f3.2

For this next look, I used the SB26/beauty dish as the main light.  A silver California Sunbounce Micro mini below was added to help fill the shadows.
The studio did have a white backdrop, but it was not a roll of white seamless.  It was a slightly off white canvas with some folds in it.  To help hide that, I put another SB26 with a Stofen omnibounce pointed at the backdrop to blow it out to white. I also used the 70-200mm f2.8L IS racked out to 200 to compress/blur the background and hide the edges of the backdrop (which wasn't very wide)

Canon 5D mkII 70-200mm f2.8L IS Lens iso200 1/160@f4

We then did some shots back in the area of the studio we first started in.  For these I used just the natural light coming in from the window.

Canon 5D mkII 24-105mm f4 IS Lens iso800 1/60@f4

The studio is quite small.  To get a wider shot of Kayo from this particular angle, I had to switch to the 24-105.  Thinking a 50mm 1.2 L lens is next on my to-buy list.

Canon 5D mkII 85mm f1.2L II Lens iso250 1/80@f1.8

We switched to the bed set next as we were starting to run out of time on our studio rental.

For Kayo's set I used the SB26/Beauty dish for the main and another SB26 with a ProKit reflector for the backlight. Yasuko added motion to Kayo's hair by fanning her with a California Sunbounce Micro Mini reflector.

 Canon 5D mkII 85mm f1.2L II Lens iso200 1/160@f4.5

For Yasuko' set, I added some silk rose petals and used a shoot thru umbrella on the main light for a softer feel.

Canon 5D mkII 85mm f1.2L II Lens iso200 1/125@f4.5

We ended with a few headshots.  I used 2 SB26 flashes, both with shoot thru umbrellas stacked vertically in a clamshell configuration.  California Sunbounce Micro Mini reflector used again for adding motion to the hair, although a couple of times it almost knocked over the lightstands and umbrellas.  Need to remember to sandbag the lightstands next time.

 

Canon 5D mkII 85mm f1.2L II Lens iso200 1/160@f4

This was a really fun shoot to do, and there was not enough time to do everything we wanted.  Looking forward to the next time I'll be able to work with Kayo and Yasuko.










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