More from Skyler & Mishka's shoot

 Canon 5D mkII 70-200 f2.8L IS iso 400 1/1000 @ f2.8

On the second day of shooting with Skyler & Mishka we were lucky to have Quddus as our assistant, which made it easier to position reflectors. 

We originally planned to do shots on the beach with a blue sky in the background, but the overcast skies did not cooperate with us.  So we kept to mostly the pool area and the surrounding yard.

 

  Canon 5D mkII 70-200 f2.8L IS iso 400 1/1600 @ f2.8

 Canon 5D mkII 70-200 f2.8L IS iso 400 1/1600 @ f2.8

We mainly alternated between 2 silver California Sunbounce reflectors - a Pro and a Mini.  Need to save up for a zebra gold reflector someday - when shooting around a pool, I get a lot of blue color cast from the water.  A zebra or gold reflector would help compensate for that.

  Canon 5D mkII 70-200 f2.8L IS iso 400 1/800 @ f2.8

Shooting the model from the opposite direction also helps.  Since there is no water in front of the model from this angle, there is no blue color cast.  Fill light is from a Sunbounce mini just outside the bottom of the frame.

  Canon 5D mkII 70-200 f2.8L IS iso 400 1/1600 @ f2.8

Had Mishka do this a couple of times before we got the "hairography" right.  Probably gave her whiplash. ;-)

 Canon 5D mkII 85mm f1.2L  iso 200 1/2500 @ f2

Did a few shots of Skyler with the 85mm 1.2L.  Still getting used to this lens and what it can do.

  Canon 5D mkII 85mm f1.2L iso 200 1/800 @ f2.8

While we were shooting around the trees there were several people in the background mowing their yards. I used a 70-200L and shot wide open at f2.8 to blur the background, and tried shooting from different angles to hide them behind Mishka and the tree.

   Canon 5D mkII 70-200 f2.8L IS iso 200 1/500 @ f4

 For these final shots of Mishka and Skyler in the pool, I used 2 Alien Bee AB800 lights - one in a large softbox for the main light to camera left and another on the far side of the pool for an edge light.

Skyler and Mishka were great models to work with and I look forward to the next time we have the chance to work together again.

Afternoon shoot with Yves-Lauren

A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to work with model Yves-Lauren.  With my assistant Quddus, we were able to do several different lighting setups very quickly in a short span of time.

Our  first setup was by the infinity pool of the estate Yves was staying at.

 

Canon 5D mkII  24-105 f4L IS lens iso 400 1/160@f16

For this shot I wanted to overpower the sun with the flash.  This was about 2-3pm in the afternoon in Kapalua, so the sun was off to the left of the frame.  I used a circular polariser on the lens which helped to both reduce the reflections in the pool and define the clouds in the sky better.

We used a WL1600 with an 11" reflector to light her from across the pool.  The 11" or long throw reflector is larger and shaped a little different from a standard 7" reflector.  It is a little more efficient at shooting light over a greater distance.  The long throw reflector was very handy to have because it enabled my assistant to light the model from a safe distance on dry land instead of having to stand in the shallow end of the pool (batteries and water do not tend to play well with each other).

  

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

I had originally planned to use the sun as her rim light for this next look, but by the time we were ready to start shooting it the sun was lower than the surrounding trees and we didn't have the angle of sunlight that we needed.  Luckily, the sun was also starting to reflect off of the windows on the house behind me, which gave us a nice soft main light to work with.   I had Quddus setup the WL1600 across the pool and off to the left to use as our rim light.  We used a silver California Sunbounce Pro to help add more reflected sunlight as her main light.

 

Canon 5D mkII  24-105 f4L IS lens iso 200 1/160@f8

This next series of shots were taken on the balcony above the pool.  This time I wanted to use a larger light source because the softer shadows would match better with the look that Yves changed into.  Ordinarily we would have gone with the 5ft Octodome, but because it was so windy, we had to settle for a large softbox which was slightly easier to brace against the edge of the roof overhang.

Canon 5D mkII  24-105 f4L IS lens iso 200 1/125@f5.6

Canon 5D mkII  24-105 f4L IS lens iso 200 1/125@f5.6

For this last set, we used 2 lights.  The main light was a WL1600 and softbox on a C-stand boomed above camera center.

About 10 feet behind her we used an AB800 with a 1/2 or 1/4 CTO gel for a rimlight.

Canon 5D mkII  24-105 f4L IS lens iso 200 1/160@f8

Canon 5D mkII  24-105 f4L IS lens iso 200 1/160@f8

In hindsight I would have liked to have the rimlight surround her more as we sort of start to lose her black dress into the background, so if I had backed up the AB 800 light up even further away or maybe added a second rim light?  File it under things to remember for next time.

Poolside shoot with Rachel

Had the chance to work with model Rachel Reilly from Model Mayhem this past weekend at a beachside estate in Kapalua.

When I met her in person that morning, the first thing that struck me was the color of her hair.  I really wanted to showcase that in some of the images that we shot.  The problem was that the weather was heavily overcast and drizzling that day. (Of course, the day AFTER we shot together, it was nice and sunny. Doh!)

The sun occasionally would peek out a bit, so I alternated between using a Silver California Sunbounce mini and a White Lightning 1600 with a softbox to add some directionality to the light.

Canon 5D 70-200mm L lens ISO 100 1/160@f8

This first image was just her sitting at the edge of the pool.  I thought the blue pool would contrast well with her hair, so I stood on a chair and aimed downward to get the water in the background.  Used the WL1600 w/ softbox camera left.

 

Canon 5D 70-200mm L lens ISO 100 1/200@f11

This was one of the few times that the sun peeked out for us.   Her hair looked amazing when the wind picked it up. Used the silver Sunbounce here for fill.  I shot from across the pool, as low as I could get.

Canon 5D 70-200mm L lens ISO 100 1/160@f11

Cropped this to a square format to hide the jacuzzi and some white pipes in the background.  It also helps to put more focus on the model.

Canon 5D 70-200mm L lens ISO 100 1/160@f11

The above image was with the WL1600 at full power with a 7" reflector and a CTO gel to try to overpower the ambient sunlight.  Shooting from across the pool in the other direction, with her balancing of the far edge of the infinity pool. I tweaked the background in post a little to bump up the blue color of the sky.