Wednesday, May 13, 2015

Test shootings with Shawna at Jillian's Piiholo Stables in Makawao



Whenever I need to test out a new piece of gear, Shawna is one of the first people I think of to call on. Not only is she an amazingly beautiful woman to photograph, she's also a lot of fun to work with and always down for getting together to create some awesome photographs.


We went to visit  Jillian's Piiholo Stables in Makawao.  This was my first time to this location so Jillian took us around the property and pointed out all the different locations that could be utilized.  My head was reeling from all the ideas that started to come to mind.

Shawna, we really have to go shoot here again someday. :-)

We started shooting around 4pm, when the light started to look really awesome.
For lighting we used 2 Yongnuo 560III flashes firing through a white shoot thru umbrella to enhance the existing light.


The light that comes through this place is incredible.  We found a spot behind one of the stalls that worked perfectly.  Even without firing the flash, the light that bounced off of the shoot thru umbrella created beautiful light on Shawna.

Sony a6000 50mm f1.8 OSS lens iso100 1/200 @ f1.8

After a quick outfit change, we moved to spot against the back of the stall.


Love working with models who are not afraid to be total goofballs in front of the camera. ;-)


We added a third Yongnuo 560III on the other side of the stall, with a 1/2 CTO gel on it to mimic the setting sun and to add a separation light to Shawna's hair.


A lucky accident of shooting it through the wooden slats was that it created leading lines to draw the eyes to the subject.

Sony a6000 50mm f1.8 OSS lens iso100 1/160 @ f1.8

Once we finished here we moved around to the front of the barn and switched to a third outfit.

Sony a6000 50mm f1.8 OSS lens iso100 1/160 @ f1.8


Sony a6000 50mm f1.8 OSS lens iso100 1/160 @ f1.8

Sony a6000 50mm f1.8 OSS lens iso100 1/160 @ f1.8

Jillian's Piiholo Stables in Makawao is one of those locations where you could literally spend days shooting at. There were so many spots we passed up this time that we utilized probably less than 1% of the property.  I'm looking forward to the next time we can make it up there.