We were lucky enough in November last year to have a Workshop with the lovely Claire Seville.
Some of the advice that Claire gave us was invaluable.
Claire told us that it’s a good idea to pay for a
model, as a professional model will know what they are doing compared to getting
family and friends to pose. It is their
job, and therefore they know how to work.
Working with a MUA (make up artist) is also essential.
Claire usually works with a 1
lighting set up – 1 light, simple lighting, and 1 beauty dish. You can use an extra light if
you want but set it quite low.
You can also use a mixture of
flash and ambient light (natural light i.e. light from a window). You can also make use of a slow shutter speed
but in this situation the model will need to stay still for quite some time.
When deciding on backgrounds
for your shoot its worthwhile looking around jumble sales, markets (the
Birmingham Rag Market is a good place to look), charity shops sometimes have
some good bargains. (You can look in
charity shops for outfits and accessories that you may use in future
shoots.) It might be worth looking in
Pound shops after Halloween, Easter, and Christmas etc., when they might be selling
items off cheaper.
A grey background is a good
background to use, as it is easily changed in Photoshop.
When doing a beauty photo-shoot
part of your essential equipment will be a beauty dish, colour gels, and barn
doors.
When doing a shoot it is
essential to have fun.
Claire told us of places that she uses: -
Planet Sputnik – an American
atomic bungalow (the owner has shipped in all the original features of this
bungalow).
Claire has worked with
Romanie Smith & Masuimi Max (Iamsin.com).
Claire also mentioned using
the following as location shoots/studio spaces: -
The Flash Centre – Aston http://www.theflashcentre.com
Gem Home Studio http://www.thegemstudio.co.uk
TipTop
Photography http://www.tiptop-photography.com
To source models
for shoots it is worth looking at Model Mayhem http://www.modelmayhem.com
Facebook is also
another good source for models and MUA’s, as is Instagram.
It is always
worth looking at a model’s portfolio to see is the model is going to work well
with your photo-shoot.
When working with
a model, they may accept images taken from the shoot as a way of paying for
their time (these can be added to their portfolio)(this may be supplemental to
a cash payment).
Another way to
check a model’s portfolio is through Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest.
The model that we
would be using for our Beauty photo-shoot would be Constance Peach, and the MUA would be Louise.
After we had our introduction talk with Claire Seville we were given the chance to take our own shots of
the model, Constance Peach. Constance
had been dressed in a tribal style, and she was wearing a gold tiger print
dress, wild blonde hair, and a headdress made out of large feathers
(pheasant/grouse).
We took it in turns to do our
shoot.
We didn’t use a light meter
or deal with lighting ratios in this photo shoot (I am still trying to get my head around this).
I was using my Nikon D7000
camera, with my 40mm lens. The settings
on my camera were Manual setting, F8, 1/125 sec., ISO 100, and WB on flash.
It was suggested that we
might want to use a zoom lens but I decided that I really needed to start
getting used to getting up close and personal with the models, and not to be
afraid of getting in close. The beauty
dish was quite high in order that we could get under, and it was set at a 40
degree angle facing down onto the model.
The barn door light was placed behind the model in order to create flare
around the model’s head. To start off
with I used the barn door light without a gel, but after several shots I
decided that I wanted to add a coloured gel.
I chose a yellow gel, as I thought that as the model was in gold, and
the colours of the feathers were brown, it was quite autumnal, and the yellow
gel would enhance this.
The model was a dream to work
with, as I didn’t have to give her any directions (something I need to get
confident with), and she made the whole shoot very easy.
I did try shooting from
different angles, and used the steps to try and get up above the model to get a
high angle.
From some angles I have
gotten a bit of the backdrop stand in, or an edge of a wall, but these can be
edited in Photoshop.
I did manage to take 31
images, so I did have a varied selection to choose from.
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