Adding a little edge…?

I was asked to do a portfolio shoot for Helga (featured here) the other day, but to produce something a little edgier and with some striking black and white images. As to whether I achievedit or not, I’ll let you be the judge.

We were going to be working in a office over in Docklands, not too far from the Excell Centre, and thankfully we were also going to be inside. Given the extreme weather we have been having of late, this was very welcome.

After a quick scout around the building we settled on the breakout room on th groundfloor as our makeshift studio. It was nothing special, just a semi-large room with a few chairs a couple of tables and a pool table. This at first appeared to present a few possibilities as we were going to be doing lingerie but the biggest advantage was the empty room opposite we could use as an impromptu salon.

The problems to solve were that the white painted walls were not very interesting and full length shots were going to be difficult owing to the nasty grey carpet. This shoot was going to be controlled by the lighting if it was going to offer up any images of note. When we first started out, it had all the hallmarks of being an outright failure. Continue reading Adding a little edge…? »

Notting Hill Beauty Shoot

No-light

Here is a selection of images taken during a recent beauty and make-up shoot over at Notting Hill.

It was a very busy day. Four great models and 2 MUAs. Three changes of outfit/looks for the models. Three shooting locations: my portable studio, low light and soft, natural light. And all this within just one basement flat.

I think that is why I love doing this – I can turn up at a location I’ve never seen before with a plan and the kit to make it work. Very often the location will throw up many more opportunities than I would have imagined. Take the low light images in this set for example. When I saw the hallway with it’s black and gold walls, the shaded wall lamps and the picture mirror I knew instantly I would get some really great shots. It pushed me to the limits of my equipment but nevertheless, it performed admirably. For the techies, most of the low light work was taken hand-held at ISO1600, f2.8 at about 1/30 to 1/15. Continue reading Notting Hill Beauty Shoot »

A Little Light Debate…

All through my research and reading this year one argument keeps on coming up, time and time again: studio or available light?

The arguments go along the lines of

“Anyone who insists on only using available light does so because they don’t know how to use flash”

and

“Natural light is beautiful. I don’t need flash because I know how to see available light”

And different variations thereof. I’m not going to take sides here, personally, I don’t care which is better. I’ve created beautiful images using studio flash, daylight and a mixture of flash and daylight.One little pearl of wisdom I came across was “once the light has left the flash it doesn’t care how expensive the light was” (Adam Duckworth, Advanced Lighting Course, April 2009). Such a simple observation and so very true. It is also extendable to include sunlight and moonlight too. Continue reading A Little Light Debate… »