Once in a lifetime... need the C&C

codiac2600

Hey everyone!!!!

I believe I may have mentioned that I will be teaching a portraiture class at Japanese Anderson Gardens, which has been voted the number one PRIVATE japanese garden in the US last year, and this will be the very first time a portrait class of any kind has been offered at said garden. I will be one of two instructors shooting with world renowned photographer Nels Akerlund.

I had a chance to finally get into the garden this last weekend to take a few test shots with a model, who at this point has no training in modeling, while the weather was clear enough to take a few shots. It was 6pm and heavy overcast... actually misting during most of the shoot time.

I went simple with one strobe and a reflector, but my base settings were ISO 800 at f2.8 1/100th for shutter to let in a decent amount ambient light.

Here is the location I have chosen to shoot based on the natural look and feel of the location and also how easy it will be able to light depending on the weather. The left side of the scene has trees blocking much of the harsh sunlight which can be diffused with a large enough panel and other than that it will fairly shady in this area. I hope to achieve something around 1/200, f5.6 and ISO 200 but will depend on what the weather looks like. The garden itself will be in its prime by the time the class rolls around so the moss will be thicker, there will be more flowering plants and the stream will rise 2 inches and move a bit faster.

I'm looking for feedback as to how well the scene looks and also any other things that you may see that I may be missing from the shot.

#1 With post work done to it.


#2 Same as above with only post done to boost color and tonality.


#3 My other favorite location.

Hackbone

Good work, I know playing on the rocks is tough to pose on. I might cut off more of the top set. The trees bother my eye, maybe a much higher angle. I like how her clothing stands out from the darker rocks. Nice choice in clothing for that effect.

Are you showcasing the model or gardens? If the model I would get in tighter but that defeats using the gardens. I like the second one. Great exposure on the scene. I would turn the model more, you are showing her broad with.

Darren Troy C

Great stuff as usual!

Ed911

I'm not liking number one's processing...

Numbers 2 and 3 on the other hand really look nice.

Of course, that's just my opinion.

Thanks for sharing.