Assisting the Diva
Llywellyn
Registered Users, Retired Mod Posts: 3,186 Major grins
Some of you may have noticed in diva's thread (if you managed to read anything past the awesome photos!) that I was lucky enough to tag along as an assistant for an e-shoot this past holiday weekend. Having never done an e-shoot in my life, and having been asked by one of my fave cousins to do just that in two weeks, I was desperately hoping to have some practice beforehand. When I saw diva's ivy-wall-advice thread and the e-shoot it entailed, I begged her to let me tag along so my shoe leather had a little more traction to go on. Luckily, she agreed. 
My main goal was to assist her however she needed, which was great practice in and of itself. It's comforting to not have the stress of being a main photographer as it allowed me to think about the locations we were walking and the light we were seeing with a focus I lose when I'm thinking about lenses + posing + capturing emotion + camera settings. It allowed me to "see" better and muse a little while I was holding reflectors or a brolly (or my beloved softbox). Assisting others is great practice; I highly recommend it!
My secondary goal was a personal challenge to capture flare. Trend or not, it's something I've admired in others' work and something I've never been able to crack. So I worked mainly on flare. Thus, you're going to see a lot of flare below.
So this was my first go at this sort of thing, and considering my second go is just around the corner, tips, tricks, and critiques are all welcome. Whip me into as much shape as you can before I fly north! :lol3
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Thanks for stopping by! :thumb
My main goal was to assist her however she needed, which was great practice in and of itself. It's comforting to not have the stress of being a main photographer as it allowed me to think about the locations we were walking and the light we were seeing with a focus I lose when I'm thinking about lenses + posing + capturing emotion + camera settings. It allowed me to "see" better and muse a little while I was holding reflectors or a brolly (or my beloved softbox).
Assisting others is great practice; I highly recommend it!My secondary goal was a personal challenge to capture flare. Trend or not, it's something I've admired in others' work and something I've never been able to crack. So I worked mainly on flare. Thus, you're going to see a lot of flare below.
So this was my first go at this sort of thing, and considering my second go is just around the corner, tips, tricks, and critiques are all welcome. Whip me into as much shape as you can before I fly north! :lol3
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Thanks for stopping by! :thumb
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Comments
I had absolutely wanted (and failed to get) something exactly like #'s 3, 4, and 5 and you got 'em! The bare toes and the shoes are just perfect. I think you were shooting wider than I was at that point (I'd switched to the 135 - and was for the first time in my shooting life regretting the lack of a zoom, even though the 135 delivered up some serious yum) and you got very different shots from mine in the same place.
Beautiful, Kerry - I can't WAIT to see what you get next weekend with your cousin (I hope that tandem bike really happens because it could be spectacular!)
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What I love the most is that the couple is not mugging for the camera; they are interacting (engaged!) with each other.
I find this the most difficult part of photographing people - everyone has been trained to stare at the camera and smile.
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I literally gasped. That flair and the pointed toes. *sigh*
Thanks for the kind comments, all! (I made heatherfeather gasp! Can I retire now?
TenThirteen, I hear you on some of the backgrounds. Something for me to keep an eye on, certainly.
Those backgrounds were challenging, weren't they? I was surprised how complicated it was to frame prettily with the water and a low skyline, since it seemed that something was always chopping through heads or dividing the frame either as a shape, a shadow or a noticeable colour difference. For a single-person portrait I probably would have just shot superwide aps and let DOF blur it out for me, but I was reluctant to do that with two in case I didn't get both their faces in focus.
I'm thrilled you got #9, since I wound up having to close-crop most of mine from that spot to solve the BG issues, and that light was sooo delicious........... The wind on her skirt is just perfection
I'm looking forward to working with you up here in 'da nort'. I hope I can be the same "solid second" that you have demonstrated here. However, I'll offer one pre-travel word of advice: Pack warm, it's only 19 degrees this morning! :wow
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Thanks, Ross! I'm looking forward to it, too. I've got the final list of locations and will be working out the logistical order and meeting place this weekend.
...and I actually broke down and bought my first winter parka in my life, solely for this trip. :twitch Nearly every location is going to be near the lakefront. Brrrr!
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Uh, this feeling is 100% mutual! I haven't made my 2013 travel plans yet, and Australia is definitely on my list of places to see before I die...
Australia's home but there's definitely a greater than non-zero chance that I'll either be back in China or Europe by then. So if you want to get a personal tour of Australia, start planning. One thing's certain though, I'll be spending time south of the Lakes District in England fairly regularly for the foreseeable future.
Michswiss (I spelled it right! I spelled it right!
Don't forget the gloves, hat, and boots (we're being forecast for 6+" of snow near the lakefront this weekend!)
I'll watch for the itinerary...
http://www.arkreations.com
Nikon D700 | D300 | D80 | SB-800(x2) | SB-600(x2)
Nikkor Lenses: 14-24 f/2.8 | 24-70 f/2.8 | 50 f/1.8 | 85 f/1.4 | 70-200 f/2.8 VR II | 70-300 VR
I'll take any or all of the above.
...I'm allowed to completely threadjack my own thread, right?
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+1. really pretty set, but #5 is just DELICIOUS!