The Great Escape (the model shoot)

anwmn1

As part of my Great Escape this past weekend I met up with a model in the Navajo Nation for a short model shoot.

Authentic Navajo clothing :thumb
Authentic Navajo model :thumb
Handmade jewelry :thumb
Unique location :thumb

19. (previous 18 images are linked above)


20.


21.


22.


23.


24.



25.

zoomer

Looks like fun shoot and love the idea, pretty model. I bet the scenery there was amazing.
To me the light just doesn't get right in any of them, disconnected between the scenery and the model, wrong time of day maybe. The compositions are kind of caught in the middle, do you want to show off the canyon or do you want to show off the models....probably need to pick a subject.

19 and 23 for me come the closest to being just right.
19 there is to much vignetting from the sides and the left side of the photo is to bright, tilted to the left. Model looks good in her outfit.
23 the model looks good and she is in good light, the uneven background is not ideal and her fingers are clipped. This is the only photo the model looks engaged in the photo.
A good first effort.

reyvee61

I think you have all the right ingredients for a unique shoot but somehow it just falls a bit short of spectacular....
Don't get me wrong, they are good but I feel the the light is not making any sense and in a strange way is disconnecting the model from the beautiful scenery.
The post vignette is too contrived for my taste as well.

My favorite is #23 though I am a wee bit bothered by the clipping of her fingers.

I'm thinking as Z mentioned, perhaps the wrong time of day?

Brock62

I really like the last shot , Its awesome.

anwmn1

zoomer wrote: »

Looks like fun shoot and love the idea, pretty model. I bet the scenery there was amazing.
To me the light just doesn't get right in any of them, disconnected between the scenery and the model, wrong time of day maybe. The compositions are kind of caught in the middle, do you want to show off the canyon or do you want to show off the models....probably need to pick a subject.

19 and 23 for me come the closest to being just right.
19 there is to much vignetting from the sides and the left side of the photo is to bright, tilted to the left. Model looks good in her outfit.
23 the model looks good and she is in good light, the uneven background is not ideal and her fingers are clipped. This is the only photo the model looks engaged in the photo.
A good first effort.

Zoomer- thank you for the feedback. This shoot in all honesty was an afterthought. This trip was a landscape trip that I had planned for a couple weeks and the model called me a couple days before I left to see about doing a shoot. Since I was going to be within a few hours of her we figured out a location and time to meet.

Location- the area I wanted to shoot in this canyon was too muddy at this time. I drove down there in advance and the muddy clay made things difficult to drive and impossible to do a shoot in. We had to settle for this location which had many limitations including a steep bank to the west which put part of the area in shadow while the canyon behind the model was in full light.

As far as shooting model or location. I wanted to shoot both.

Lighting: as mentioned above the embankment behind me contributed to the light issue. There was a 5 stop difference between the model and the background. Time of day was as little too early to start with but we were both coming from 3 hours away to meet here. As the light got better on her face the foreground was in full shadow. We had flashes on site and used fill flash to try and balance the light but this was my first time using the Canon flashes (recently made a gear switch and personally do not own the flashes used).

The Model: she has a little experience but had not done a shoot in over a year and a half. She was not very engaged and did not have many poses to work with. I hadn't shot a model in over two years and admit posing is my biggest weakness.


Thanks again for taking the time to comment.

anwmn1

reyvee61 wrote: »

I think you have all the right ingredients for a unique shoot but somehow it just falls a bit short of spectacular....
Don't get me wrong, they are good but I feel the the light is not making any sense and in a strange way is disconnecting the model from the beautiful scenery.
The post vignette is too contrived for my taste as well.

My favorite is #23 though I am a wee bit bothered by the clipping of her fingers.

I'm thinking as Z mentioned, perhaps the wrong time of day?

Rey- thanks for commenting.

I agree these are not spectacular. Time of day was on target but the location itself made lighting difficult.

I have another crop of #23 which is tighter and eliminated both hands. The clipping is an issue and her right hand is an odd color from the shadow as well.

anwmn1

Brock62 wrote: »

I really like the last shot , Its awesome.

Thanks Brock-

jdryan3

Aaron - I really like #23 as she seems engaged, and the colors are wonderful. The shallow DOF works with #20, but no so much with #24 & #25. #20, while she is looking slightly away, seems to be a nice shot overall. But seeing your reply to Zoomer, I can see why. Practice makes perfect, especially after 2 years. Keep at it.

kdog

I think you've got some really good elements here, Aaron. But boy, your model was really off that day. You needed to use some of your boyish charm to lighten her up a bit.

I really like the costume and posting in 21.

Ditto for 22, and the details are fantastic. I would touch up her skin, and I think you have a winner there.

24 had the potential for greatness. But the pose and facial expression killed it.

25 is super!

Cheers,
-joel