Portrait Session at the Old Los Angeles Zoo

Tee WhyTee Why Registered Users Posts: 2,390 Major grins
edited March 29, 2011 in People
Well, met up with Iza La Vamp, a burlesque performer that I thought was very photogenic and we headed out to the old LA Zoo for some glamour type of shots.

Old LA Zoo was a zoo till about 1962, since then it's been converted to a park with hiking trails, picnic areas, and such. But they kept those old cages and animal displays around which makes for an interesting background.

Initially, I had in mind more Resident Evil like look due to the abandoned cages and stuff, but having looked over the images, it turned out to be more Vintage in it's looks.

I dont' do glamour but wanted to experiment and try different things as I'm running out of landmarks in the city to shoot. I used a Tamron 28-75mm lens for it's versatility so I'm not contantly changing primes and thought it worked well, man that lens is sharp. I used a flash with a sto fen diffuser, some with off shoe snyc cord but ended up mainly using the cheapo ebay remote flash trigger and found it very effective. Ideally, two lights would have been better but for a quick 2 hours of impromptu shoot with no significant planning two lights may have been more complicated.

1. Old zoo exhibit
1232284846_YbDdU-M-2.jpg

2.
1232511131_6HhsC-M-2.jpg

3. I prefer vertical compositions mostly.
1232512957_Lh6Qz-L-2.jpg

4.
1232511689_rnyED-M-2.jpg

5. Not very good at headshots, but here is an attempt.
1232513297_w6wHs-L-2.jpg

6. The tunnel thing, and didn't even stink of urine. Go figure.
1232511776_hURxN-L-2.jpg

7. Messing with one light and strong contrast. Tribute to George Hurrell, or at least an attempt at a tribute.
1232361239_hcZrh-M-2.jpg

8. A caged woman.
1232511956_JDiUx-L-2.jpg

9. Nice tat.
1232369961_UGzDP-L-2.jpg

Comments

  • anonymouscubananonymouscuban Registered Users, Retired Mod Posts: 4,586 Major grins
    edited March 29, 2011
    These are great Tom. Love 4,6 and 8. Have to go check this place out. Didn't even know it existed. Looks pretty cool. BTW, love your B&W conversion.
    "I'm not yelling. I'm Cuban. That's how we talk."

    Moderator of the People and Go Figure forums

    My Smug Site
  • Tee WhyTee Why Registered Users Posts: 2,390 Major grins
    edited March 29, 2011
    Thanks, it's a cool location, it's called "Old Zoo picnic area" at Griffith park.
  • Albert DicksonAlbert Dickson Registered Users Posts: 520 Major grins
    edited March 29, 2011
    Yep, these are awesome. Great model, awesome location. Really nice work!
  • LlywellynLlywellyn Registered Users, Retired Mod Posts: 3,186 Major grins
    edited March 29, 2011
    Woo, I'd kill for a location like that. Nice find!

    I adore 1 and 2, with 4 close behind. The superb B&W conversions really make those pop. For the first two, it feels like an image still from some old B-movie horror/adventure film--like I'm expecting a claymation King Kong to entire stage left any moment. Wonderfully seen and shot. thumb.gif
  • HackboneHackbone Registered Users Posts: 4,027 Major grins
    edited March 29, 2011
    Fantastic, let's have more.
  • QarikQarik Registered Users Posts: 4,959 Major grins
    edited March 29, 2011
    these are very nice..setting. lighting. model, processing..all well done!
    D700, D600
    14-24 24-70 70-200mm (vr2)
    85 and 50 1.4
    45 PC and sb910 x2
    http://www.danielkimphotography.com
  • DavidTODavidTO Registered Users, Retired Mod Posts: 19,160 Major grins
    edited March 29, 2011
    Those are awesome. I love that first one. There's something unflattering about 5, but I love the rest. thumb.gif
    Moderator Emeritus
    Dgrin FAQ | Me | Workshops
  • Tee WhyTee Why Registered Users Posts: 2,390 Major grins
    edited March 29, 2011
    Thanks folks.
Sign In or Register to comment.