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the MidgetStig.
The Stig is a well known masked character on the popular brithish show, Top Gear.
My friend recently received her new custom suit (Teiz Revolution) and I knew that I had to shoot her along with her bike when I read and saw photos of her weekend rides. Unfortunately, we had time constraints and faced a wintery California storm (rain and wind); I wasn't even certain the shoot would happen due to the elements.
The shoot was inspired by the new suit, her motorcycle and a blog post from strobist.
The "we" in the case is my friend Susan and our very own Ian408! Thank you so much for all your help.
I am please to introduce the MidgetStig.
Details:
AB through a bedsheet for fill, beauty dish above/camera right, and diffused bare speedlight camera left.
Even with multiple sandbags (eight?) the lighting modifier essentially became a sail and attempted to fly away numerous times. In order to shoot, we removed most of the clips, let it fly in the air, physically held down background stands, and held down the sheet when it was time to shoot. Due the weather (raining when we arrived, between the rain bands when were ready to click the shutter), the actually shooting time was less than ten minutes for the three of us. I think I got a total of a dozen frames and that's including setup/lighting tests and a pull back for me. Once we put up the lights, we did have a chance to change anything; we couldn't...
If you look closely, you'll see Ian in the corner hiding behind the stand. If I wasn't afraid of the wind, the rain, and everything flying away, it would have been fun to aim a light at Ian and Susan. I knew we would have experimented some more if the weather wasn't so scary; the forecast was heavy rain/wind at around sunset and I knew we were pushing it.
I think Ian was able to grab a few more pull backs; I know that he obtained a totally different mood with his frame with the same lighting setup. It just goes to show how much vision plays a role in the final frame when one controls both the exposure + light.
I knew the end shot that I wanted capture - MidgetStig, bike, sunset, drama - and set out to achieve that. I still don't consider myself a portrait photographer or a even lighting person, but I knew the only way to get better was to practice. And practice is I did. The week before the shoot, i ordered more sandbags (thank you BH) and scared my neighbors.
My neighbors thought I was utterly nuts. I used my mountain bike, a sewing machine case to prop it up and a cake carrier for one of my light stand.
C&C welcomed. Thank you again for the help. :clap
My friend recently received her new custom suit (Teiz Revolution) and I knew that I had to shoot her along with her bike when I read and saw photos of her weekend rides. Unfortunately, we had time constraints and faced a wintery California storm (rain and wind); I wasn't even certain the shoot would happen due to the elements.
The shoot was inspired by the new suit, her motorcycle and a blog post from strobist.
The "we" in the case is my friend Susan and our very own Ian408! Thank you so much for all your help.
I am please to introduce the MidgetStig.
Details:
AB through a bedsheet for fill, beauty dish above/camera right, and diffused bare speedlight camera left.
Even with multiple sandbags (eight?) the lighting modifier essentially became a sail and attempted to fly away numerous times. In order to shoot, we removed most of the clips, let it fly in the air, physically held down background stands, and held down the sheet when it was time to shoot. Due the weather (raining when we arrived, between the rain bands when were ready to click the shutter), the actually shooting time was less than ten minutes for the three of us. I think I got a total of a dozen frames and that's including setup/lighting tests and a pull back for me. Once we put up the lights, we did have a chance to change anything; we couldn't...
If you look closely, you'll see Ian in the corner hiding behind the stand. If I wasn't afraid of the wind, the rain, and everything flying away, it would have been fun to aim a light at Ian and Susan. I knew we would have experimented some more if the weather wasn't so scary; the forecast was heavy rain/wind at around sunset and I knew we were pushing it.
I think Ian was able to grab a few more pull backs; I know that he obtained a totally different mood with his frame with the same lighting setup. It just goes to show how much vision plays a role in the final frame when one controls both the exposure + light.
I knew the end shot that I wanted capture - MidgetStig, bike, sunset, drama - and set out to achieve that. I still don't consider myself a portrait photographer or a even lighting person, but I knew the only way to get better was to practice. And practice is I did. The week before the shoot, i ordered more sandbags (thank you BH) and scared my neighbors.
My neighbors thought I was utterly nuts. I used my mountain bike, a sewing machine case to prop it up and a cake carrier for one of my light stand.
C&C welcomed. Thank you again for the help. :clap
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If I post it, please tell me how to make it better. My fragile ego can take it.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/21695902@N06/
http://500px.com/Shockey
alloutdoor.smugmug.com
http://aoboudoirboise.smugmug.com/
This is Ian's thread on the shoot.
I'm still very new at this and would truly love any feedback that I can get.
14-24 24-70 70-200mm (vr2)
85 and 50 1.4
45 PC and sb910 x2
http://www.danielkimphotography.com
I think I could have bumped up the fill on the bike, but I think I was happy to get anything due to the conditions.
This shoot was actually planned for December when I had more free time, but my friend happily informed me that she was pregnant and I knew we couldn't make it to December. Instead, I quickly set up the shoot for a few days later after she told me the good news and kept my eyes glued on the weather forecast. We had to shoot that day because she's growing and wouldn't be able fit in a custom made suit much longer. I also knew that once she had the kid, it would be a while before she could fit into the suit again and get away from baby for a few hours.
In the back of my mind, I knew that i had once chance to do this and that's why I pushed on even with the weather conditions. Over all, I would consider it about 85% successful in my book.