Session 3 - Cindy is Arresting

Bilsen

Shot 4 looks in 4 hours yesterday with my A # 1 model Cindy. Some of you might remember her.:wink

I took some more of your advice on here (ie: don't put the key light on the side opposite her hair part) and I think this session shows some additional improvement, but I'm sure y'all will let me know.

Basic setup was a Softlighter to camera left, reflector opposite the softlighter and a 1/8 gridded hairlight to camera right.

This first look is called "Under Arrest -- and LOVING It". Click the first for the full gallery.



2.Trying for Rembrandt


3.


4.


5. NOW you're goin' Chump.


6. A POSTER For her home


and, of course, no Cindy set can finish without a headshot

Bryce Wilson

D3Sshooter

Love it, 2 and 6..... I want to be arrested....please.

zoomer

4 is my fav. I like the one holding the pistol but the light from frame right is to strong on that one and the pistol is just a few inches to high.
You are getting there....these are looking much better.
That shirt is a great color for her......me.....

Bilsen

Thanks guys.

I'm actually pretty happy with my progress over three sessions but feel free to keep bashing away cause the torching I took for Tere lead directly to this set.

Zoomer, here you go, this one's for you:


Aside from being beyond beautiful and a blast to work with in general, Cindy and I don't even have to talk through a concept much anymore. One of us throws out an idea like "sexy cop" and the other will figure out how we can make it happen. I don't think it's pervy (at least not totally) to be in love with a model, do you??

There are three other looks to go from this session so stay tuned this week all you Cindy fans.

zoomer

There it is .
She looks like a lot of fun and a great subject.

Gotham

I think I'd like these better if the background weren't a muddy gray. If you overlight it so it's pure white, I think your model will pop better. I did a quick mask to give you an idea of what I'm talking about -- this is the PS version of what I think it would look like, but lighting this way originally is easier and cleaner (sorry, I know it can be bad form to edit someone else's photos, so let me know if you'd rather me take this down).

Bilsen

No need Gotham, you did a nice job.

You are absolutely correct and I am aware that overlighting the BKG gives that pure white look. However, I'm in the middle of learning studio speedlighting starting from ground zero so, for now, I'm playing with one thing at a time and the gray background is not my priority. I'm keeping the SS deliberately fast (200 is my sync speed) to limit ambient so that I can experiment with controlling the key and the hairlight with manual settings and Av values.

Ironically, having just said that, I played around with coloring the background in this last shoot. I'll be posting some of those today.

Thanks.

Yaflyyadie

D3Sshooter wrote: »

Love it, 2 and 6..... I want to be arrested....please.

ME TOO.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Y.

dogwood

zoomer wrote: »

There it is .
She looks like a lot of fun and a great subject.

Bilsen

Thanks guys.

It's amazing how many guys would like to get locked up by/with Cindy.

divamum

This set is sooooooOOooooOOOoo much better!! I don't get the whole "sexy cop" fantasy cuz I'm a girl and just think "Yeah, so what?", but it's a great set of images and obviously tickles the male fancy, judging by the responses you're getting. :giggle

I LOVE that you're getting natural expressions and a sense of the model's engagement with the camera - that's the thing I used to find most lacking in your shots, and you have that consistently in all of these. She's not "posing", as much as going into "let's pretend". I suspect she's grown as a model in her ability to project the concepts while you're growing as a photographer able to execute them; what a great working relationship to have.

I still think you can afford to pull her away from the bg more in the full length shots (also, have you considered the "white shiny tileboard" many have used as a floor piece with a white bg? I gather you can get it at Lowes/HD for about $25. I love the look, but have nowhere to put it thus haven't been able to play with it myself).

Also, to improve the chances of lighting the BG enough that you can tweak it to white in post pretty easily, bounce the BG flash into a piece of foamboard. Those Elmer's tri-fold boards - the kind you see for science fairs, and presentations at conventions - are cheap and work great. You bounce the flash onto it, and the sides (the trifolds as it were) act as a flag, while the bounce effect makes the speedlight a bigger light source and you get fewer hotspots. It will still need tweaking unless you've got two speedlights dedicated exclusively to the bg that can be blasted at maximum power through scrims to light the paper evenly, but it'll get you closer and can then be boosted in post pretty easily.

Good job, Mr Galt!!

Bilsen

Thanks as always Diva.

Appreciate the advice on the BKG but, as I said up thread, I'm learning 1 or 2 things at a time and it's not yet my priority. I'm not minimizing this element but a gray background doesn't offend me enough when I have so much else to master in the studio. Also, I don't really have the room to pull her farther from the bkg.:cry

You're also seeing why Cindy is my A#1 model. Aside from drop dead gorgeous, she knows how to use her bodyand she and I "just click". If you get a chance, go see the other sets I posted from this shoot (apparently you'll be the first ) and watch her move under a veil and get into more classic poses.

Thanks again.

By the way, Katarzyna (below) is coming in Sunday and I'll be using GRAY seamless for that session.