About my photo model:
When you meet Leandra in real life, she is actually always camera-ready, with makeup pretty much ready to go. She is creative and attractive and yet my camera lens had just not done her face full justice in past, rushed captures.
I realised I really needed to find her good angles because I was misrepresenting a part of God’s creation here!
Well, one day I got my chance. We headed off to the studio after church and she posed while I snapped away from different places until I finally began to frame her portraits in ways that pleased me more.
Leandra’s installed hair is in the spotlight quite a bit; in addition, she appears to be wearing glasses in all of the shots.
In the actual shoot itself I did take photos of her without glasses or sun shades, however, because I had to learn how to manage glare anyway, I was glad she had those with her.
Lighting and conditions
The shoot was done with two overhead speed lights and a couple of lower level continuous lights. I fiddled with the lighting and tried out a few test shots, aiming to clip the highlights on my histogram. Eventually, I settled at iso 125, f-stop 13, s/speed 1/100 and my focal lengths ranged mostly at 14mm and 18 mm on my darling GX7’s kit lens (14-42mm) which explains the portrait challenges for those in the lens know.
About the shots
The photos were shot as JPEGs and I did a little editing to create a mood for each featured
image. By the way, (and nothing to do with this shoot) I am thrilled to be able to edit jpegs to produce free or affordable images. I have enjoyed editing RAW images in Capture One (highly recommended), but I am shifting to another platform soon when I need to. Maybe by September – we have a big event coming up at the O2 in London and I would love to see what my images come out like compared to the last set I took at the O2 a while back.
My favourite shot in this set? Has to be the Rembrandt – style one with Leandra emerging from the dark background and mostly her face lit. I love moody, dramatic lighting and sfumato effects; a carry- over from my painter’s days. Next, I would, of course, choose the sepia-ish one.
I forced myself to do something different with the grid effect and the hair wrap shots. You can see that the editing was aimed at producing images that were edgier. Finally, the shot where Leandra’s eyes are open is a practically unedited shot.
It has been lovely sharing, again. Have you shared something you enjoyed today?