Model Portfolio Shoot - Amy in North Straub Park in downtown St. Petersburg Florida - Nikon D300 Nikkor 80-200mm @ f/4 ISO 800 1/50th Strobist: Nikon SB-800 @ 1/4 power in 42" brolly to frame left & Nikon SB-600 @ 1/16 power on ground to frame right
Amy told me she just started modeling only three months ago, which surprised me a lot because I saw her resume before we scheduled our model portfolio shoot and it was already quite extensive! We met in North Straub park in downtown St. Petersburg at 7pm for a dusk to night shoot. For the above shot I broke the rules and had the subject look out of the edge of the frame instead of into the empty space of the frame.
Model Portfolio Shoot - model Amy in a thoughtful pose with bokeh in St. Petersburg Florida - Nikon D300 Nikkor 80-200mm @ f/4.5 ISO 200 1/60th Strobist: SB-800 in 42" brolly above to frame left & SB-600 @ 1/16 power on ground to frame rightFor this shoot I debuted a new piece of gear, a "brolly," which is a reflective umbrella with softbox like ability. Unfortunately, a windless evening suddenly produced gusts at two different times resulting in two crashes and the brolly getting partially damaged. I have already ordered another since they cost less than $20. When the new one arrives I will write a full review of it then, but I definitely like the lighting results.
Model Portfolio Shoot lighting from below - Nikon D300 Nikkor 80-200mm @ f/4 ISO 200 1/125th Strobist: SB-800 @ 1/4 power in brolly to frame left SB-600 @ 1/8 power behind model's footShooting late in the evening makes it easy to produce shots with pure black backgrounds (learn how) that look like they were done in a studio. A little ambient light did get into this shot, I should have used a bit faster shutter speed, but the bright spots were easily brushed out in Photoshop.
Model Portfolio Shoot lighting from below - Nikon D300 Nikkor 80-200mm @ f/4 ISO 200 1/125th Strobist: SB-800 @ 1/4 power in brolly to frame left SB-600 @ 1/8th power behind model's foot
The above photograph was the shot I had in mind as the main goal of the shoot, though I ended up liking other shots better. I will continue to experiment with ground level backlighting of subjects.
Model Portfolio Shoot with motion blur - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/6.3 ISO 800 1/20th Strobist: SB-800 @ 1/4 power in brolly to frame leftThe last shots of the evening were an attempt at motion blur portraits. The shot was made by setting the focus on the model and then while pressing the shutter flicking the camera to the right creating motion blur in the lights behind the subject while keep the subject herself in focus.
I had a very good time during this shoot. Amy was very patient and professional to work with and had very good balance on one leg as well! I look forward to being able to work with her again in the future.
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