Outside fashion shot for sunglasses with extreme styling and flash Part IV : let’s talk backgrounds and angles

April 18, 2024/0 Comments/in blog, Visions and technique/by Frank Doorhof

Wow that’s a different…

This is one of the most heard comments when we use extreme differences in the background, especially when the model wears something more eye-catching, or dark/bright.

Chasing the perfect background on location is one of my favourite things. And it’s not always that the most interesting looking background is also the best. It’s great to have a cool background but we don’t always want them to compete with each other. I always try to choose a background that will help my model to pop-out, or disappear into.

This is the 4th part of this blog series and I highly recommend first reading the previous ones.
Let’s talk about the flash
Let’s talk about gear
Let’s talk about storytelling

The forest/beach

One of the things I love about the area we live is the diversity for photography.
Although you see totally different images in this series they are all shot in walking distance from each other, or right next to our studio. And trust me, I’m pretty sure you will have loads of interesting locations near your home, you just have to look with your “photographers-eyes” 🙂

In this case Nadine was wearing a non reflective black outfit (thank you very much) and some cool Sparks red sunglasses.
I didn’t tell you this yet, but during this workshop we also shot some images for our friends from Sparks sunglasses, a cool trendy brand of sunglasses for which we also did the introduction shoot for their new collection. Most of the time I also ask some sample to use during workshops and give our client some extra material which can promote their brand, my work but also the models. A win-win situation.

Anyway.
Because Nadine was wearing black it made it a challenge to shoot against the overcast sky, or against the dark forest.
One could say it’s impossible because you will blow out the sky, or block up the shadows, and with a dark forest the model will disappear.
yes, that could be one way to look at it.
OR….
You use exactly that “problem” and use it to your advantage.

The shoot

Here is the setup of the shoot.
I’m using the same Geekoto GT200 with a large reflector.
I love this location for the strong leading lines and the way the model can pose with the bridge parts. Also the two totally different backgrounds by just changing your angle makes this one of my favourite locations to use for workshops and shoots.

I love to shoot from more extreme angles on this location and using a more wider angle gives that really nice “distortion” in the image that draws the viewer towards our models face. I also use this a lot in the studio. Wide angles can be terrible for portraits or even full body shots, but if you use them carefully they can be awesome.

Because the clothing was so dark, Nadine’s legs were getting a lot of light/attention, so when you find yourself in a situation like this, use a grid on your strobe or make the model cover part of the legs, you do want to see some, but not too much light areas in the darker areas of the shot. hope that makes sense.

I decided to actually embrace the dark clothing and use it create some really nice edgy contrast in the shots, add the red sunglasses and some cool poses, and you have a very simple lightsetup, an ok location but some killer shots.

Model/Styling : Nadine
Sunglasses : Sparks

www.fotografie-workshops.nl for the Dutch workshops
www.frankdoorhof.com/shop for my gear

Outside fashion shot for sunglasses with extreme styling and flash Part I

April 12, 2024/0 Comments/in blog, Visions and technique/by Frank Doorhof

Transform something not so cool to awesome

One of the more challenging workshops is without a doubt “on location in Emmeloord”
During this workshop I take the attendees with me to locations that at first sight might look incredibly boring. However by using the styling of the model and of course the choice of lighting and shooting angle it becomes clear pretty quickly that even locations that are not that interesting can transform into a great location for shoots.

The reason this workshop is very important is because during most workshops you are shooting in already great locations, or nice studio setups.
The thing is that in reality it hardly ever happens you shoot a client or wedding/event in a castle/urbex/etc location and also the light is not always perfect. Most of the time we are shooting in office buildings, outside in a forest/dune/city environment etc. Not really super inspiring locations.

And that’s the whole deal

In this workshop I show how easy it is to create interesting photos in not so interesting locations. Or let me rephrase that locations that look uninteresting at first sight.

During the workshop I also try to keep the gear as minimalistic as possible, I’m using one of our Geekoto GT200s and a large reflector plus the Rogue Flashbender (Frank Doorhof edition). In the past we had to carry around rather large battery packs and “large” heads and I had to shoot on 1/125 because HSS was not supported. Now we are using so called hybrid strobes which is the perfect marriage between a studio strobe and speedlight. This combination means I can shoot ETTL and HSS on location (or manual of course) with a nice shallow depth of field if I want it, or a deeper depth of field if that fits the photo, and shoot a full day with just one battery. In fact thanks to the large reflector we had still 10% left in the battery after the whole workshop (5 locations 4 shooters).

By lowering the ambient light you can really make your model pop out, now lower your shooting angle and you can already get much more interesting shots.

In the next blog post I’ll explain a bit more about the large reflector.
For today let’s take a look at the first setup we did with Nadine. This is just a treeline next to our studio functioning as a border between our studio and the neighbours.

In this setup we also used the Rogue flashbender for a different look.

And the setup with the flashbender.
In the next blogpost I’ll show you the large reflector and explain why it’s awesome for location work.

Model/Styling : Nadine
Sunglasses : Sparks

www.fotografie-workshops.nl for the Dutch workshops
www.frankdoorhof.com/shop for my gear

Same background, totally different results

April 3, 2024/0 Comments/in blog, Visions and technique/by Frank Doorhof

Maximize your results with this simple technique

When you shoot for a client, delivering different options is always interesting and smart.
But different options take time, right? In this blog the same background and totally different results

Well not exactly.

Be smart with your setups.

For this example, I’m using a white background.
In the front, I’m using the Rogue black umbrella with a sleeve aimed straight at our model.
The backdrop is white seamless.

You probably already know about the inverse square law, meaning light falls off over the distance.
A great way to use this is to control your background.

I’m using the white background for my first shot in this setup.
This one was shot with one Rogue umbrella in the background and one Rogue umbrella on the front.

You can already see a very slight light fall-off in the background, which can be solved by using a second umbrella on the other side of course as explained in the previous blog posts.

But what if you just take away the umbrella(s)

As you can see the background now turns grey and you can add some extreme vignetting in Lightroom or Photoshop (or your favorite editor) for a completely different look.

Change the distance for total control (different results)

Using the inverse square law you can change the luminance of the background very easily.
You actually have 2 options.

you can change the distance from the main light to your model.
Move it closer to the model and the background will become darker.
Move it further away from your model and the background will become lighter.
Move your model forward to get the background darker
Move your model towards the background and the background will become lighter.

Of course, you have to re-meter the light when you change the distance between your model and your background.

Explained wrong

I just wanted to add an extra note to this blog post.
I’ve seen several videos and articles that claim that the light halves when doubling the distance, this is however wrong.
The name already gives you the answer in fact.

“The intensity of the light is inversely proportional to the square of the distance”
meaning in simple turns that for every doubling you lose about 75% of your light.

In usable terms.
Place your light really close to your model and the light will fall off incredibly fast. Place it further away from your model and more of the set and model will be lit and the light fall-off will be smoother.

Conclusion using the same background and getting different results

When you have to shoot with certain setups always check if you can also get usable results by turning off/on certain strobes.
You might surprise yourself when you start testing this, it can be done in much more situations than you might think.

Read the post about poses and the white background

see more pictures Frank made with the Umbrella on the RogueFlash website

check out the Digital Classroom about Umbrellas

Modelling is also acting, well actually a lot of acting

March 29, 2024/0 Comments/in blog, Visions and technique/by Frank Doorhof

It’s all in the expression and poses and… a lot more

Over the years I’ve photographed many models in various locations and situations.
They range from trade shows on a booth measuring 2×3 mtrs to awesome castles. Modeling is also acting. a model should empathize in the shoot.

One thing I learned is that you can shoot in the most difficult or awesome locations, the model determines how the results will end up.
When I look for models the first thing of course, I look at is how the model looks. I don’t believe in size zero and love to shoot “real” people instead of Barbie dolls.
And that immediately brings us to the most important part.

Acting on 1/2000 of a second

When shooting a film we have several seconds, minutes, or hours to tell a story.
However with photography it’s 1/2000 of a second, well not exactly but you know what I mean right 😀

So one of the most important things for me when looking for models is actually expression, poses, and moving freely/naturally within the light setup.
And trust me this is much more difficult than you might think.
One of the tricks I use is to tell the model she/he should always be able to see the main light even if it’s just in the corner of her/his eyes. This way you will almost always have catchlights in the eyes, which in my opinion are really important. This doesn’t mean the images are not good when there are no catchlights, but in most cases, we want them in the eyes.

During a recent workshop with did some different expressions with our model Claudia.
As you can see these are totally different from just a pretty face on a picture, these really tell a story.

Modeling is acting and storytelling.

What is she thinking about?

It’s not just expression, it’s acting

Of course, it’s not just the expression of your model.
Styling and the whole setting, including your light choice will help to cement your story into the images.
So always experiment with the whole setting.
It doesn’t make any sense to have makeup that is running with a smiling model against a white background doing jumps. But it can work wonders in a moody setting where the model is looking sad (see examples).

Now, of course, there is a time and place for these kinds of shots, and I will not tell you it always works.
Sometimes you need a model that looks …. well like she’s not really there. Some fashion brands love that look. In my opinion, the model in that setting is more a way to demonstrate the clothing and should not take away any attention to the clothing. I like the “lifestyle” photography more where we use the clothing/accessories in settings that give a “feeling” instead of just presenting. But as mentioned before this is 100% up to the client. However, it’s incredibly handy if you can deliver both. And in a lot of cases, this means I will ask my clients if I’m allowed to use our “own” models.

It happened too often that I end up on a trade show or location workshop and have a beautiful model but am bored after the first shoot.
And we have had situations where even a model in jeans and a tank top blew me away and didn’t need anything else.

So the next time you scout your models, maybe go for the ones that are also able to act 😀 Because modeling is also acting!

Check out this video about storytelling

Model Claudia uses seamless paper as a dress

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