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Romance in a Red Dress


On January 20th, I got to work with two lovely ladies for a romance themed shoot. The whole shoot was centered around a red dress from the Polish designer Ewa Jobko and a white studio room at Something Old Dayton Vintage Rentals.  At this point I would like to thank both models for coming out and the studio for allowing me flexibility due the previous nights snowstorm. The first session with But Dragons Tho Cosplay was inspired by the cover of the book “Kushial’s Chosen”.  The second session with Deanna was inspired by Valentine’s Day romance.  Both sessions turned out lovely and were published in the February 2019 issue of Realm Magazine.
For the session I used the following items:
  • Canon 70D
  • 18-200mm lens
  • Strobes with power supply
  • Large octagon soft box
  • 30-degree Grid
  • C-stand with boom arm
  • Light stand
  • RF-transmitter
  • Tether line
  • Laptop
  • Balloons
  • Fake fur blanket
  • White loveseat
  • Pop up changing room
  • Handsome assistant


ISO 100, Aperture F5.6, Shutter 1/250s, Focal Length 28mm 
The first session was supposed to be based on the cover of the book “Kushuil’s Chosen”, which is a back view of the main character in a red dress with a black rose tattoo on her back. I started out shooting this look after applying a temporary tattoo to my model. However, the tattoo was not cooperating, because it was peeling off plus looked very shiny in the images, thus the shot was not working.  If I try this shoot again, I will go with my first thought of putting the tattoo on using a stencil and black eyeshadow. So, keeping with the theme of the book, the main character is a highly regarded courtesan, I changed it up and went for refined elegance.   For this session I shot 82 frames and kept 58 and delivered 49 final images.  All images were shot at ISO 100 using a F5.6 aperture.  The focal lengths varied with the most common being 32mm and 40mm. The shutter speed also varied, with the most common shutter speed being 1/250s.  I was working with two strobes, both lights were never pushed above ¼-power.

My favorite shot from this session is the one to the right.  To me it is a perfect picture and could easily be a painting.  For this the main light was to my left pointed down with a 30-degree grid on the light. There was a second light facing straight at the model and wall with a large octagon soft box on it, to give just a pop of fill.  When editing the image, I removed any blemishes and smoothed out a few wrinkles in the dress to make a smoother line.  I then used a high key pass filter, added some vignetting, and finally faded the image to give it more of painted portrait feel.  You can see all the images from the session here.

The second session was with Deanna and was just based on a fun Valentine’s Day with balloons.  For this session I shot 100 frames, kept 70, and delivered 54. This session had a few more initial images because we were working with the angel of the light on the boom arm to get a sultry look. All images were shot at ISO 100 using a F5.6 aperture.  The focal lengths varied with the most common being 32mm. The shutter speed varied between speeds, 1/160s and 1/250s.  I was working with two strobes, both lights were never pushed above ¼-power.

My favorite image from this session is the one below.  This is a lovely sultry, come get me look. For this the main light was to my left pointed down at the models face with a 30-degree grid on the light. There was a second light facing straight at the wall with a large octagon soft box on it, to give just a pop of fill. When editing the image I highlighted how the light was falling cross the models face and following the line of her body. I then added a high key pass filter and softened the image slightly by reducing the clarity. I then added some vignetting to the image and slightly faded the image.  Overall, I like the look, and it reminds me of add for something like perfume, chocolate, or wine.  You can see all of the image from the session here.

ISO 100, Aperture F5.6, Shutter 1/160s, Focal Length 40mm 

I did submit images for consideration to Realm magazine. The theme for the February issue was Love, so I thought a few of the images from the two sessions above would be a good fit.  The magazine published six of the images I submitted.  Below are the series cover tear sheets.  I like how both series start with close to the same image with the red heart balloons.  You can find the magazine here. 

I did do a third session on the January 20th, but that one had a separate theme, and will be discussed in a future post.

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