Sunflower Headpiece

On September 12^th, I got to work with the lovely April again.  This time we shot out at Prairie Oak Park, just outside of Columbus.  This shoot was designed round a sunflower headpiece I made to celebrate late summer.  For this shoot we went with a bit of a bohemian vibe.

For this shoot I used:

• Canon 80D

• 2 Speed lights

• Light stand

For this shoot,  I focused on lighting for the sky and balancing with flash.  I shot 180 frames at ISO 200. My aperture varied from F8 to F20 to account for the sun and the clouds. My most common two apertures were F13 with 70 frames and F20 with 69 frames. My shutter speed also varied, it ranged from 1/160s to 1/250s with the most common speed being 1/200s.  My focal range varied from 18mm to 80mm with the most common focal length being 18mm.  I do like to shoot wide, however it does give me the ability to crop down for publications which like photos submitted at either 8.5x11-inches or 17x11-inches.  Of the 180 frames I edited 111 frames, and released 52 final images.

(Shot at 35mm, ISO 200, F20, 1/200s)

My absolute favorite image from the session is above.  This was created by having the model stoop down behind a small flower patch while I got on the other side of the patch and shot through the flowers.  The sky was very bright and backlighting the model but the clouds were dramatic so I wanted to keep those, thus I metered for the sky and filled with flash which was placed to my right. When editing the photo, I remove a dead flower, and a few distracting pieces of grass.  I also did some light touch-up work on the models face and arms to remove a few minor blemishes. I finished off the image with a light vignette. 

This image was taken inside the little pavilion in the park.  I love the framing from the red posts of the posts of the pavilion. I also love the overall pose of the model. In this shot you can tell the sun is coming from the right, and because of this the headpiece was placing the model’s face in shadow. To light the model’s face, I put the flash almost head on and zoomed it, so I wouldn’t cause a second distracting shadow in the image.  You’ll notice I did keep some of the shadows created from the headpiece, I feel it adds to the overall feel of the image. When editing I cleaned up a few distractions, the main one being a large electrical box on one of the posts.  Then balanced out some of the lighting before calling it done. 

(Shot at 18mm, ISO 200, F16, 1/600s)

These last two images, I think could be country music album covers. The first image was shot in front of a field of a field of tall grasses and goldenrod. I like how the yellows from the field, complement the headpiece and the yellow tulle top.  Overall, the image has a very country or bohemian vibe.  When lighting this image, I metered for the sky to keep the clouds and some of the blue then filled with flash which was to my left. When editing the image, I kept it long just to get a better feel for the field.  I also applied a slight blue/orange split tone to the image to give it a bit of warmth and pop some of the colors slightly.  I finished the image off with a very slight vignette.  

(Shot at 18mm, ISO 200, F13, 1/250s)

This final image I love, and feel the only thing missing is a guitar case or some vintage luggage. We shot this in a shady spot of the walking path.  I had the model stand in the center of the path and strike a pose. I like this pose because it is strong, but says ‘what am I going to do now’.  For this image the flash was set to my right to provide fill.  When editing I kept a good portion of the path but still tried to keep the model on one of the rules of third lines, giving her some space to breath and make it seam as though she is looking as something just off frame.  To finish this image, I add a slight blue/orange split tone, just to add a bit more depth to the image.  

(Shot at 32mm, ISO 200, F8, 1/160s)

I love how this shoot turned out and the outfit change in the middle allowed me to shoot two different looks while keeping a similar feel across the set.  Part of this set is published in Issue 4 of Goji Magazine.  You can see the complete set here.  Also check out April’s Instagram Dossett4, she is an amazing model to work with.