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| (ISO 100, Focal Length 18mm, Aperture F6.3, Shutter 1/160s) |
On September 26th I did a concept photoshoot with Valtinen at Quarry Oaks Park with a set of foam armor that I commissioned from the foam-smith, Maker Fishmeal and a set of wings that I made from packing foam. The concept for this shoot was angle warrior.
Before I get into the
shoot details, I would like to spend a little time on how I made the
wings. The wings are made from a combination
of 10-guage wire, plastic chicken wire, thin packing foam sheets, contact cement,
and spray paint. When designing the wings,
I did not use the harness method, because I did not want to have to hide the
harness, thus I went with a corset support method. In the corset support method, the full weight
of the wings are supported by a backer piece that is slipped down the back of
the corset and held in place by the corset.
The first step was
forming the wing shape and backer which I did by forming about 6-8 feet of the
10-guage wire into a wing shape with a “U” shape between the two sides. Next, I overlaid the plastic chicken wire cut
into a vague wing shape to provide support and something to glue the foam
pieces to. Next, I found a basic drawing
of wings with outlined feathers, enlarged the image, and then cut individual “feather”
pieces from the foam based on the drawing. I cut 4 copies of each “feather” pattern
so I would have a back and front for each side of the wings. Once all the pieces were cut, I did a mock up
of the wings using tape to see how each feather piece would need to be
placed, once complete I numbered the pieces,
and them moved onto the gluing stage. When
assembling the wings, I sandwiched the chicken wire between each piece, while
gluing each of the pieces together. Along
the top edge of the wing I wrapped smaller feather pieces to hide the seams and
wire. I ended up using a whole small
bottle of contact cement to hold everything together. After everything
was glued and dried, I spray painted the wings a dark silver color, it took two
cans of spray paint. Finally, I wrapped the “U” shape between the two
wing sides with gaff tape to hold the sides together and make it a bit more
comfortable when slid down the back of a corset. (See progress pictures below) The wings looked good against my dress dummy with no arms or real shoulders, which I think was the issue. They needed to be wider to account for people having arms and potentially broader shoulders then the dress dummy.
Now onto the actual shoot itself.
For this shoot I used:
- Canon 80D
- Speed Light
- Wireless transmitter
- Painter’s Pole extendable to 12-feet
- Assistant (who happens to be my husband)
- Warming CTO gel
For this
shoot, I went with a VAL (voice activated light stand, i.e. my
husband with a painter’s pole) because we were shooting on location and I wanted
to make sure the light was above and pointed down at my model. An assistant with a painter’s pole a bit
easier to move around while maintaining the appropriate social distances;
compared to the large light stands, I would have needed to get the appropriate
height. I also used a warming CTO gel on the flash
since we were shooting at sunset, and wanted to try match the color of light
coming from the flash to the ambient light color.
I shot 121 frames at ISO
100 and primarily used two apertures F6.3 and F9. My shutter speed were evenly distributed
between 1/125s, 1/160s, and 1/250s, which accounts for the changing light at
sunset. My focal length ranged from 18mm to 80mm with most images being shot at
18mm. Of the 121 frames shot, I edited 59
frames and released 54 final images.
Overall, for this shoot
the images came out ok. Valtinen did an awesome
job as always working the outfit and embracing the concept. He always does impeccable
model work, and his make-up was spot on for this shoot. However, my wings did not live up to
expectations. As I was shooting them, I noticed that the ends were a bit too
floppy in the wind we had that day. Also, in some shots they just looked like
an odd cloak. Thus, I will be going back
to the drawing board, to make better wings, which will include making them wider
and a bit stiffer with some body. But
all was not lost. I was able to get a
few decent images with the wings from the shoot.
On of my favorite images from this shoot is at the top of this post. I like this image because of the expression on the model’s face, the way the wings are laying on the rocks, and the sun low in the distance. It is the feeling of calm right before or right after the fight. I did have a CTO warming gel on my flash for this image. Also, when editing the image, I added a bit of an orange/teal split tone to the image to bring out the warmth of the sunset. I have started to experiment more with split-toning and color grading my images to try to bring them up to the next level. I also added a bit of vignette to the image just to draw the eye a bit more to the model.
I also like this image,
even if the wings seem more like an odd cloak then wings. This image portrays to me the warrior walking
off into the sunset. As you can see from the shadow in the image the flash was
to my right, and still had the warming gel on it. When editing I darkened the
image slightly, while enhancing the light on the model’s face. I feel the colors work very well in this image.
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| (ISO 100, Focal Length 35mm, Aperture F8, Shutter 1/125s) |
This final image, is of
the warrior going into battle. I like
the golden tones in the sky and the intense look on the model’s face. We were
lighting the model from my left, without the CTO gel on the flash. I believe this was one of the last images
before we added the CTO gel to the flash. When editing the images, I added a bit of a vignette,
warmed the image slightly, and added a neutral
gradient to the sky to bring out the colors. I also added a slight orange/teal split tone
to the image.
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| (ISO 100, Focal Length 24mm, Aperture F6.3, Shutter 1/250s) |
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