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The Field of Flowers

On July 21st, I did a session with Sonia at the Field of Flowers in Purcellville, VA. The Field of Flowers is a several individual rows of wild flowers and domestic flowers, that you can come and pick.  It is also a lovely place for a small outdoor photo session. 

For this session I used:

Photography Equipment

Canon 80D

18-200mm Lens

Transmitter/Trigger

2 RT600 Speed lights

1 Strip box

1 light stand

1 tri mount for speedlights

The set up

As this was an on-location shoot there was not a lot of set up involved. I used a strip box with two speedlights mounted in side.  I have a tri-mount that allows me to attach multiple speedlights to a single light stand.  I went with two speed lights to ensure I had enough light to fill shadows, because I was going to be using a soft box and fighting the sun at the same time.  Usually, I just use direct hard light, with no modifier but in this case, I wanted a softer light.  

Camera Settings

For this session I used my Canon 80D with my 18-200mm lens. I used ISO 100 due to the very sunny conditions.  My aperture ranged from F4 to F9 with most shots being at F7.1. My shutter speed ranged from 1/80s to 1/500s with most shots occurring at 1/125s. Because I was over 1/250s for several of my shots, my speed lights were in high-speed sync mode which does loose me some power, but makes working with the sun easier. My focal length ranged from 18mm to 60mm with most of the images being taken at 18mm.  

The Photos

Since this was an on location outdoor shoot, I just couldn’t set my lights and go, I was dealing with changing lighting conditions as cloud rolled through, and we moved in and out of shady spots.  However, the basic edits remained the same for each photo, first I adjusted white balance and the tone curve. I also brought down the vibrancy of the images. I then adjusted the HSL/Color panel. Because this is a garden field there was a ton of green with yellow undertones, so I adjusted to remove yellow and pop the green.  I also paid attention to any color reflections, (i.e., green casts) on the model’s skin.  I did my basic sharpening and luminance adjustments and then pulled the images into Photoshop to remove any distracting elements.  In photoshoot I removed bugs, flower stems, people, houses, and minor blemishes. 

This first image is one of my personal favorites from the session and was also one of the last photos taken during that session.  I like the image because it has a soft romance about it, while it seems to hint at a beginning of a story.  For this image the light was to my right, perpendicular to the model, allowing for the shadows on the left.  In post I slightly brightened the model’s face and added a deep vignette to increase the surrounding shadows created by the tree and covered pergola.

 

ISO 100, Aperture F4.5, Shutter 1/100s, Focal Length 20mm

This next image is a mix of flash and sun.  The flash directly in line with the model pointed at the model’s face, as you can see by the catch lights. The sun was high and coming from behind the model, as you can see by the highlights on the flowers and the model’s cheeks.  For this shot I had the model sit down close to the flowers, and look towards the flash, and then framed her face so the flowers would create a leading line up to her face and eyes.

 

ISO 100, Aperture F7.1, Shutter 1/200s, Focal Length 40mm

This final image was a joint effort between the model and myself.  While I was only going to have the model peek through the vines; she took the initiative to actually tuck her head through the vines so they circled her face and upper body.  This resulted in a much better composition and shot. This shot was 90-percent in the shade so relied on the flash for light.  In this case the light was placed to my left, and aligned with the model’s face.  In post I added a bit of extra brightness to the model’s face while darkening some of the surrounding leave. I also added a heavy vignette to the image to add extra emphasis to the face. I like this image because it is soft and ethereal.


ISO 100, Aperture F4.5, Shutter 1/100s, Focal Length 40mm

Overall, this was lovely shoot, and the last one I’ll be doing with my Canon 80D, as I’m upgrading to a new mirrorless system.  The Field of Flowers was a very nice place to shoot, not too far off the beaten path.  I do recommend shooting in the early morning hours or later evening when it is cooler, the sun is not directly overhead, and there are fewer people gathering flowers.  Sonia was a lovely model and just rocked the dress and headpiece.  You can see the full set here: Field of Flowers.  Also a select few images will be published in an upcoming issue of Agidel magazine.

Credits:

Model: Sonia (@soniagchavira)

Dress: Ewa Jobko (Instagram: @ewa.jobko)

Headpiece: Heather of Munchkin Photos (@munchkin_photos_by_heather)

Location: Field of Flowers, Loudoun County (@loudounfieldsofflowers)

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