Evermore Inspired Shoot for a Swifty

On November 18^th, I did a Taylor Swift inspired session with Coralinx Cosplay.  The inspiration for the session was the Evermore album by Taylor Swift and fan art by Alef Vernon.  Since the fan art turned the album cover outfit into pajamas, I went with a warm and cozy set with warm brown, tan, and cream tones.  

For this session, I used:

Photography Equipment	Props/Miscellaneous
Cannon R6 24-105 mm Lens Transmitter/Trigger 2 Phottix strobes 2 c-stands 1 Backdrop stand 1 canvas backdrop Sandbags 1 octa box box 1 umbrella 6x6 silver reflector ¼ cut black mist filter Grid	String lights Fake candles Antique trunk Ottoman Sheepskin rug Blankets End table CD Walkman Coffee mug Taylor Swift CD cases

The set up

This set was all about creating the atmosphere and story to make it feel all warm and cozy.  When I looked at the fan art by Alef Vernon, they had different versions of Tayor sitting on books, cushions, or the floor, looking like girls at a sleepover.  So, I knew I wanted something portrayed sitting in a room or a cozy attic space just vibing to Tayor albums.   I also knew the pajama set was going to be shades of brown, so it really helped set the color pallet.

To build the set, I hung a canvas painter’s drop cloth as the backdrop.  Then, I strung a bunch of string lights to add depth and interest to the backdrop.  Then, I brought in an old steamer trunk, a table, and an ottoman.  I then added the sheepskin rug on the ground and added warm fuzzy blankets.  I then added fake (electric) candles around the set.  I also found my old CD Walkman for the model to use as a prop.  Meanwhile, the model brought all her Taylor Swift albums.

For lighting, I kept it simple by just using one light with a large octa box on it and a reflector for most of the images.  With the main light to my left and the reflector to my right.  I also placed a ¼ cut black mist filter on my lens to make the candles and string light glow more.  A black mist filter adds a bit of haze that makes lights seem to bloom or glow.

Camera Settings

For this session, I used ISO 800 and 1000.  I was working with the higher ISOs because I needed to balance the light from the string lights and the strobe power.  At lower ISO’s, I would have needed more strobe power to light the model, eliminating any light from the string lights and candles which were the mood setters.  The R6 can handle the higher ISOs while keeping the image clean and smooth.  I used an aperture of F8 with a shutter speed of 1/100s.  It was important to keep the shutter speed low to pick up the light from the string lights.  While I could have opened my aperture to F4, I wanted most of the scene to be in focus to tell the story.  Though at the lower F-stop I could have gotten better bokeh on the string lights.  My focal length ranged from 37mm to 79mm, with most images being taken at 50mm.  

The Photos

This session was fun and easy, and to help with the mood I played Taylor Swift songs the whole time.  I think having music really helped with this shoot because I could tell Coralinx Cosplay just vibing to the music which helped make the poses more relaxed and natural.  I also think the props of the CD cases and the Walkman helped because it gave the model something to interact with and gave the images more of that lazy day feeling. 

Since this was a studio shoot there was very little variation in the lighting and setup, which makes it very easy to the set.  For all images, I adjusted the exposure and kept the white balance on the warmer side.  I also brought up the clarity and contrast to account for the black mist filter.  The black mist filter tends to soften everything, and to counteract that one has to bring up clarity and contrast.   I then added a small radial gradient to the model’s face to brighten it just slightly and ensure attention is drawn to her face.  I then pulled all the images into Photoshop to add glow to candles.  While several of the candles looked decent out of camera a few needed a little help to capture the glow.  So, to achieve the glow I sampled the color from a candle I liked, then created a solid circle of that color over a candle I wanted to glow.  I then ran my glow macro which blurs the circle, changes the blend mode, several times to make the glow.  When I like the glow, I then copied and pasted it over all the other candles that needed to glow, changing the overall layer blend mode as appropriate.  Adding the candle glow was the hardest and longest part of the whole editing process.   After that the edits were complete.  Now to talk about a few of my favorite images.

This first image is my favorite because I think Coralinx Cosplay just looks adorable.  I like the cross legs and the way the CDs are scattered.  It looks very natural.

ISO 800, Aperture F8, Shutter 1/100s, Focal Length 42mm

This next image I like just because it looks so natural.  The pose is relaxed, and you can tell the model is just into the music.  It also has a feeling of nostalgia, with using the CD Walkman to get that 90’s vibe going on.

 

ISO 800, Aperture F8, Shutter 1/100s, Focal Length 45mm

Now in this next image you really see the glow of the string lights and candles.  To get this image I raised the ISO to 1600 and lowered the strobe power down to 1/64 power.  This allowed me to pick up the light from the string lights while still keeping my shutter speed at 1/100s to minimize blurring.  While the lens and camera have great stabilization, I like to minimize my chances of motion blur when possible.  Now if you look hard at the image, especially at one to one you can start to see a little bit of grain creep into the image.  But it is still a very clean and smooth image.  

 

ISO 1600, Aperture F7.1, Shutter 1/100s, Focal Length 47mm

This last image is an homage to the original Evermore Album cover.  Just taking a picture of the models back.  Also, if you look on the left hand side of the image you can see the original CD Evermore Album on the table.

 

ISO 800, Aperture F8, Shutter 1/100s, Focal Length 53mm

Overall, this was a fun little shoot and I thank Coralinx Cosplay for dealing being wonderful like always and working through the strobe and trigger sync issues I was having.  I did figure out why I was having the sync issue.  The R6, when connected via USB-C to the computer for tethering, tries to send charging signals thus confusing the trigger.  This is apparently a software glitch, which is known by Cannon.  The temporary workaround is to run the connection from USB-C to USB-A connect so it can’t send the charging signal.   I found this out after talking to Tether Tool, who makes my tethering cable.   This all makes sense since I don’t have the issue when I’m not tethered.  

If you want to see more images from this Tayor Swift inspired shoot, you can see them here:  Swifty

Credits:

Model: Coralinx Cosplay (IG: @coralinx_cosplay)

Fan Art Inspiration: Alef Vernon (IG: @alefvernonart)

Pajama Set Pattern: Lisett for Butterick

Fabric from FabricMuchFunSew on Etsy

Set Design: Heather of Munchkin Photos (Instagram: @munckin_photos_by_heather)