Modern Portraits

On July 28, I did a clean modern fashion session with Diana and May, inspired by some late 80’s and early 90’s fashion shoots.

For this session, I used:

Photography Equipment	Props/Miscellaneous
Cannon R6 24-105 mm Lens Transmitter/Trigger 2 Phottix Strobe 1 FJ400 Strobe 1 PlatyPod 1 rectangular soft box 1 6-foot umbrella with sock 2 C-stands Sandbags Backdrop stand Seamless in Egg Nogg Spyder Color Checker Card	Posing cubes White Wrapping paper

The set up

For this session, I went clean and simple.  I started with a Savage Universal seamless in the color Egg Nogg.  This color tends to enhance skin tones and is a nice neutral base.  Then, I placed posing cubes wrapped in white paper in the center of the seamless.  I wrapped the cubes in white paper, as my cubes are dark brown and white, which was a better look for this session.  

For the lights, I started by placing the FJ400 on a PlatyPod behind the posing cubes to light the background.  I then placed the square soft box on a C-stand, my main light, about 45-degrees off center to camera left.   I then placed a 6-foot umbrella with sock on a C-Stand, my fill light, about 30-degrees off center to camera right.  As I was going for a bright, almost high-key image, I kept the lights high and pointed down to ensure shadows stayed on the floor.  During the shoot, I added and removed posing blocks, which resulted in me moving the FJ400 to the right side of the backdrop, as there were no posing blocks to hide it.

Camera Settings

For this session, I shot at ISO 100, with an aperture of F8 and a shutter speed of 1/125s.  My focal length varied from 24mm to 98mm, with the most common focal length being 35mm.

The Photos

The editing for this session was relatively easy because my settings and main lighting did not change during the course of the shoot.  So, I could easily edit one photo and apply those settings across the set.  I also used a Spyder Color Checker Card to help me get the colors, specifically the skin tones correct.  If you haven’t used a color checker before, it is similar to a grey card but more accurate.  You set your lights and camera, then have the model hold the card in front of themselves under their chin.  You take a picture of this zoomed in on the card.  Then, when you pull the images into Lightroom, verify your exposure and white balance are correct, then run the Spyder Checker software, which produces a color mixer preset.  The software knows what each color on the color check should look like and makes adjustments, so they are accurate.  This has been a game changer for me and has saved me a ton of time when it comes to adjusting color for skin tone.

For all the images in the set, I adjusted exposure slightly by bringing it down just a touch, using a medium tone curve, reducing vibrancy and saturation slightly, and applying a light-to-medium vignette to the images.  In Photoshop, I got rid of marks on the seamless, cleaned up minor blemishes, got rid of zippers and hanging threads, and used the neural filter to smooth out skin tones.

My two favorite images are simple poses on the box.  Diana, in the multi-color dress, looks cute yet sophisticated. In comparison, May in the blue dress exudes more of the high-power female boss energy.  The same lighting but posing and expression change the mood of the image.

 

 

You see the same dynamic again here with the same lighting, but the pose and facial expression provide the overall mood of the photo.  This first photo of Diana is strong yet soft, keeping a light feel. In comparison, the one of May appears more powerful due to the expression and squaring of the body to the camera.

 

Final Thoughts:

Overall, I think the session went well.  It also highlights how two models, by their style choices and poses, can produce different tones of images using the same set.  This is why I’m never worried about reusing sets or ideas, as each person will make it their own based on their outfits, posing, and most importantly, their personality and confidence.

You can see all the final images from the session here: Modern Portrait.

 

Credits:

Models:

Diana (IG: @livinfastdianeyoung)

May (IG: @welcome_to_meryland)

Set Design: Heather (IG: @munchkin_photos_by_heather)