Double Session Part 1: Persephone

On September 15^th, I did a double session with the lovely Natalie of Archaic Costumes and Designs.  We started with a Persephone theme for her lovely pomegranate dress then I flipped the set to match her Tudor gown.  I’m going to talk about the pomegranate dress session first.

For this session, I used:

Photography Equipment	Props/Miscellaneous
Cannon R6 24-105 mm Lens Transmitter/Trigger 2 Phottix Strobe 2 FJ400 Strobe 1 rectangular soft box 1 bell reflector with 50-degree grid 2 1x3 strip boxes 2 C-stands 2 light stands Sandbags Backdrop stand Grey fuzzy backdrop Spyder Color Checker Card Purple gels	Peacock chair 2 trilevel plant stands Fake candles Fake fruit (pomegranates, apples, figs, pears, grapes) Goblets Fake flowers Skull Black fabric Green fabric

The set up

The inspiration for this set was the pomegranate dress and Chrissa Barton’s Persephone drawing.  I also wanted to keep a fairly analogous color pallet that complemented the colors of the dress.  I also wanted there to be lots of fruit, especially pomegranates, and let me tell you, it is a lot harder to make aesthetically pleasing fruit bowls than flower arrangements.

The anchor of the set was the peacock chair, to which I attached flowers and a piece of fabric.  I then placed a trilevel plant holder on each side and covered them with black fabric before placing the candles, fruit, flowers, and skull.  I only put one skull in the set because I wanted to give only a hint of death and the underworld.  From there it was on to setting the lights.

For lighting, I started by placing two 1x3 strip boxes on opposite sides of the set parallel to the backdrop.  I placed purple gels on the lights and feathered them so they would light the backdrop while still providing some edge lighting to the set and the model.  I then placed my third which was a 2x3 rectangular soft box about 45-degrees to my left, raised up and pointed down.  In most cases, this light acted as my main light.  I then added a fourth light about 15 degrees to my right.  This light had a bell reflector on it with a 50-degree grid attached to avoid light spillage.  This light provided some added drama to the image and highlighted the model’s face and upper body.

Camera Settings

For this session, I shot at ISO 100, with an aperture of F5 and a shutter speed of 1/200s.  My focal length varied from 24mm to 88mm, with the most common focal length being 35mm.  I went with the lower f-stop because I did not want to pick up that much texture in the background and I was trying to keep the lights at a lower power, especially the ones that were gelled. 

The Photos

When editing these images, I wanted to go for a painterly feel while keeping them on the darker side to align with the Persephone Queen of the Underworld vibe.  The first thing I did for all the images was ensure a proper white balance then use the Spyder Color checker software to ensure proper skin tones.  I then adjusted the exposure up a little as I tend to shoot a little under exposed at times.  I balanced the shadows and highlights before adjusting the tone curve to a medium contrast.  I then added a heavy vignette.  Then before sending the images to Photoshop for dodge and burn work, I added a blue color grade to the shadows only.   

My favorite image from this part of the session was taken after I removed the peacock chair and had the model kneel/sit on the ground resting an arm on the highest level of the trilevel plant holder.  What makes this image work is the lighting, the expression on the model’s face, and the fact that she is holding a pomegranate with fruit scattered in front of her.  It looks as though she is in contemplation, and you ask if this is before or after she ate the pomegranate seeds.

This next photo I like because it is very regal and really brings and emphasis to the humble pomegranate.  It also shows off the details of the dress.

This image is brighter than a lot of the images as I wanted to ensure the details of the dress were captured.  I also did not want the pomegranate to get lost in the shadows.  It was very irritating, as I had to hunt for real pomegranates that looked at least decent in several grocery stores; as you can see, I was successful.  But the very next week after the shoot, every grocery store I went to had beautiful big red pomegranates.

I like this last image because it is moody and a bit different than the earlier images.  This image specifically is dark and emphasizes the shadows.  Because the image emphasizes the shadows, you can see more of the purple rim light in the image, especially in the shadows.  You can also see the fuzzy texture in the backdrop. 

Final Thoughts:

I have been wanting to do a Persephone session for a while, and Natalie with her pomegranate dress, was a perfect fit for my vision.  This doesn’t mean I won’t do another Persephone session, as there are several ways to interpret the goddess, and I like improving on and tweaking concepts.  I’m pleased with how this session turned out, even though I had to really hunt for pomegranates.  The set and lighting perfectly complemented the dress and some of the images truly told a story.   You can see all the images from the session here: Persephone.   Also, if you ever want to own one of Natalie’s gowns, she sells them via Instagram and via an Etsy shop, so definitely check them out, the quality is amazing.

Watch for part two of this double session, the Fleur de Lis Tudor gown.

Credits:

Models: Natalie (IG: @nataliehanrion)

Set Design: Heather (IG: @munchkin_photos_by_heather)