Skip to main content

Double Session Part 2: Tudor Gown

On September 15th, I did a double session with the lovely Natalie of Archaic Costumes and Designs.  We started with a Persephone, then switched to the Fleur de Lis Tudor gown.  I’m now going to talk about the Fleur de Lis Tudor gown session.

For this session, I used:

Photography Equipment

Props/Miscellaneous

Cannon R6

24-105 mm Lens

Transmitter/Trigger

2 Phottix Strobe

2 FJ400 Strobe

2 rectangular soft boxes

grids

2 1x3 strip boxes

2 C-stands

2 light stands

Sandbags

Backdrop stand

Hand painted grey canvas background

Spyder Color Checker Card

2 trilevel plant stands

Fake candles

Fake fruit (pomegranates, apples, figs, pears, grapes)

Goblets

Fake flowers

Black fabric

 

The set up

I changed over from the Persephone set to the Tudor set while the model was changing, so it was a quick flip.  For the Tudor gown set, I removed the peacock chair since the model wouldn’t be able to sit in the chair with a hoop skirt on.  I then moved the trilevel plant stands closer to each other and arranged the flowers, fruit, and candles accordingly.  

For lighting, I kept the two 1x3 strip boxes on opposite sides of the set parallel to the backdrop but removed the purple gels.  I kept my third light, the 2x3 rectangular soft box about 45 degrees to my left, raised up and pointed down.  This light was my main light.  I moved the fourth light to about 45 degrees to my right and replaced the bell reflector with a 2x3 rectangular soft box to act as fill.  

Camera Settings

For this session I kept the same camera setting from the Persephone session.  As a reminder, I shot at ISO 100, with an aperture of F5 and a shutter speed of 1/200s.  My focal length varied from 24mm to 61mm.  What is unique about this session is I did not prefer a focal length and used all of them fairly equally.

The Photos

When editing these images, I wanted to keep a painterly feel, while also capturing the elegance of the dress.  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.  For some of the images I added blue to the shadows as a partial color grade.  While other images I applied a teal (shadow) and orange (highlight) color grade.  I found the teal/orange worked better with the darker images.

This first image is one of my favorite images as it has a painterly feel.  It is also elegant and captures the essence of a lady in waiting.  If you look closely at the grapes, you can see the reflections of the three of the lights.

This next image the model was concerned about because she wasn’t sure how the back of the dress would photograph, but I always try to get a shot of the back, or a side shot to add variety.  I like the image because it is elegant yet understated.  And the little bits of the flowers in the background give it a little bit of interest.

This final image, I think, could be a book cover for some period-piece romance novel.  The model's expression is stern, yet the little smirk of a smile softens the expression.  I also like how she is holding the apple; it begs the question: is she about to provide some courtly advice or provide a cold reprimand?

Final Thoughts:

This dress was interesting to photograph because the original sample picture Natalie sent made it look a bit more gold in color, but in person, it is closer to an aged pewter color.  It definitely changes color based on the color and brightness of the light.   I enjoyed doing the double session, and I was happy I could easily convert the first set to meet the needs of the second set.  Doing two drastically different lighting setups or themes would not have worked unless I had a longer break in between outfit changes.  I was able to flip the set in about 15 minutes, which I think is the right amount of time for a double session.  You can see all the images from the Fleur de Lis Tudor gown session here: Tudor Gown.

Credits:

Models: Natalie (IG: @nataliehanrion)

Set Design: Heather (IG: @munchkin_photos_by_heather) 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Cobwebs Everywhere

On October 7 th , I did a studio spooky session with Coralinx Cosplay .   The central theme of this shoot was a pretty goth girl who had a fondness for spiders and decorating with cobwebs, making it a perfect Halloween session.   Note: Cobwebs are defined as abandoned or old spiderwebs that have collected dust.   Many cobwebs are the result of comb-footed spider (i.e., black widows) that make irregularly shaped webs.   Spiderwebs are active structures built to catch prey.   (Source: Western Exterminator Company) For these sessions, I used: Photography Equipment Other Equipment Cannon R6 24-105 mm Lens Transmitter/Trigger 2 Westcott FJ400 2 Phottix Strobes 2 strip boxes 2 rectangular soft boxes 2 c-stands 3 light stands Backdrop stand Black seamless 2 Westcott silicon gels Tether cable Laptop Laptop holder Sandbags A-clamps Spyder Color checker Fake cobwebs Table ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Katsucon 2025 Wrap - Up

Katsucon 2025 didn’t seem as crowded as 2024, but I still wasn’t feeling it.  Katsucon will always have a special place in my heart, but I think I’m just bored with it, from a creative perspective.   While I still love working with cosplayers the location itself no longer excites me and I’m tired of fighting the crowds.  If I return to Katsucon 2026 I think I’ll just set up a studio in my room and do studio sessions.  I can be a lot more creative with a studio session, and I get to use all my lights.  So now let's talk about photography.   For Katsucon I was shooting with my Canon R6 with an 24-105 Canon RF lens, and I had a fisheye lens on me as well, but we will discuss that later.  I had two speedlights, one on camera which acted as a trigger 90-percent of the time and one on a light stand which my husband would hold during shoots. This year I booked 11 cosplay sessions and shot 869 frames.  I shot a range of ISOs from ISO 100 to ISO 800...
Post a Comment
Read more

Spooky in the Morning

On October 5 th , I did an on-location spooky session with Rebecca at Claude Moore Park.   The theme was Victorian ghost; however, it is hard to be a ghost at 9:30 in the morning on a bright sunny day.   I did my best to get a spooky look. For these sessions, I used: Photography Equipment Other Equipment Cannon R6 24-105 mm Lens Transmitter/Trigger 2 Cannon Speed lights 1 30-inch umbrella Light stand Assistant Smoke Genie The setup The set up was relatively easy.  I mounted a Canon speed light on a light stand with an umbrella.  My assistant then held the light in the appropriate spots as we made our way around the park to different locations. Camera Settings This session was held outdoors in bright morning sun and was intended to look spooky, so I tried to keep the images dark.  Thus, I used ISO 100, which is great for sunny conditions.  I wanted to maintain a soft background as much a...
Post a Comment
Read more