Double Session Part 2: Tudor Gown

On September 15^th, 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)