Skip to main content

Old Time Photographer

 On November 8th, I did an on-location session with SunnyRae at Claude Moore Park.  The theme for this shoot was 1920’s photographer, which came about during SunnyRae’s 31 days of closet Halloween costumes during October.  I saw the outfit and had to photograph it, complete with the early 1900’s era camera.  

For these sessions, I used:

Photography Equipment

Other Equipment

Cannon R6

24-105 mm Lens

Transmitter/Trigger

1 Cannon Speed lights

1 30-inch umbrella

Light stand

Assistant

The setup

The setup was relatively easy.  I mounted a Canon speed light on a light stand with an umbrella.  My assistant then held the light in the spots during the shoot. Because the camera shown in the pictures was an antique and rather heavy, we only shot in two location, with me relying on angles, expressions, and props to fully use each of the two spots we choose in the park.

Camera Settings

This session was held outdoors in bright morning sun which was perfect for this type of shoot. My goal was mostly to fill in harsh shadows with the flash.  I used ISO 100, which is great for sunny conditions.  Depending on the type of shot my aperture ranged from F4 for nice bokeh for portrait type looks to F8 and F9 for more editorial and storytelling images.   My shutter speed ranged from 1/125s to 1/250s, with the most common being 1/250s which allowed me to balance ambient light with the flash.  Finally, my focal length ranged from 24mm to 105mm. This is one time I should of got my lens adaptor out to use my 200mm lens for a long shot across the pond.  Sadly, I thought about that after I was on site and shooting.

The Photos

The theme for this shoot was 1920’s photographer, so I developed a mood board based on portraits of famous photographers from the 1920 such as Ansel Adams, Dorothea Lange, and Paul Strand.  I wanted to capture both the model and the antique camera, so did a mix of portrait and storytelling images as well as a few close ups.  To add to the vintage feel, during the editing process I leaned into black & white and cross process images that have a more brown/yellow undertone.  I also added some grain to a few of the images to help make them feel less modern.

This first image is one of my favorites from the session, and I think it really captures the mood and vibe we were going for during the shoot. 

ISO 100, Aperture F9, Shutter 1/250s, Focal Length 29mm

This next image shows what I mean by close up, which in all honesty isn’t that close but just a tighter shot.  It shows the detail of the camera and detail of the lens attachment, while telling a mini story. 

ISO 100, Aperture F10, Shutter 1/250s, Focal Length 25mm

While this final image captures the side of early landscape photography, the sitting and taking notes and soaking in the surroundings. 

ISO 100, Aperture F10, Shutter 1/250s, Focal Length 30mm

Wrap Up

It is always fun to work with SunnyRae, as she has the best personality and can easily create a story for the character which makes the session much more fluid, leading to more natural posing.  I felt this session was very collaborative, allowing both of us to play off each other’s ideas resulting in a ton of frames, even though we only shot in two locations in the park.  

Credits:

Model: Sunnyrea (IG: Sunnyrea37)

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

2025 Year in Review and Looking Forward to 2026

This year was a bit interesting especially since during the day, I’m a government employee, which resulted in a lot of stress and a 42-day furlough.  I didn’t attend as many cosplay events with the D.C Cosplay group, now Costume and Camera, as I normally would have, due to schedule conflicts.  However, I traveled up to Poughkeepsie, New York for two photo events, one of which I was a featured photographer.  I attended two conventions, one of which didn’t turn out as expected and the other just confirmed my decision to take a break from it.  Though happily I did a lot of studio work this year, which I enjoyed.  But on the other hand, I lost my dear “studio supervisor”, my dog Teddy.  He liked to great clients and then “supervise” while lying/sleeping in his bed. I also started to work on the business side of my photography work, by investing in a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) site to manage bookings, schedules, and payments. No more trying to juggle...
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