On June 28th, I was supposed to do an on location shoot with Sara and Natalie at the Washington, DC National Cathedral. It was going to be beautiful with them in their Italian Renaissance gowns and beautiful stonework; however, the weather had other plans. As I headed out to the location, it started raining hard, thankfully I had my husband/assistant in the car who was able to text Sara and Natalie to ask if they were ok, switching to my home studio to shoot. Everyone was good with the switch; I turned the car around and rushed back home to set up my studio in 60 minutes. It turned out beautifully and no one got rained on.
For this session, I used:
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Photography Equipment |
Props/Miscellaneous |
|
Cannon R6 24-105 mm Lens Transmitter/Trigger 2 Westcott FJ400
Strobes 2 c-stands 2 Rectangular soft
boxes 1 Backdrop stand 1 Graphic (wall)Backdrop Sandbags Clamps Laptop Teather cable Continuous light tubes |
2 Gold flower
planters Flowers Fake fruit Styrofoam TV Tray folding tables Silver velvet
fabric Wine glasses Fake candles Bench Fake stain glass Tin foil
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The set up
Usually, I plan out my studio sessions at least a week in
advance and have everything pre-positioned and assembled the day before. In this case, since it was a very last-minute
change I had to work fast and keep it relatively simple. On the drive back home, I was already
thinking about what I had on hand to go with theme of the shoot, Italian Renaissance.
I started with a printed back drop of a decorative wall to
give it feeling of a “Palazzo”. I then placed a long dark wooden bench in front
of that, which would do double duty as a bench and risers for the “stain glass”
panels I then placed on both sides of the backdrop adding to palazzo feel. I then added a folding table and covered it
with silver velvet. I then added a fruit
bowl, (lots of Renaissance paintings had fruit bowls), a flower arraignment,
and candles. This acted as the base set,
which I then modified as shoot progressed.
As the shoot progressed, I removed the stain glass because it wasn’t
working with the background, and moved the table around to create different looks.
By the end of the shoot, I removed everything but the fruit bowl, for clean
simple portraits.
For lighting, I knew I wanted it simple and that it had to
match the lighting on the printed backdrop, thus I went with a two strobe-light
set up plus concinnous lights behind the stain glass to make it glow. I started with my main light, which was a
strobe with a rectangular soft box with a grid on my left, in a position that
would help me achieve Rembrandt lighting.
I then placed my fill light which was also a rectangular softbox with a
grid about 45-60 degrees off center to my right. The trick was to be able to light both models evenly
throughout the session. For the stain glass
I placed continuous light tubes at the bottom of the set up and then tin foil
on top to bounce the light to get a nice glow.
Overall, I was able flip my dining room to a studio and
have the set ready to go with lights set up in about 60 minutes. I think it helped that I use my dining room
as my home studio all the time and I had a base plan in my head, so I knew everything
that needed to be done. The rush also meant
I couldn’t over think my decisions, I just had to run with them and adjust on
the fly.
Camera Settings
For this session, I used ISO 320, with an aperture of F10 and
a shutter speed of 1/200s. Yes, I know ISO 320 is a weird ISO, but it worked
for the stain glass at that f-stop. (I also think I bumped the ISO nob, but we
will go with it was intentional.) I had
to use a high aperture to ensure both models were in focus across the frame
when they weren’t on the same focal plane. My focal length ranged from 29mm to 85mm,
with my most common focal length being 45mm.
The Photos
I wanted these photos to be reminiscent of Renaissance paintings
and portray elegance and nobility. Thus, I tried to keep them on the lower key
and edit with an antique look in mind. Since this was studio shoot, I was able to do base
edits and pull the edits across all the images, then just tweak individual photos
if needed. For the base edits, I adjusted
the white balance to make it a little cooler and removed the slight green tint.
Then I adjusted the exposure by bringing it up by a ½ stop and added some clarity
while pulling the vibrance and saturation down.
I then applied a medium contrast point curve, adjusted the luminance,
and applied lens correction. I also ran each of the images through the “ReTouch
for Me” doge and burn plug-in to help smooth out shadows and skin tones. The plug
in helps give the images nice, polished feel.
Let’s start with my favorite image from the session, a very
simple portrait. This image was taken
towards the end of the session after I removed most of the set pieces and just
left the bowl of fruit. I feel this image from the outfits, lighting, and
posing gives off those Renaissance vibes. For this image I did the basic edits, then added
radial gradients on each of the model’s faces. I then added a yellow
(highlight) and purple (shadow) color grade to give the image a more antique or
aged feel. I finished with a strong vignette.
I also chose a square crop to ensure the
complete dress of each model is seen and align the model’s faces towards the
center of the frame.
These next two images are basic individual portraits, as I
made sure I took some individual shots of each model to showcase the dress. For
these images I did the basic edits then applied an orange (highlight) and blue (shadow)
color grade. In the case of the first image, it helped make the dress pop against
the background which is a dark blue color. While in the second image I did the basic edits
then applied a yellow (highlight) and purple (shadow) color grade as this
combination worked better for the dress and the model’s skin tone. Now I didn’t
plan it this way, but when the two photos are side by side, they seem to be
looking at each other in a way.
This next image used the “stained glass” pieces. Overall, I didn’t like how the stained glass was mixing with background, so I only ended up taking about 20 or 30 frames before switching the set up. I think the stained glass would have worked better with a stone or plain grey background; however, that would have required a few additional swags of fabric to bring it all together to give it a church or chapel feel. For post processing I did all the basic edits, then added gradients to the stain glass to make them glow a bit more. I also added glows to each of the candles, to make them look like they were lit. I added circular gradients to each of the model’s face to brighten them slightly. Finally, I added a heavy vignette to the image to help pull it all together.
Now this final image I feel could be on the cover of some historical fiction novel called “The Tale of Two Sisters” or something like that. The each of the model’s expression is perfect match to the posing; making you question what the game or plot is. I know I would pick up a book with this cover. For this image I did all the basic edits then added circular gradients to each of the model’s faces to brighten them slightly. I then added an orange (highlight) and blue (shadow) color grade to give the image a little more depth and a slightly cinematic look. I then applied an 8x10 crop ratio cutting off a good part of the bottom of the dresses to bring more emphasis to the faces. Finally, I applied a heavy vignette to the edges of the image which helped push the background a bit more into the shadows, adding more depth to the image.
The Wrap Up
Overall, I’m very happy with how this session turned out,
even though I had to do a 180 and switch from an on location to studio shoot the
morning of the shoot. If it was a light misty rain, we would have kept to the original
plan and did a moody/mysterious shoot, but heavy down pours just don’t work. I’m glad both models were able to accommodate
the switch, and we got lovely shots while staying dry. Lesson learned here is always have a back up
plan and be able to pivot when needed.
You can see all the images from the session here: Renaissance Duo
Credits:
Model
and Dress Designers:
Natalie
of Archaic Costumes & Designs (@nataliehanrion)
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