The Munchkin's Notebook

On September 11, I did a fantasy moon goddess session with Emma. The inspiration for this shoot was the moon and all the fake cloud tutorials that were flooding my feed.   For these sessions I used: Photography Equipment  Props/Miscellaneous Cannon 80D Trigger 2 strobes 2 speedlights 3 c-stands Bell reflector Beauty dish 2 flags 2 gels (blue & magenta) Grid (5-degree) Backdrop stand Fuzzy white backdrop Printed backdrop A-clamps Sandbags paper mâché moon 2 pillows 8 DVD cases 5 pounds of fiber fill (aka. fluff) silver dress Ewa Jobko silver circlet This session revolved around the love of the moon, and I wanted to make sure the model had a moon to love, thus I made one.   To make the moon, I bought one of those 24-inch round balloons, blew it up, and covered in three layers of white tissue paper using a standard paper mâché technique.  When covering th...

On August 1 st , I did a double session with the lovely cosplayer Sara go Bragh , in my in-home studio space.  For this double session we did a mermaid shoot two ways, one a little unconventional and the second in a more conventional way.  For the first session I placed the lovely mermaid in a tub full of clear ball pit balls. This was a play off one of my previous sessions with some overtones of the movie “Splash”.  For the second session we got wet, in the fake pond that I made using a blow-up pool.  For these sessions I used: Canon 80D 1 Speedlight Light stand 2 C-stands 2 Strobes 2 Square Soft boxes Trigger 18-200mm lens Ladder Black backdrop Backdrop stand Pool Tarp Exercise mats Plastic tub Clear ball pit balls Fake plants/flowers Water For the first session the set up was relatively straight forward. For the first session I place the tub in the center of the space and some white towels and rubber ducks. You cannot tak...

On August 22 nd , I attended a D.C Cosplay Photo Shoot meet up at Walsh Family Winery in Purcellville, VA.  The winery had both nice indoor and outdoor spaces and the wine was good too. I got a nice glass of one of their whites after the shoot was over.   For these sessions I used: Canon 80D 2 Speed light (1 acted as a trigger) Light stand Small Lumiquest square soft box 18-200mm lens For this meet ups we could use both the indoor and outdoor spaces of the winery, as well as be in the vineyard itself. I shoot mostly outside, in the vineyard and wooded area. I didn’t feel the inside worked well for several of the cosplays, since felt a bit more modern which doesn’t work with Disney princesses and elves.   Though it did work perfectly for Yomogi from Monster Hunter Rise , since that character is waiter. Thus 90-percent of my shots were taken outside. For this shoot I ended up using a 400 ISO, which is higher than my usual 100 ISO.   I ended up...

On July 24th, I went out to McKee Beshers for two fun sunflower sessions. The first with the lovely ViNa and the second with Ms. Brickhouse .  The first shoot with ViNa was a fun flirty shoot using the sunflower headpiece and yellow tulle piece I made last year. The tulle piece worked as a short flirty dress on the model, since she was petite, the tulle piece acts as a top only on taller models.  While second shoot with Ms. Brickhouse was full on sunflower queen and used the sunflower headpiece and a yellow maxi dress.  I love the versatility of the sunflower fields, the headpiece, and how each models’ personalities come out resulting in two very different sessions.  For these sessions I used: Canon 80D 2 Speed light (1 acted as a trigger) Light stand Trigger Small Lumiquest square soft box Sunflower headpiece 18-200mm lens These sessions were done in bright sunlight on a partly cloudy day.  Under these conditions I shot using an ISO of 10...

  On July 31 st , I did a water session with the lovely model Karishma and the MUA Nicole . This water session was specifically a glitter bath session. For these sessions I used: Canon 80D 1 Speedlight Light stand 2 C-stands 2 Strobes 2 Square Soft boxes Trigger Circular polarizer 18-200mm lens Ladder Black backdrop Pool Tarp Exercise mats Glitter Tulle Water This session was done out on my enclosed back deck. The deck is good location because the pool can be drained directly into the yard, and is significantly cooler than the garage.  For this set up we placed exercise mats down on the deck, then placed the pool on top of that, to protect the pool.  We also hung a tarp on the deck enclosure to prevent sunlight from interfering with the shoot and causing weird reflections in the water.  A black backdrop was placed on the pool as a base background, I then added a black glitter bath bomb to add shimmer to the water.  I the...

On July 25th, I attended my first D.C. Cosplay Photo Shoots event in three years. It was nice to see some familiar faces, work the cosplayers in the DMV, and do some cosplay work again. This event was held at Mustang Sally’s in Chantilly, VA.   For this event I used: Canon 80D 2 Speed light (1 acted as a trigger) Light stand Small Lumiquest square soft box 18-200mm lens This event was held at Mustang Sally’s which is a brewery in an industrial park and had a mix of both indoor and outdoor shooting possibilities. The indoor opportunities where basic brew pub with views of other buildings out the windows, while the outdoor possibilities were limited to parking lot and the grass divider with a run-off drain separating parking lots.   Both things of which I can work with.     I shot using an ISO of 100.   My aperture, shutter, and focal length all varied based on the location I was shooting. My aperture ranged from f4.5 to f16 with the most co...

  On July 17 th , I did my first photoshoot since moving back to Northern Virginia. I worked with the lovely Jessica and the MUA Nicole .   This first shoot was a very simple shoot to test out the space I will use as my in-home studio and work a bit more with gels. For this shoot I used: Canon 80D 2 Speed lights 2 strobes Trigger 2 Square Soft Boxes Gels Grids White backdrop Backdrop stand 2 C-stands For this shoot I used my standard 18-200mm lens. I was shooting at ISO 100, a shutter speed of 1/250s, and using two different apertures F8 and F10. My aperture was so high because I really was trying to bring down the ambient without going into high-speed sync, also I didn’t need to worry about bokeh since the background was plain.   My focal length ranged from 18mm to 100mm, with the most common focal length being 40mm. My favorite image from the shoot, leans a bit towards a bridal portrait due to the headpiece, the color of the dress, and the l...