Fun shoot on location with stripbox (five images)

[texxter]

This morning I got together with Amara, a model I have worked with before, and Kathy King as my assistant, to do some location portraits in Watters Creek in Allen. It was a challenging location to work with because we had bright backgrounds everywhere, as the sun was high and bright quickly.

We used a small Photoflex stripbox mounted on a SB800 flash at relatively low power (between 1/4 and 1/16 power) as key light for the shots below. Kathy was wonderful holding the rather heavy strip box contraption for over two hours. Thank you, Kathy!

#1. This was tough because we had very strong sun coming from behind, fortunately there was a light blocking panel there that we opened up to cut back on sunlight. You can still see the sun hitting on the model's wrist pretty hard. Kathy had the stripbox to camera left. Tilt was intentional to make it look more like a casual snapshot (ity wasnt' it took quite a bit of work to deal with the lighting!)



#2. Here I used a long focal length and colors around the model to create a more tropical and summery look - it was actually in the shade and quite cold! Key light was the stripbox to camera light, ambient was used as fill.



#3. This one also took a few trials - the SB800 is not fast enough to stop motion (those Einsteins I got from Scott would have been perfect, but I didnt want to bring a lot of gear to this session) - Again Kathy provided the key light with the stripbox to camera right, and Amara did the leaping.



#4. Here I was going for a European fashion look, kinda magazine cover. As with the other images fill was provided by ambient light and key was provided by the stripbox.



#5. This was was also done with the stripbox. Background was a wall.



I don't have a consistent skin tone on these, partially by the difference in ambient light color from one image to the other, and in part by postprocessing choice. I am not sure I am too happy about this.

Comments and feedback welcome!

[Redneck]

Paco, I'm one of your biggest fans but I really like only #2 of this series. The other ones, mostly the first one have way too much tonal contrast in it, which makes the model almost look "cartoonish".
I'd try to make it as soft as possible. The dark skin doesn't go well with a lot of "Blacks" or high contrasts.

[hue-e]

I gotta say, you're becoming one of my favorite photogs on this site... really great lighting on these. I love the contrast, color, etc.

[texxter]

Andre, Patrick, thanks for taking the time to comment. I enjoyed working with Amara on this little shoot.

Andre, I respect your opinion but I am not sure that there is one "right" tonal contrast for dark skin, or any skin color for that matter. The right tonal contrast is whatever the photographer chooses, high key, low key, mid key, to express his or her vision about the subject. I personally believe that there is beauty in the shadows too. Perhaps I am misunderstanding your point, and I apologize if that's the case.

[lenron]

Even by your immensely high standards, sir, these are stunning! #1 kills me - love love love.

What's more to say here? Nothin'

Always an inspiration, Paco.

[Ken]

There are elements I like in each one. #1 seems perfectly balanced. #4 I really like & #5 I keep wanting to see more of her hair, I want to nudge her to the left of the frame. That toasted marshmallow bkgnd is awesome. Thanks for sharing
-Huge Paco Fan

[texxter]

Nino, Ken, thanks so much for your kind comments, they inspire me to keep on goin', much appreciated.

Here is another image from the set. It was extremely cold and the model was freezing in that dress - I really don't like the pose, but I guess it could be considered a pseudo-fashion one if you stretch it.

[Ken]

Wow! Not sure what I envy most: your photography or your humility. :)

[jeffro20]

Originally Posted by texxter

Nino, Ken, thanks so much for your kind comments, they inspire me to keep on goin', much appreciated.

Here is another image from the set. It was extremely cold and the model was freezing in that dress - I really don't like the pose, but I guess it could be considered a pseudo-fashion one if you stretch it.

To each their own....the pose, expression and processing work for me. ;)

[texxter]

Thanks again!

My last experiment with this series, this time eliminating much of the yellow saturation and going for a crisp colder tonality. Does it work for you?

[Jake]

I really like the last two! The first set feels too contrasty to me.

[j1mmyj4m]

The last 2 surpass the others imo. The b&w is really great.

[The Philos]

Originally Posted by j1mmyj4m

The last 2 surpass the others imo. The b&w is really great.

I agree as the lack of warmer tones gives it a more fashion look IMO.

[Phanee]

Paco, Completely agree with Nino's (lenron) comment. Even by your standard these images are excellent. Absolutely love #1 & #2.

Thanks a lot for sharing.

Phanee

[Phisch]

I absolutely love the last one. I sort of agree with you on the pose in the b&w image but what makes me more uncomfortable is she's got goosebumps. Only uncomfortable because I'm always cold :) Otherwise, it's "fashion-y"

newbie's 2 cents.