End of the Year Photoshoot
Well, 2020 is officially here. I tried to go out of 2019 with a bang by doing one last photoshoot. The day just flat out sucked, cold and raining. We decided on 3 locations: the super market, my basement studio, and outside in the street (weather permitting).
First up was the super market. My girlfriend was cooking so we needed to get food anyway, why not do a shoot with our model, Judy?
The lighting was great in the aisles and only need minor tweaking in post.
Canon EOS R & Sigma 50mm f/1.4 Art
f/1.4; 1/250; ISO 500
Judy’s blog (www.cheflolascorner.com) and Instagram (@chef__lola).
The super market had pretty good light so off camera flash wasn’t necessary. I only brought my Sigma 50mm ART which is all I needed. It was semi-busy in there so we needed to be quick with the shots and posing. The Sigma is a fantastic lens, especially on the EOS R. Focusing is great and the colors are really nice. We did some shots first down the aisles.
I tried using this LED spot light that was overshooting from the next aisle.
Canon EOS R & Sigma 50mm f/1.4 Art
f/1.4; 1/320; ISO 400
Moving on to the produce section was next on the agenda before we hit the checkout. I had the camera set to aperture priority and auto ISO so I could shoot as quick as possible without having to worry about my settings. It worked out well for the most part and editing in post wasn’t too bad.
The produce had good light and the pepper cast some red into her eyes.
Canon EOS R & Sigma 50mm f/1.4 Art
f/1.4; 1/320; ISO 640
After checkout, it was time to head back to the home studio. It was still raining out so we couldn’t do the street shots just yet. It was supposed to stop raining into the night so we had to play the waiting game until then. In the studio, I set up a Flashpoint Xplor 600 with a Westcott 36” Rapid Box. I chose to stay with a one light set up with a reflector instead of my usual three light.
After clothing was changed and the lighting was set up, we were ready to start shooting. I had the white Savage Seamless paper background up and was being lazy as I wanted a darker background. I just had Judy move away from the background and it helped darken it up with only using one light source.
Even though the background is white, the one light source makes it appear grey.
Canon EOS R & Canon EF 85mm f/1.4L IS
f/4; 1/200; ISO 400
The lighting was great. It was a good set up in the basement even though it is cramped when trying to use large soft boxes. I work with what I have. But judge for yourself…
Cramped studio…
The session was going well. Next, I wanted to try having her stand against the backdrop and only using a 7” reflector with no diffusion. It kind of gives that old school fashion photography look which is different than my normal shots using soft light.
I really like the harsh shadows.
Canon EOS R & Canon EF 85mm f/1.4L IS
f/8; 1/200; ISO 400
The harsh lighting and shadows really add something to the photo. I have been messing around with it more lately and I like the results.
Now, the rain finally stop! We can do some street shots though it was now 9PM. The weather was cold and breezy so I decided to keep it simple with a single Flashpoint R2 round head. My girlfriend kept a hand on the light stand as Judy posed.
Raising the ISO was not an issue.
Canon EOS R & Canon EF 85mm f/1.4L IS
f/1.4; 1/125; ISO 3200
I exposed for the background first which gave me an ISO of 3200. I was comfortable with this so next we took some test shots with the flash firing. Once dialed in, Judy removed her jacket and we were ready to shoot.
Turning away from the flash added some shadows.
Canon EOS R & Canon EF 85mm f/1.4L IS
f/1.4; 1/125; ISO 3200
The shots came out great and I enjoyed doing the shoot. We were able to do three different locations for three different styles.
Be sure to check out Judy’s blog (www.cheflolascorner.com) and Instagram (@chef__lola).