My first fashion shoot - a day in the city with Bethany
I had a great day on Friday. A lady I met on Facebook liked my street and stage photography, and asked me to shoot her in the city so that she could use any photos she liked for her portfolio. It's a win/win scenario as far as I'm concerned, as she gets her photos and I gain experience. A genuinely lovely girl, she's a part-time burlesque performer, competitive dancer, and marathon athlete - and her name is Bethany. She has a great sense of dress style, and regularly wears rockabilly-style gear everywhere she goes. She is heavily tattooed, and while I don't care for them normally, hers are really feminine and reflect her life choice as a vegan vegetarian. I won't say that I'm converted, but they really work for her in a very positive way.
The Olympus OM-D got to wear just one lens for the whole day - the standard Olympus 12-50mm f/3.5 kit lens. For a kit lens it is quite exceptional.
Here are a few sets from those of the 948 shots I took which have been processed so far.
I must say that her look is so classically Audrey Hepburn, that she must have strained around seventy thousand bloke's necks as they walked past on Friday. And girls. Photographing in front of a small crowd is a new experience. LOL
Thank you Eric and Mike! Golly Mike, that'd be nice! LOL Some of my stage stuff has attracted a number of requests on Facebook too. You never know I guess. I'm sure the same has happened for both you and Humayun because of the exposure as well.
Really good work Chris, (only one I don't really like is 'Lounging') love some of the compositions and poses. The monochromes look fantastic, especially 'resplendent'.
Just another thought Chris, have you considered cropping some of the images so they are square. With several of my wedding clients I was asked if I could supply square images 'just like the Hasselblad photos' .
I shot most weddings with my Nikon F5, F4 and seen as I didn't have a 'Blad', I used my Mamiya 645Pro and then cropped the images to 4.5x4.5cm.
The square image would add to the 'period look' of some of your pics.
Just another thought Chris, have you considered cropping some of the images so they are square. With several of my wedding clients I was asked if I could supply square images 'just like the Hasselblad photos' .
I shot most weddings with my Nikon F5, F4 and seen as I didn't have a 'Blad', I used my Mamiya 645Pro and then cropped the images to 4.5x4.5cm.
The square image would add to the 'period look' of some of your pics.
Yep, I've done a few this way in the past, but I'm generally not a fan of the square photograph. I'm a stickler for adhering to Pythagorean thirds, and very few of my images have the subject centred, excepting a few here - a rare occasion. Given that, it's difficult to adapt a square aspect ratio to satisfy it. 4:3 is far better for most of what I produce. I have done a few square prints for comp work and always thought there was something wrong with them. LOL
This isn't to say that some work either way, and given my penchant for black and while grain, I agree that some would look cool.
Thank you Bill, Ric and Deeno for your kind words of encouragement. It looks as though I could be doing another session with Bethany, but in a studio setting, and with Humayun as well. That should be a fun day!
Sorry, I haven't looked in this forum for a while!
When can we do a studio shoot? Might be easier to come down here as I've got everything set up... beauty dish, reflectors, etc., and I have ceiling height.
I really like these. Especially the first one. Except I'd maybe lighten up the shadow on her face a bit,drop the contrast or work with the texture. It could just be the low-res and compression on this forum though, but that shadow area looks a bit un-feminine in an otherwise striking image.
The reds are really saturated on my screen in the other images, is that part of the look she is after? Looks like a really fun shoot.
