Lessons

Lesson Info

Shoot: Painterly Portrait - Flowers

So um yeah, so we're going to get started with our model and the light is not set up probably exactly as I need if it is that's great, but I'm going to take some test shots to get started and for this I just wanted a simple background because I plan to impose this's something a little further planning I've done I want to add some textures and make it more have you know like that painting type of feel to it so we're just starting with a simple background and I'm just going to play around I might take the chair out I might put tool and again we're just gonna experiment so we have our lovely model here again and I'll get started with you so we can just, um get the chair over there and then we'll get started soil bringing over there and see how this coz if I step on us, will it leave footprints barefoot scared to go on here? Okay, so I'm going to position the chairs so that her body is facing more towards the light I don't really want the light behind her I want it focused on her on the fl...

ights here, the chair as to kind of sit this way I'm just going to see where my light's going do a few test shots can I actually get you here? Uh we're gonna move the chair over a couple inches I want you more in the middle. I'm I've got her pulled away from the background so that I can soften the background out a little bit. I'm not sure if that will work, but we'll see. All right, I'm just going to move this over. Sorry. Hold on. Turning out that way. Is this pendant or tied? You gotta twist it. So this outfit is from fiori caught or if anyone is wondering, she was kind enough to send me some more of her beautiful creations, and there'll be there'll be more information on where the clothing came from later on and he raised. So I just I just play with her hair a little bit, make it a little more stringing. Looks really pretty. Put that in there. Okay, good. You have an attitude? Usually. Yeah. Like, what? Six point three? I'm not when I do this and then yeah, two hundred. Um, yeah, I would go to one sixty just for now. Okay. Okay. So I'm just gonna take a few test shots and see if I like what's going on if I don't good that's really pretty. I feel like it's a little bright. I'll go to two hundred, yeah, like booth, okay, come on, okay. Yeah that's really pretty great I like that and so I'm going to take some shots without any phil um and then we'll add the v flat and see if that'll change up some of the some of the look so for this it's very simple there's nothing really happening but her in the chair, right? So a lot of the um when I do stuff like this, it really relies heavily on the model and the emotion and her body language more than just the whole picture that the focus is all about her eyes, you know, our center so we just got to make sure that what the posing and that she brings that character out of what I need from her so I just be directing her again like I never really did it. Okay, so we'll get you to kind of I want you to slide your body out ah, little bit away from the chair just kind of scoot your bum down just a tiny bit and lean back and relax onto the chair a little more. Yeah, and if you could, um the legs don't matter because I'm just going to kind of worry about the upper body a little more with your arm and you wanted to relax it and we even bring it up onto your hip or somewhere up top so I can see it I might have to take this some yeah, I don't know the light I might have to take that head bannon turn it the other way we'll see we'll just take some shots and see how this looks and so yeah she's looking down like and I am I'm letting her do that because I I think it's kind of pretty and we're going toe just let I'm gonna let you move around on your own and that if I want you to try something all I'll let you know good that's very pretty could you turn your body a little bit towards me it's a little tiny bit and kind of you even have your hand it's good and let your lips relax ago it's nice went a little too far try a different aperture good that's nice to a couple more shots and then we'll put the v flat the white the white one and after that when you get a little bit close up look into the camera can you put your chin up a little bit that's pretty nice let's turn your body a little more this way now that way good what's pretty up in there sorry, I'm just trying to see what well that's like running there castle I didn't notice that but can you maybe keep your arm down yet? So I just noticed something on the fabric that's good pretty yes oh sure body language is just relaxed I don't want any hard edgy poses and you know crazy faces she's just relax just like you would see in most paintings their body is very calm and there are a lot of daydreaming going on and emotion happening so good that's pretty watch your hand cause it's claude in a little bit so see that's something I didn't catch it and then I noticed it in the camera if you see in there looks like she's got no fingers so just tryto always remember like the shot would have been nice but I would probably have to crop that part out just because I didn't catch it so yeah with your hands out just right like just relax though yeah even up more towards the good good that's pretty and if you guys just notice I'm just like moving in and out I don't really ever stay in the same spot in between frames and move around quite a bit over here good I'm coming out the v flat and no yeah yeah sure if I have to move her down just because it's blocking her I could move the chair down so we'll move the chair down just a couple inches there you go right there right you do you wantto can you see from there no do you want to like I don't know sorry okay, well you can see her lawyer okay okay let's see how this looks yeah that's really pretty like that um maybe will yeah yeah good that's good keeping your own chan appetite a bit and isa on me lives sort of this relaxed and open good this like it's nice head towards me to such tiny bit more catching up good that's pretty good and you know what thank elisa finn if you want to use more of your hands and stuff and kind of like put the mirror face and play around that way you can yeah just keep moving around good can you look more over yet over it means good that's really pretty I'll do a few more like this and then we're going to take the chair away we'll take the chair away will put it back she can like stand beside it and just kind of mixing it up good that's pretty you want to even look sort of towards this light eyes sort of down here no that's nice okay two more and then we're going to take the chair away could I get a really close up cropped and close up of her good it's nice to see how it looks okay so let's take the chair away just pull it out and get some have her standing up wait just listen right there just so it's done let's bunch up more in the front so that it's not so sorry I think he was going up um and I think well sorry I wanted to smooth this over just a little bit oh my god this chord and driving me crazy okay I'm not used to it let me see how this looks so I'm gonna still keep a portrait sure but um oh she's just standing up and off the chair and let's see how this turns out yeah that's right we have to raise the light a little bit too good yeah do you want to even keep both hands this in the front sort of like dolly type of yeah that's pretty you can play around with your hands a little bit more even up here yeah do that you can play around with a skirt more and look around good can you move beglitis blocking you that's really pretty let's do some let's do some shots where let me see how it looks because I know the light is here but that floral piece on your head is over there so I want to try toe get more of that detail in there and with your braid can you fling it to the back because here for the look weird or not let me see how that looks because I know it's twisted to go to the front no it doesn't look good no let me go back here all right let's go nice it's really good maybe we're kind of just bring your yeah that's really pretty good you guys have any questions for me anybody stepping on this thing going well so far one just general question now obviously we've been using natural life the rest of the time we're using the studio now what makes you choose one or the other I don't know I just think about what would look right look best with what I'm trying to do like what we had done this morning I just felt like strolls would not have went well with that whole feel this it's still soft but it's also just a plain background and its portrait and it's in my head I have ideas for poles in post so it really actually depends on when I talked about light um yesterday you know the part where you know deciding on how it like what kind of lighting you're going to use you can use any lighting really with anything it just depends on your vision and how you're gonna executed so I mean I could use hard sunlight on this and it would be a totally different feel but it would still work right yeah good great yeah all right yeah I play around with the dress and just sort of good that's nice that's really pretty and I want some more if you count more a little more like facial expressions just sort of you know you can kind of like yeah like look little mischievous and maybe look a little confused yeah, we can even do a little smirk like I said there's no smiling and smiling and fashion really there's it's not often the case but I sometimes tried out and see how that ends up looking just a little yeah cute smile that's pretty maybe just turn a little more that way yeah that's pretty good that's really pretty yeah just keep moving it's cute when the problem is like when you go down it kind of like the flowers are sort of cutting into your face so are you able to like just twist the flowers off to the side when I do what I feel like I'm yeah there that's better little better yeah, I like that that's way better yeah let's try it again good that's really nice do that again just call sideways to me our tribe ascend see how that looks okay, I'm gonna move back just get a couple shots this way I'm going to get her to actually sit down on the ground in the second two I'm going to try it that way and see if I like any of those stay the way you were and we're going to do a couple more good that's pretty like that a lot I like you facing this way more but that flower I don't know is it too much if we move the light opposite and then I can see not yet so you just wait we'll leave it when I get on the ground I want to try and see how that turns out then good that's nice that's good and let's do some where you're like both your hands or in front of you again and you just sideways to me and just sort of straight onto the yeah that's nice that's really good I like that a lot and I like the dress it's puffing out in the back it looks cool we'll just get more of that happening here even you know what I can count to three canoe little action shot and I'll count to three and you can kind of like push the dress back and like look over at me will try something like that you know what I mean? So you're just like when you look back there anyone to it might not work out don't judge me okay one two three yeah I didn't get you on the frame but let me try that again again okay ready one two three yeah that's cute or the one more day one and then when you look at me can you kind of like give me like I almost like a dirty look or something? Ok one two three yeah like it's cute just pull around okay so I'm gonna get her to sit on the floor I guess a little slower this guy hand um you'll stay in that spot you'll just sit down and we'll do maybe some straight on at me and when you sit on the ground just have your knees together and your ankles cross so that we don't like see any stuff just move this guy back of it so have a seat on your bum yeah and yeah and then knees up so you're you're hugging your legs yet and just kind of keep your ankles there you go good yeah and you can cross them there that's what that's good and turn just a slightly to the light just a little bit that's pretty good you can hug your knees and as I'm shooting you can I'm like lean on them and just kind of keep moving around you're doing really good so it's pretty hold on I'm here uh maybe we'll put the light up one stop or to just a little bit more phil thisa little bit that's nice I'm going to get you to just stretch your legs out a little tiny bit that's good I like it there that's pretty and anything you have like you want to do you could even just maybe turn your body a little bit more to the side away from me yeah that's pretty and one foot khun b yeah exactly just stretched out a little bit try to get her all in here without the light showing too much that's pretty do that you can play around that way eyes more towards this week so they don't get too much whites of your eye nice to see what's going on here yeah I cut her toes off a little bit but you know what time do you think we could just pull this out an inch tonight it's just not in the frame is my trade there is good yeah that's really pretty and with your arm again it's kind of looking like so you got to be careful not to lock it just relax that although a little tiny bit that one yeah good shin up to bit that's good you turn your hand that way yeah that's pretty so I'm gonna try some shooting over top of her saleh schools um you know what with the fifty on again yeah you're talking okay so do you have any we're just switching my lens to the fifty so is there any questions that anyone wants to ask here yeah yeah you have yeah uh I'm assuming that you pretty much look at your screen looks right so looking at history rams anything like that so do you keep your screen kind of defaults or do you have any changes to make it brighter or what do you keep that yeah well normally it's on the brightest so I could see it the screen is actually demming it's kind of dying a little bit on me when it's outside it's on the full brightness so I can see it. I know I don't look at the history grams. I understand what there to show us with the explosion stuff, but the thing is, is that I I want to shoot it like a certain depth of field or certain, you know, overall look, so I'm looking at that rather than, um, than the technical ends of it. So, um, the screen yeah, I don't know it's not as bright, so it and also my screen doesn't show me exactly what I would end up seeing on the computer after. So it just depends. But in this forest, when you're shooting, you know me, you say you prefer like a beauty dish with reflector, what do you have typically if you didn't create your set is a background using paper, you have cloth or all kinds of stuff? Oh, I use the wall like write those that was done on a white board that wasn't even a background, it just I just use whatever is around if I don't have the proper set up, like even if I'm going into a salon to do a job we use wall, I bring cloth, we like tape it, yeah, it just it's really random, it all depends, thank you you know, so fashion tv is wondering what influences the color choice then of what you're shooting against? Why is it that you chose kind of the neutral gray for this one versus a white wall or something else? Yeah, I wanted it, I wanted the dark gray because I just feel like with the black and the cloth, I just thought it would have looked nice altogether, I could have went with white, but then it would have been really clean, and really, I think it would have changed the vibe a little bit this thes photos, I want to be dramatic because I want to edit him, edit them that way after, so yeah, but I mean, anybody, somebody could have come along and take put a white backdrop in this, and that would change the whole the whole scene? I think so, yeah, anything else? I don't mind the questions got one here when you're actually like in the middle of shooting. Once you kind of started going, do you refer back to your mood board that you've created or you just use that his inspiration and organization ahead of time? And then once you're in the actual shoot, you're just moving or do you actually keep it on set is a reference for yourself. Um it depends I don't I don't have the mood boards all the time like normally like I said when there's a lot of people on the team um I keep that so that we can keep referencing it so people don't get sidetracked but in general when like, say it's just me and the model or just me model and make up I'll that I'll show them inspiration images that I've put together and then from there we just go with the flow and sometimes you know, actually most times what I have in mind and then what ends up happening is is kind of completely different but it turns out better than I I was thinking a would just because I didn't sit there and stay specifically with what we were going to dio yeah, so I'm good yeah, I'm oh man scored all right? So we're going to get, uh do some where these shots I'm just gonna keep going shooting over top of her. We switch to the fifty because the eighty five was a little too too long for me to stand over her like this with the lights set up. If we're outside, I probably would have kept the eighty five on because I could have backed up or something but let's see how this looks that's pretty I need to just go to seven point one and see what happens here yeah can you turn your body a little towards me and then eyes on me like what you did there but just kind of like yeah good that's pretty come a little lower nice I can't nice move back do you want teo even pull one foot in a little bit just sort of yeah and then stretch one leg out so we still get the legs you could see them but you know, I just you know it's good good more sorry when your foot out more like normal bend it the way you had it but just bring the foot like towards me more yeah, there you go. Good that's nice. You know, belly do you know valley? Do you do ballet? It'll he did. So do you know any like kind of stance is or anything like that? Do you want to try it? Lot of times the girls take down thing I don't know I always ask them because dancers if you guys could never get a dancer, you could get some pretty cool shots with that. So, um, why don't we try that let's stand up and then I don't expect you to stay on your toes or anything and I want you to break your but anyway, I just I thought we could try some yeah, like um hold on here so I will count to three and then you can kind of so do can you what do you have in mind like yeah and we see do you want to try it just like see it at a time okay yeah let's try that I'll let you do it uh just yeah try it and then I will snap justice you're coming around and and be mindful of your face because um a lot of times when the girls are doing this for the first part of it there the worried more about their body but you gotta you gotta concentrate on the whole thing so if you when you come around just kind of have your face like ready and we'll try it and see how this looks okay ready one two three groups I know the paper the paper yeah that's okay what's right again I caught it wrong okay one two three that one worked a little better but I think it's too hard to twist with the paper it's kind of twisting do you know any of like where you can kind of just cross your ankles and you know use your hands and do a little bit of a pose yeah, we'll try that when you do it can you keep your ankles close together I'll count to three and you can even pop up like that way because it's so you're not standing that way the whole time yeah okay one two, three that's pretty well try it again you can even do a little like a little jump or something. Okay one two that's cute forget it won't do it I'm not catching other eight times so I just wanted to try it out though yeah, I mean if you want to just stand like I don't know just stand still and just with your body or your hands you could put cunning use your hands bring him up till chat a little bit good. I just I wanted to try these polls is because of what? She's wearing it's very like it's like a little ballerina, right little fairy or something so yeah, a couple more of these and then we'll be good time was me that's good that's pretty um sorry don qui put the the white board back up high where it was just because now I have a standing again just got lighting you want to put the chair back and I wantto put some cloth over it. I just wanted to try that real quick. Yeah let's try it in a drape it over top before we switch your we're just gonna put the tool on it so as you guys know by now I guess I like to play with material a lot so I use it a lot shoots it just adds I don't know it adds to the kind of stuff I like to do so it's to just have like bolts of cloth just laying around everywhere for your plan I do oh my goodness such a mass my basement's a big mess like yeah you don't have to figure out what to do with some of that stuff the thing is is that I end up giving things away sometimes and then a few months later I'm like where is that whatever and I'm like gave it away and I have to go buy another one you have too much stuff a lot of the things I have a use over and over sword ends up being hold on here just talking this round okay do you wanna have a seat there wait hold on one thing okay sit on this so it doesn't fall and this is just to give a little bit of like dreaming yeah I just want to add it add it in there just to kind of I don't know just playing around see how it looks and it kind of all twins and with the skirt because it's tool anyway okay actually I'm gonna get you to like sit back more and yeah I want you to just be very um very proper very like royal when you're position there good good turn your head towards me more that's pretty a little bit closer. Guys over here. Yeah, turn your head towards me even more that's a pretty one swallow any kind of just very like straight into the camera can you let your lips to sort of relax but turn your head so you were like this just like straight on good good you have to keep your head straight on me good, good good that's pretty it's nice I just want to move the flowers over no more falling into your josh is a bit twisted over let's go yeah let's turn straight on and just kind of like have the good oops. I hope so. I got you just free moved just as you moved me don't put your chin up a tiny tiny but no. And can we just get a few frames and overcome have you playing with your hands a little bit? So has your face like kind of just maybe the other hand? Because it's more blank on this side here just do some of that that's pretty seal that looks place straight on me. It's nice one straight on into the camera. So if you guys see I just kind of keep coming forward and pulling back and coming forward and pulling back I can't go off to the left to right as much as I would like to because of the, um the background I will it'll come out of the frames this is why I'm not moving around as much as we did the other shot so I'm good I think so we can take some questions while we are waiting here first one first so using big are using strobe lights can be something there's a little bit intimidating for people do you have any thoughts on using more kind of non conventional lights not studio strobes but you know candles or like incandescent labs or any sort of lamps or other lighting sources that you might have around the house? Um yes, oh well during yesterday's segment I went through the lighting setups that I normally use and there was candles set ups in there and I concluded diagrams with them there was an editorial and they're in the presentation with, uh that was actually a constant like for film because we didn't have any strobes and it was at night and I had to stay very still when I was shooting. So like I explained before, too, with the lighting thing, a lot of the way I've learned was using what I had, so I have no really specific preference. It just depends on what I'm trying to do like I love window light I love candlelight, I like to use the soft box I love beauty dish like I just change all the time, so I'm not I'm not big on like, oh, I need ten lights and you know, fifty modifiers, and I just I just use what is that? Whatever will be available or what I think will work and along those same lines, when you're working with a publication, when you're working with a client and you're looking working kind of a larger job, do you? Do you ever feel the need thio use a bigger light just because it's more impressive? Or do you worry at all about using d I y gear when you're using when you're working for an actual client? I d'oh I used to worry a lot about that, and I realized over time that people were hiring me because of what I was doing and not what they were expecting me to act like someone else. It took me a long time too get that in my head, so as time went by, I started learning like, well, if I'm getting hired by so and so, if I always ask the client like you have big windows in your house or, you know, like, how is it in the hole? How much room was in there? I just need to know what kind of light I'll be able to bring our use, and it just really depends, and, um, yeah, I used to be a little bit paranoid of it, but now I don't it doesn't bother me so that's fantastic. I mean, that's one of those things that again is stressful to a lot of people because you want to start getting better and bigger jobs, right? And in order to do that, you have to show your work, and in order to get the work, you have to have done bigger jobs, right? So it's, like people get intimidated by by that need to look professional and all that I am something that bothers you anymore. No, it doesnt. And actually, it kind of did a reverse effects. Like there was a little situation that happened maybe a couple years back. It was for a magazine. It was specifically for the magazine. It was a big, big thing that we had to there was, like, thousands of dollars of clothes being pulled, and, uh um, I had someone come and help me. They set up the light for me because I felt like I need to look the part, you know, they have these big lights and, like, beauty dish here, beauty dish there and big soft box in that corner, and everything was just set up like this. I did not like the photos at all, it wasn't my lighting I didn't. Planet I didn't get the clothes ready. I didn't know the location of the time, I just could not stand the photos. So, uh, I learned from that that that doesn't mean anything. You know, you can have all the gear in the world, but if you're not, you're not liking the way it looks, then it doesn't matter, right? Well, they came back to what you said, like if you are doing work and you're getting hired based on that work, it's, because they liked that work that's, right. So why are you going to then try and do something else or feel bad that you're not doing what they hired you and that those photos were not me, like even people who had shown the photos to their like, that is not your style at all, just everything about it, like I didn't even get to really direct the models, so I just didn't like the photos. I never pull system. We never share them, yeah.