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hi

During midday on monday i did a little test shoot at pier 2 with one of our members Mitchell and my lighting guy.
we worked out strobe lighting issues under direct sunlight managed to shoot at f2.8 1/250 ISO100 with a NDx8 filter and got a moody dark shot with enough contrast on the model. Around 3pm i had a model come along Belinda Matheison you may recognise her as presenter from the show the 'How To Channel' on FOX. Weird thing is the strobe light broke just before she came - i didn't break it, i guess it was just it's time so we decided to continue the test shoot with her using my sb800 and the snoot from the strobe to narorw the light

shot all of these constant f2.8 i should of used f4, 1/250 sb800 on ttl auto
side lighted various positions utilizing the sc29 cord, lens: 28-70 f2.8

the first 3 i smoothed out a little in PP because i think they needed it




indoors was pretty dark so the light from the sb800 could be controled better, Mitchell did a great job holding the sb800 attending to exact instructions very well - thankyou Mitchell!!




funny how things turn out when you plan to do something else

The first pic is awesome in terms of the lighting and effect created. Heheh Wendellification happens on a mystical realm now Good to hear you managed to get something out of a potentially bad situation.

Some lovely work there Wendell - and lucky you to get such a good looking model for your test shots. She is gorgeous.

Well done, Wendell. The first one is magnificent.

Cheers
Alex

Wendell - along the way a lot of your equipment has been toasted but also, along the way, your shots have taken you into the world of professionalism.

I look forward to seeing your shots and, as for the young lady, hubbahubba

sirhc55 wrote:I look forward to seeing your shots and, as for the young lady, hubbahubba

i second that !

cheers rob

First pic is a stunner, Wendell! The ones taken from above don't really do anything for me, and there's something not quite right about the last.

Who needs more than an SB-800 anyway, right?

First one is yummy I love the ps treatment.

Have you thought about using a video light ?

Couple of niggles: if you smooth the face you really need to smooth the hands (and hands are hard) - in the first shot her wrinkly left hand looks awful next to the cartoon face, and the flap/lump on the middle finger of her right hand doesn't really fit (the hands leaped out at me). I'd be tempted to soften the hands (edge preserving smooth or similar) in the next two shots as well.

Similarly, the unexpected lump above her lip in the last shot seems odd after the first three. It's interesting to see what you started with for the others, but if you're going for the computer-rendered look better to be consistent I think.

I wish I came now Wendell - looks like a woman with a lovely personality that would be nice to meet !

These are great and I know that you have seen every little problem with them because how visually orientated you are. Yes, the skin effect is smoothed a little too much, and yes the hair is a bit messy drawing an unnecessary contrast to the perfect skin... BUT....

I think you already know this.

yup guys i'm just getting lazy
to omuch things to think about I have to think

1. maintaining rapport
2. exposure
3. art direction
4. hair and makup
6. the lighting
7. the poses
8. facial expression
9. the fashion
and a whole heap of other things in a fragment of time
if anyone has been on a real shoot
you may notice there is a person for each of those areas assisting the photographer
hence 'test shoot'
when i do the fred bare campaign i will have a stylist, lighting tech guy and an assistant so i can concentrate on the details

Heath your right belinda has it all looks through to success, a beautiful personality shows in the picture

I shot these on a red couch in the office with all the lights off
hence the high contrast look also used the snoot from the strobe on the sb800 mith held both items skillfully and that's why the light is narrow

Wendell

Good work, although a little unnaturally smooth on the face for me. #2 is the weakest as I think her face is way too hot (too much light).

Your skills are leaping ahead too, going by these. Can't wait to see the best of Fred Bare.

Wendell,

THese are awesome mate. Love them.
You say these were taken with just one light, the SB800 and a snoot? Brilliant.

Nice one.

*adds red velvet to shopping list.
damn Wendell, that first shot is billboard material! Freakishly good lighting from an sb800!

wendell

the first image is fantastic!

what tip do you have for the 'smooth skin' effect?

thanks

Great shots Wendell. Number 1 is a corker (except for the old lady hands as already noted)

And a fine example of the power of just four images in a post, well done.

genji - running an image through Neat Image can give skin that smooth effect, if you like it

Sheish Wendell - these images (particularly the first) are out of this world. Mate, as it's already been said - your work just gets better and better! Thanks for sharing these.

hi genji

the smooth effect actually isn't that appealing to me anymore at the time the side lighting from the sb800 enhanced the shadow tones of the texture of the skin so even though belinda has a good complexion i was getting harsh texture on the skin, that's the trade off with side lighting wth no diffusser dome, so i just softened it up with guassian blur added 2pixels of noise then blured that slightly

Belinda told me her agency wanted more true to life pics so the original would of sufficed for the purpose

thanks everyone for the comments and suggestions, I appreciate it

Matt I used 1 sb800 but remember i was shooting in almost total dark indoors with just a small illumination from the 5pm sun outside, so the power of the sb800 is enhanced you can get near like strobe light results in low light
also if i used the strobe light i coudl take full length shots and get the desired lighting effect i wanted at further distances as the sb800 isn't powerful enough to illuminate the whole body with the narrowing of the snoot so i had to shoot half length tight.

wendellt wrote:
Matt I used 1 sb800 but remember i was shooting in almost total dark indoors with just a small illumination from the 5pm sun outside, so the power of the sb800 is enhanced you can get near like strobe light results in low light
also if i used the strobe light i coudl take full length shots and get the desired lighting effect i wanted at further distances as the sb800 isn't powerful enough to illuminate the whole body with the narrowing of the snoot so i had to shoot half length tight.

A Better Beamer and flash bracket will help, no strobe needed.

I think the lighting is quite harsh, and in a couple of images the exposure is blown.

I'd like to have seen the lighting softened quite a bit so as to reduce the harshness I'm seeing: this is almost as bad as direct sunlight.

I'm with everything, the first shot is freaking amazing.