Steampunk try

i mentioned in a "discussion" thread that i wanted to try some sort or portrait or fashion photography having only ever shot 3/4 angle head/shoulder portraits in the Air Force...

there a server at a local greasy spoon who has a rather eclectic look to her. she has long red/magenta hair, a few small tatoos (behind the ear, on the neck etc) and a really perky personality. shes got really fair skin which made it difficult for me to get what i thought was good exposure (see "a" and "c" below)...

i thought i would see if she was interested in shooting some sort of images when low and behold i find her on model mayhem!

we got together last night for some steampunk shots in a coffee shop that's a bit bohemian...

i know ive got C&C requested but im really not great at a) artificial lighting (heck i have a hard time with lighting of ANY kind) b) posing c) post processing SOOOooo, go easy on the criticism...

i used one speedlight with a 33" reflective umbrella and tried using my limited knowledge to adjust for ambient and even shooting at f2.8 i seemed to miss focus on more than i'd like to admit. the joint was really less roomy than i remembered so things were a little crowded...

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Wow....

197 views, 4 likes...

Thought FOR SURE, there'd be some sort of comments...

Hi. I'll comment if you like, and try to be constructive. This model seems more like a glamour model and looks a bit uneasy here to my eye. I think the choice of top she is wearing creates its own problems - as in pic #4. I like pic #3 but its a bit of a shame that the foreground is oof, which happened on several. Never easy to get a wide dof in this sort of shot, e.g. #2 and #7. I think the images are a bit dark in the background - if you have photoshop a bit of shadow/highlight editing lifts the background and balances the light a bit better (at least in my eyes).

I applaud your foray into a genre you are not familiar with, and I would not claim to be an expert in any of this, but the best way forward is to analyse what worked and what didn't and then progress on the next shoot. I love the steampunk look so keep at it.

The first thing that stood out to me is the background. It is not all that "steampunkish". I feel the lighting is too flat as well.

I like the attempt, and I think you can do some good things. Keep at it!

She has a beautiful smile but maybe too much for steam punk. I love the outfit!

Hannya wrote in post #18200973
Hi. I'll comment if you like, and try to be constructive. This model seems more like a glamour model and looks a bit uneasy here to my eye. I think the choice of top she is wearing creates its own problems - as in pic #4. I like pic #3 but its a bit of a shame that the foreground is oof, which happened on several. Never easy to get a wide dof in this sort of shot, e.g. #2 and #7. I think the images are a bit dark in the background - if you have photoshop a bit of shadow/highlight editing lifts the background and balances the light a bit better (at least in my eyes).

I applaud your foray into a genre you are not familiar with, and I would not claim to be an expert in any of this, but the best way forward is to analyse what worked and what didn't and then progress on the next shoot. I love the steampunk look so keep at it.

there were a couple on the stairs, i was able to lighten the background some, but most of the stuff i googled had dark (almost) foreboding backgrounds which is what i was aiming for. there were SOME with light locations but the majority were darker. and we didnt get together until 9:00pm...

keeping with that thought i worked to keep the flash power down and keep it from spilling all over...

01Ryan10 wrote in post #18201223
The first thing that stood out to me is the background. It is not all that "steampunkish". I feel the lighting is too flat as well.

I like the attempt, and I think you can do some good things. Keep at it!

the coffee shop was the most "eclectic" location i could come up with (i couldnt get any time in the basement under our stamping presses at work with all of the hydraulic and pneumatic lines and spotty lighting lol). i moved 4 tables and 3 leather loveseats and a dozen chairs trying to get some space to work. i wanted to stay with my 50mm vs shooting with the 24-70 f2.8 thinking i could get a shallower DOF since i couldnt get anymore separation between the bookcases and Eileen...

Michael Ritter wrote in post #18201286
She has a beautiful smile but maybe too much for steam punk. I love the outfit!

lol... the first comment alludes to not ENOUGH smile for Steampunk, you think its TOO MUCH...


she was a dream to work with since i really dont have much experience directing models when im trying to keep creative thoughts in my head...

thanks for the comments and thoughts!

I'm betting you had a lot of fun with this shoot! I went to a steampunk event earlier this year and it was really great. Here are my comments:

• I am anything but an expert on lighting, but a number of the images you posted had your models arm as the brightest spot in the photo rather than her face. It took effort to look past this and make my eyes go to her face. Especially images 2-4, it's almost like your umbrella wasn't pointed up enough.
  
  
• There's some challenges with her costume. One of the other respondents mentioned her top, and I agree. While I generally like the top itself the posing with it caused some "bunching and rolling" around her armpits, especially noticeable in images 1 and 4. The brown colors of the rest of her costume are so similar to the background that she gets a little lost in some of them.
  
  
• Did you get an image that showed off that large tattoo on her thigh? As I was scrolling through the images I kept hoping to see it shown off.
  
  

Yeah, I definitely did NOT do her muxh justice with lighting. Pretty new at it all...

I agree with everything going brown. Steam Punk was described to me as "Goths who discovered the color brown"...

No I didn't get any full image shots of the castle tsttoo. Id like to come up.with some ideas for all.of her tattoos that aren't just aren't full body shots WITH the ink. Like the ivy on her shoulder, including a partial face or a big bunch of hair or something....

The only image among those that I really like is the 3rd one. And the bright arm someone else mentioned would be easy to remedy.

I've never tried this theme, but your photos have me thinking that depth of field may be more important to "steam punk" photos than with other typical portraits.

In the final image, the most brightly lit burst of breast flesh seems awkward compositionally.

mdvaden wrote in post #18203211
The only image among those that I really like is the 3rd one. And the bright arm someone else mentioned would be easy to remedy.

I've never tried this theme, but your photos have me thinking that depth of field may be more important to "steam punk" photos than with other typical portraits.

In the final image, the most brightly lit burst of breast flesh seems awkward compositionally.

i went in and played around with the "dodging and burning" (round circle thing) in LR some more and remedied some of the grossly disparate exposure issues. im pretty new at more of the "specialized" tools in LR. ever learning...

i agree with the depth of field needed. i just didnt have the room to move Eileen farther from the background and i shot the aperture i did because a) i dont have that much time with the 50 f1.4 b) ive shot wide open with other lenses and seemed to miss focus a bit so i wanted some more safety zone so to speak...

kind of the thing with steampunk IS the projection of breasts and lots of leg though (at least from what i was able to google) so while i wouldnt use this for any kind of serious portrait work, its NOT way too far off the genre...


thanks everyone who's had comments and thoughts! i hope im able too retain them, the next time i shoot. i really would like to get things right in the camera and not have to depend on post processing...

You've got all the ingredients but you need to work on the lighting. I'd start with using a larger modifier, feather it, and aim it more at her chest/neck area so that you have her face exposed correctly. A gridded modifier would have been nice for more control. It looks like you had some ambient sources, so a gridded modifier would have allowed for lighting the subject while maintaining the environment and mood. The brim of the hat is making it difficult to illuminate her face without having the lighting to low, note the horizontal nose shadow in 2 and 4. It would have been nice to have that location, model, and outfit to work with.

windpig wrote in post #18203228
You've got all the ingredients but you need to work on the lighting. I'd start with using a larger modifier, feather it, and aim it more at her chest/neck area so that you have her face exposed correctly. A gridded modifier would have been nice for more control. It looks like you had some ambient sources, so a gridded modifier would have allowed for lighting the subject while maintaining the environment and mood. The brim of the hat is making it difficult to illuminate her face without having the lighting to low, note the horizontal nose shadow in 2 and 4. It would have been nice to have that location, model, and outfit to work with.

now, see i thought more directional "spot" lighting was more in tune with the genre. right now ive only got is "speedlite" lighting kit. no strobes and some 40" and 60" shoot through and some smaller reflector umbrellas. i dont know how much weight theyll support AND ive never looked into softbox type modifiers...

thanks for the comments!

The gridded modifier will give you that directional look because it collimates the light. Look at the Fotodiox Ez-Pro modifiers, something like the 46", the grids are delicate, but inexpensive. You'll need a speedlight adaptor. I'd be looking at stuff that will work with mono lights so that you can make that move in the future. If you can get the talent and outfit like you posted, you certainly will do well with barebulb lighting.

How did you end up reaching for for a shoot? As I understand you were friendly with her from the "greasy spoon" but did you just recognize her from looking though MM? Did you contact her though MM or while she was working a the GS? I just ask bc I know this hair stylist that literally has goes up to a bartender and been like "hey do you want to model for a photoshoot". I guess its easier if you're a girl haha w/e

Anyways for C&C it probably not helpful to pick apart your images so I'll just give you some general advice. When working with off camera lights (general speaking) you want catchlights in both the eyes. Also be aware of the shadow cast by the nose it can tell you a lot. Do a little research on rembrandt lighting and you'll see why I can tell your light was set too low in that 4th image.

Off camera lighting isn't easy and for perspective the first time I tryed off camera lighting my images were so embarrassing they deleted themselves.

A thought on the background. I LOVE the use of the bookshelf, especially for steampunk. But the foil embossing is catching way too much light and a) distracting from your model and b) just feels too clean-shiny for the genre. I know you said you tried to control spill, but with just an umbrella (and in a tight space) almost impossible. Next time, get some big pieces of black foamcore to flag off the light from the background even more. It's cheap as heck and will really help separate your model from the background AND kill those book title highlights. Also, consider your angles -- you'll note, #1 does not have the issue, because the background is angled away from the lens.

I look forward to seeing more!