The XMEN Clan Forums

I've been wanting to do a junkyard shoot for quite some time. Got a couple of models together and headed out this afternoon. The lighting was horrible (direct, mid-day sunlight - didn't have a choice), but we managed. Anyway, the first two are of Amber, and the last one is my friend Natalie.

One more from our session....

Heh. I'm assuming you want C&C, but you're doing way better than I'd do if I tried. So take it for what you paid for it.

Amber #1 - Need more fill lighting. Arm (elbow) angle looks awkward, that hand should probably be pointed out instead of in. Nit - car doesn't look bad enough.

Amber #2 - Interesting pose - not sure if good or bad. Fill is much better. Not sure if I'd like it better with more of the jeep or not.

Natalie #3 - I like. Maybe a little more fill on the face, or you could be emphasizing the heat and like the contrast.

Natalie #4 - I like. Nit: her top is pretty wrinkled. There are some that would say the hands prevent you from seeing her tush. OTOH, that position emphasizes other attributes. Not sure how best to resolve or even if you want to.

Overall nit: it's hot & sunny, likely affecting makeup. But you knew that, duh.

Suggestion: a fan could liven the hair. Tough on location like that, I know.

Gambino - thanks for the reply!

Amber #1 - I still stink at posing, but I'm working on it. The lighting was a bear because we were shooting at 2:30 in the afternoon. That was the only time that the junkyard could give us to shoot. We were experimenting with using a handheld softbox off to camera left and had a heck of a time balancing out the light.

Amber #2 - The pose was inspired by the Whitesnake video, "Here I Go Again". I wanted enough of the Jeep to be in the shot so that you would know that it's a Jeep, but I didn't want it to be the focal point of the image.

Natalie #3 - I could probably lighten the face a bit with by doing some dodging, but it really is much better at full size.

Natalie #4 - In this one, the pose does what I want it to do.

Like I said, this was the only time that I had to do the shoot. Pretty much just directy, harsh sunlight. It presented a challenge, and that's okay because it's the only way I'm going to learn. The Lesson - you can't always control your lighting and you have to do the best you can.

As for the suggestion, I would love to have had a fan. There was no electricity in that part of the junkyard. I wish there would have been because not only would I have brough a fan, I would have also had a monolight out there. On a sad note, my $400 SB-800 bit the dust. It got dropped and bits and pieces of it went flying everywhere. Not sure if it can be repaired.

Overall, I was pretty pleased with the shoot. That doesn't mean that there's not plenty of room for improvement, but this is something I've been wanting to do for a long time.

XMENPorsche wrote: On a sad note, my $400 SB-800 bit the dust. It got dropped and bits and pieces of it went flying everywhere. Not sure if it can be repaired.

Ouch!! Sorry.

I just saw your post on the photo forum where you said you had Joe out there with you. Obviously he'd be a big help!

Actually, in this case, this was all pretty much me. Joe was there, and he did a lot of shooting, but he didn't really "help" a whole lot. I think he'll be coordinating the next one.