My First(s)
This weekend I had the pleasure to shoot Evelyn (Friday) & Stormy (Saturday). I knew portraiture would be difficult, but I gained a whole new appreciation after this weekend. I took a lot of mental notes this weekend, all of which I hope to work and improve on in my coming shoots.
Going into the shoot, I knew that helping the model with her poses would be one of my greatest challenges. With that said, I did a bit of research prior to the photo shoots. That is, I studied poses and saved them on my iPhone. This proved to be very helpful to both the models and myself. Hopefully, as I and the models gain more experience this will get easier.
Facial expressions are key. Without a good & strong face, you’ve got nothing. I insisted that each bring an unobtrusive escort/friend in the hopes that they would make them feel more comfortable and less stiff. This also proved to be very beneficial.
On another note, I recently purchased the Ray Flash Ring Flash adapter. I had been patiently waiting for the Orbis ring flash adapter to be released, but it has been pushed back again and again. I just could not wait. The Orbis ring flash does not, however, block the AF assist beam as it is a hand held unit. A fitting kit will be released in early 2009 that will fix the ring flash adapter to the camera for longer shoots. I can only imagine how tiring it would be to have to hand hold the ring flash in a separate hand. Holding my 40D with either my 24-70 2.8L or 70-200 2.8L IS has proven to be tiring enough in both hands. But I digress. The Ray Flash, while a bit over priced, is a lightweight plastic unit that does a good job of providing even light. Many users complain that the unit is cheaply made because of the plastic material, but anything more would add unnecessary weight.
All of the pictures below were taken with my:
40D
24-70 2.8L OR 70-200 2.8L IS
580EX II
Ray Flash Ring Flash adapter
