Katie Green – getting started

It's always a pleasure to work with new people...

This is a cute shot of Katie Green, a pretty blonde girl, kneeling in a field. It was taken during a her first session modelling. She has a natural feminine grace, and a porcelain complexion. This shot was taken towards the end of the afternoon, and has a warmth and a glow to it.

I hope you enjoy viewing the image - Colin

Pixel Peepers' Notes & Newbie Hints & Tips:

Sony A7R II 70-200 2.8GM @ f4 1/15 sec - (200mm) ISO200 - On a Tripod

Location: We are on an abandoned railway line that was closed during the Beeching Closures here in the UK.
The model is in direct sunlight. The hard shadows on her thighs and neck are produced by a Metz Mecablitz 60 CT4 flashlight running off of a battery pack. The light is some distance from the model, and direct, as she is in the evening sun. There is a half gold reflector, filling in the shadows from the left. You can clearly see its effect on the front of her arms.

Newbie Hint: Half gold reflectors are very useful for photographers, as they add a warmth and glow without overwhelming the lighting.

I often light in this way as it gives highly defined detail, with minimum shadows on the face.
This adds to the flatter look of the skin tones.
Note: If I was nit-picking, I should have asked the assistant to hold the reflector lower to fill under here neck a little more. He was quite high above her head.
The more observant photographers will see that she has moved during the exposure. The Metz Speedlight has saved the day on this image. It has frozen the subject, with it's fast flash duration. A close look at the image shows the movement picked up by the ambient light. Of course, this is most obvious where the flash has least impact. In this case the specular highlights of the pearls masked by her shoulder.

Tip for Newbies: Don't get hung up on this kind of thing. It make absolutely no difference to the overall shot. I didn't shoot it for the clothes designer. It just adds to the look and feel. "Perfect" rarely adds to a "look". My advice is to judge your own work critically, but don't bin shots because of tiny flaws like this.

The Sony 70-200mm GM lens does it again. Smooth skin tones, with tack sharp eyelashes, even at 1/15sec (with the help of the super quick flash of course!) I've added the 1:1 crop below so that you can see the detail and the lens smoothness and sharpness.

Katie face tones and detail at 1:1