A quick review of my last shoot

16-2-19 Shoot with Ashley and Jason's cars.

This shoot was way too long. I think the next time we get together, I'll have to limit to just one, or two hours max with Ashley. She is enthusiastic,  but  working so long will take any one down, including me. I was watching a YouTube video that says when everyone's energy is at it's highest is when to call it done. The logic goes like this; you don't want to shoot some one when they are exhausted.

This lesson is learned.

Jason, her boyfriend was awesome. Whatever I needed he did. I love working with big 'ol country boys! When I asked him to do something he did it. If he did not understand my cryptic requests he asked for clarification and listened and did it right.

His Chevelle was beautifully finished. White with two Black running stripes running up the hood...and that rumble of power shook the ground under my feet. I only hope I was able to capture the feeling in my shots.

Ashley is a dream to work with. She is always ready for anything and has a great attitude. When I got to her house, she showed me her clothes and outfits. Such a varied selection, perhaps we will have to better define our next objective.

I think the first lesson in this shoot is that not only am I motivated when I am on location but our assistants are too. I asked Jason to assist with holding the reflector and he jumped to it. When we changed location, he grabbed the equipment and did it. I totally respected his reticence about touching any of my gear without first learning how.

I took a couple of shots of the interior of the Chevelle with Ashley in there. They came out fairly well, but the flash I was using bounced both through the window and over the top. I was lucky in that we encountered no bad effects with this, but I'll need to remember it for future shoots.

When I tried to use the CFL, it did not work very well to remove reflections from the wind shield. We had to work around that issue. I think the problem was something about not having the light source, the sun, at a 90 degree angle from the subject. Need to work on that too.

We went to the basement and shot there for a minute. This worked well. We got some good stuff. It was a close space, but very interesting! We could have spent more time there, but my vision of this part of the shoot was vague and undefined.

However, Jason looked through a window and saw one of his project cars. I'll post some images.  Picture this: A cloudy spider webbed window with a car on the outside shrouded by a tarp. The window working as a frame. I may have gotten it right.

At one point, Ashley wanted to change her outfit. This was fine with me because I wanted to frame some shots without any distractions. After a minute, I went outside to clear my head from the dusty basement air.

The clouds outside were thinning a little and created a beautiful golden hue. Jason and Ashley have a bamboo grove with a little alcove cut out. Perfect for intimate, close in portraits. The light filled this area with magic. 

A quick change of plans and we found a portrait just waiting to be made. In my limited time as a photographer, this one really shows the beauty of my subject. The light, her smile, the shadows and bokeh just came together. See, even a hack can fall into an outstanding image, if he takes enough pictures!

We went back into the basement and fooled around a little more, though everyone was getting tired and hungry.

Pizza and a little beer came along. We talked and reviewed the pics. It was obvious our moment was over, but one of the props we used was an old .22 that had family history and a whole lot of character. I put together a quick background with my light stand and a red back drop. I used the pop up and a speedlite to light it. The shadows were being difficult and I could not figure out how to make them go away. 

I decided to try something weird and throw the light across the subject and have it bounce off the wall. I hoped this would do something to get rid of the shadows. 

Nope. That did not work. It created something very special instead.

We had created an incredible and dramatic shadow effect. Picture a red background with a gun having an old red wooden butt. The barrel of the gun was old and scared. The light created a dramatic dark shadow accentuating its highlights. The backdrop was wrinkled enough to create and augment the shadows of that old .22.

I made this shot trying to get rid of ALL shadows, yet we created a shot with them. Creating more drama than I could have imagined. It seems to bring to life the history and life of that old gun.

I think the most important take-away from Saturday is we got some great shots that were totally planned out and they came out really well. Yet, one must be ready for the unexpected and just do it. 

Luck may be a factor, but being an opportunist helps too. As I get more experienced, I hope I'll be able to see these opportunities and learn how to exploit them. I have a long road to go, but as I learn to drive my gear I hope I'll see opportunities which will show up like road signs showing me new places to go.

The road is long and exciting to travel.

olc

Below are some shots with Ashley and Jason's Chevelle.