Adventures through Photography: July 2017

Dark Waters and Fantasy Creatures Shoot Part III

Allrighty then.

This is the last set of pics from the Dark Waters shoot.

Siddalee Jennifer Diaz

Alexandr Vasilu

And Cathi Hall

This was an awesome shoot. Honestly, it would have been better with spotlights and/or a speedlight and I fully intend to have another shoot similar to this in the future where I will utilize those things.

xoxo

Nikon D3300

Dark Waters and Fantasy Creatures Part II

The next two models were by far my best pictures of the day as far as clarity, composition, and originality.

The first is Miz Mayhem, Maya Hall.

I simply called her Goddess the entire shoot as she looked so beautiful and strong.

This first photo is one of my absolute favorites.

Funny story: There was actually a table in the water behind her with a photographer standing on the table above her...and all were visible in my photo. So I spent a loonnngg time cloning the mist around her and I flove it. lol

"Mirror Mirror in the water..."

This is another of my favorites and I actually directed my model!!! haha She was holding her hand out palm down and I asked her to turn her palm up as if she was beckoning me. She did and it just makes the picture POP! The drip of water off her hand completes the magic.

And this is my sexy, angry demon, Cathi Hall.

Cathi is an amazing person with an amazing story, which hopefully I will get to help her tell in the future. I know I'll be working with her again because we already have some projects lined up.

Speaking of lines, the tree roots in the next photo really draw your eyes to Cathi and look perfect in a black and white edit.

I wish I had some dry ice in this next photo. It would have made a decent photo so much better.

And this is one of my absolute favorites!!! Fierce and lovely with a side of vulnerability.

I've gotten mixed reviews on this one. I really love the somewhat strange shape creative by Cathi's head and arms in the water but a couple people have said it looks a little creepy. I guess that works for the theme!

Another of my favorites, but for a different reason. I highlighted the beauty of Cathi's face and also the PTSD and I'm Fine/Save me tattoos on her leg. This really spoke to me as someone who has battled depression and anxiety myself and through my daughter.

Just remember that no matter how fierce and/or beautiful someone looks, you just don't know what they're going through on the inside. Be KIND to everyone you meet if at all possible. You just never know what impression you might have on someone's life.

And this one is my favorite art shot of the day and possibly of all my (few) model shots. Stunning.

This is Cathi with Alexandr Vasilu.

Love this one. He's...not bad to look at. haha

That's it for today's post. The next one should be it and will include group shots.

xoxo

Nikon D3300

Another Model Shoot! Dark Waters and Fantasy Creatures!

A few weeks ago I was privileged to be a part of a "Dark Waters" photo shoot that was creatively designed and arranged by Jennifer Palumbo.

She had created the concept, made/provided the head pieces, and provided the models for about 10 different photographers. She also provided a fog machine (which, honestly, gave me a bit of trouble) and a couple photogs provided dry ice which provided awesome effects.

These first two shots are my test shots of beautiful Sandra Sandii.

The lighting and bokeh were amazing, so I had to included them.

I shot six of the models and, even though I got very ill and had to leave early, I got some amazing shots and learned so much. As usual, talking/directing the models is my weakness, but I did do it a bit more in this shoot.

Since I ended up with almost a hundred shots that I really like, I'm going to separate the post into parts by models. We'll continue with the Queen of the Enchanted Forest as I called her in my head during the shoot since I didn't know her name at the time.

It totally fits.

The lighting effects (dark water/background) were supposed to be achieved by camera settings as it was late afternoon/early evening during the shoot. I was able to achieve moderate success with camera settings and post-production.

For instance these photos were taken all around the same time at the beginning of the shoot.

The reason I love this shot is because of the softness and the elegance of her elbow with the water drops on it. lol Sandra is a great model!

I love this one, but the edit to get the black background gave me trouble around the face.

I might need to redo it. This is one of the first photos I edited and, after playing around with the many photos, I found some other methods that provided a more seamless result.

The dry ice was amazing! I love the way the wisps of steam clung to her and swirled around her.

LOVE LOVE LOVE

The next model is the Creative Director, Jennifer Palumbo. She looked amazing and her headdress was very cool! But! She was very close to the fog machine and I just didn't get very many good shots because my camera had trouble focusing through the fog.

There were some photos where Jennifer looked so ethereal and gorgeous, but I just couldn't get the edit to work to a presentable photo. So these are my best.