I am SO NERVOUS about this post. This week’s topic was fashion, and I’m sorry to say, but it’s just not something you can shoot and be successful at without proper resources. But it was certainly good practice, and I would love to attempt it again.
In this case I was lacking:
- a studio
- clothing worth modeling
- lights
- a model
But I had one day that it didn’t rain, an urban setting, my dumb face, and some old coats! If you want some great tips on shooting portraits, there’s a whole page of videos here, starting with this one on outdoor lighting:
And this great video on shooting fashion and glamour (watch Chelsea’s outtakes at the end!)
So here’s what I did:
- set up my camera on a tripod, a bit below my eye level and as far away from the background as I could
- I chose a rolling metal garage door as my backdrop, I wanted something gritty to match my styling
- I chose two coats to model, as it was cold out. I wore jeans, a crop top and heeled boots, items which were neutral and wouldn’t overwhelm the item I was focusing on. I wore a hat because I was having a bad hair day, and red lipstick for some pop.
- The day I shot was overcast, so the lighting was pretty even, but it was a bit dark. I shot in aperture priority with my aperture as wide as it would go, in this case f/4.4. This means the camera was choosing the shutter speed, which wound up being 1/200th to 1/250th, which is was faster than it needed to be. My ISO was at 200, but these pictures still wound up noisy.
- I set my camera on a 5 second delay, shooting 5 images with 5 seconds in between so I had time to pose and change positions between each shot.
- I chose a focusing point where I though my head would be, and then just crossed my fingers for facial recognition to take over. I don’t think it worked. This is where it would have helped to have a model, or at least a stand in for myself to focus.
I think I achieved the look I was going for, but my focusing is for sure off. This shoot made me want to start working on my Photoshop skills, because I would have loved to edit my skin, change the color of my hat, and maybe blur the background a bit. (All things I can learn from our Photoshop book!)
Without those skills, though, I simply used Lightroom to adjust the exposure, straighten, and crop the photos.
I could’ve used some fill flash for my face here
Ahhh I just noticed the shoulder piece is not through the loop on the right side. Styling, people!
Hands up
So that’s what I got. I tried some more shots with a different background, against the green ivy on our back wall, but it didn’t work quite as well. I sure wish I’d noticed that shoulder bit before I posted these.
So how’d I do? What could I have done better? This felt very much like a test shoot, so I’d love to find ways to improve on it.
I think I’ll use this tutorial of Chelsea’s to tool around with the editing this week:
That was a cleaver way to get ’round not having an assistant on your shoot.
I don’t know if it applies to your camera, but I just got an Android phone and I found a free camera app that connects to my Nikon and gives you a live view on its screen. It lets you adjust focus, but alas, you can’t change any of the other settings.
The gritty look works. I’m no expert but I don’t think there’s enough contrast between the sweater and the black leather jacket. I bet some additional off camera lighting might have helped. Again, I’m out of my depth here, but in fashion, I think the models don’t make eye contact with the camera (?) Roxie will tell us on Thursday.. 😉
I absolutely recommend the Photoshop book ( eh, who am I telling this to ???).
The videos are a great part of the whole package.
Thanks as always, Roderick. Yeah I’m not sure that Olympus has an app like that but I should probably look into it.
I’m also not sure about eye contact! I always look into the camera, especially if I’m looking for that blinking light. I can’t wait to see what everyone comes up with this week.
Very cool! Next time, try a little movement! It’s a great way to show off a coat or nice jeans, and a little bit of motion blur will hide minor focus issues (though it’s not noticeable on my monitor).
Yeah that’s a good call. I took a couple of the long brown coat, but it’s not in great shape so I didn’t post them. I had envisioned doing the shoot with this long vintage corduroy coat I had but I seem to have gotten rid of it 🙁
gosh, this has to be hard by yourself.. a reflector would’ve helped the lighting, smile more.. have fun with the camera not be scared of it… You have a gorgeous smile so show it!
Lastly check the wb in post.. it looks a bit off.. tell ‘chelsea to give you portraiture 😛
I’m not sure I can check the white balance, there’s nothing white in the shot! And no smiling for gritty fashion shoots 🙂
First, Olympus has a remote controll functin in their image share app. That could help with focus.
I particularly like the first image, even though it isn’t the sharpest of them.
With a few assistants and all the time in the world it could have been interesting to see both more and less gritty versions of it.
One could have more light, clean sharp background and more post processing.
To go in the other direction, deeper shadows, grain or black and white… Maybe back your car into the garage door a few times or something to make it fit the mood of the picture. I’m assuming that wouldn’t be a problem.
Hi Siobhan, you shouldn’t be so hard on yourself, you’re doing great. If it was easy to get perfection, then it probably wouldn’t be such fun. So if I recall correctly from watching previous videos from T&C, perhaps a little more distance between you and the back wall/garage door would have helped to throw it out of focus and make you literally stand out more. As for pre-focusing, maybe finding a broom, or garden rake to stand up and take your place, focus on that and mark the spot on the floor. Take a shot, and check it. Then swap places with it, standing on the spot you’ve just marked, take another shot and check it. Adjust forward or back on the spot to get it right, then fire away. I thought the epaulette was a deliberate “Devil-may-care” styling decision, added a little more interest. All in all I would consider it a resounding success as part of your learning curve, which is what this is all about.