Harriet Morris is an up and coming local Make Up Artist and I recently shot some portfolio pictures for her.
The first set we shot was just a couple of models and was only headshots and detail images. This meant we could shoot in my small studio. Recently, I’ve been really enjoying shooting directly into the light. I love the flare and low contrast effects generated when you scatter light into a lens. You never quite know what you’re going to end up with, and that uncertainty really excites me as a photographer. I shot two sets in this session, one lit with a reflective umbrella behind the models and a large bounce card behind me. The other with one large light softbox lighting the models in front of a grey background for a more traditional set of images.
For the second shoot there were more models and Harriet wanted full length shots as well. I knew things would get cramped quite quickly in my studio so I hired a local Community Hall, where I could set up a full length backdrop for the wide shots and have space for the girls to get ready (there’s a picture of the set-up at the end of the slideshow). Harriet wanted different backdrops for each model so we decided on a greenscreen set-up to give us lots of options in post.
Lighting wise, this was a bit more involved than the first shoot. The main light was provided by a 6x3ft silk, giving a big softlight from one side. This was augmented by a small softbox boomed overhead to give a slightly more directional light to the models face and provide a nice crisp catchlight in the eye. A rim light was added with a bare flash behind the model. I threw a couple of spare flashguns on the background to even out the greenscreen to help with keying.
