First Photoshoot In My New Studio

and

A New Camera

and

A Lovely Model From Arizona

Three things came together for this photoshoot.  I just moved into a new home and since my studio is in my home, that meant getting a new studio set up and learning how to use it to best effect.

Two days before this shoot, I received a new camera that I intend to use a lightweight backup to my trusty Canon 5D Mark 3 and as a travel camera.

Moving is always hectic and I put my photography on hold for a month, so I didn't have any shoots lined up when I was ready to try out the new studio.  Luckily, I ran into Tori on Model Mayhem and she agreed to drop in for a studio shoot.  I don't think it's fair to do a lot of experimenting when I'm working for paying clients, so I have no problem paying experienced pro models to pose for me while I tinker with new gear or a new concept.  

The new studio has several large windows that allow daylight to enter at various angles as the sun moves throughout the day.  I've always loved simple window light, so I was looking forward to experimenting with it.

The walls go up about eleven feet to the ceiling and are painted a kind of yellowish tan.  I was very curious about how that would effect the color balance of my photos when the daylight bounced off the warm-toned walls.  As it turned out, the color balance looked fairly similar to standard daylight.  I think the bluish light from the blue sky was warmed up a bit by the warm walls.  A handy coincidence!

I was loving the soft window light, but I wasn't thrilled by the yellow/tan walls as a backdrop for portraits.  I quickly put up a white backdrop.

I like that background color a lot better!  However, you can now see the reflection of a large window in Tori's eyes.  These are called "catch lights" and are an important topic of discussion among portrait photographers.  I think these catch lights are too large and make her eyes look glassy or something.  What do you think?

It was now around 6 PM and a large beam of sunlight offered itself for our artistic pleasure...

Overcome with a burst of artistic creativity, Tori and I moved the white backdrop into a location where it was illuminated from the rear by the strong, direct sunlight. Tori was front-lit by the large window, which gave us the high-key effect that required 5 or 6 strobe lights to create in my old studio.  The shot below was done entirely with natural sunlight.

Time to take some "sitting on the hardwood floor" shots that are popular these days.  Tori had some fun imitating one of my photos that was propped against the wall.

One of my complaints about the old studio was the low ceiling, so I wanted to try using an overhead strobe.  This was a 4 foot strip light, directly above the model, aimed down at her.   The strobe mixes with the natural daylight in interesting ways that will require more experiments in the future.

Then of course we had to have some fun with my trusty mirror...

Tori is on Model Mayhem, but the best place to contact her is her Facebook page.  Take it from me, she's a delight to work with and very professional.  Treat her well and don't try to haggle over her fee, she's worth every penny!

Now about that new camera...  I picked up the new Canon EOS 77D to use as a travel camera and as a backup for my trusty 5D3.  I wanted a smaller, lighter camera body that would provide image quality close enough to that of my bigger pro camera that nobody would know the difference.  The photos above are a mix of shots from the two cameras with various lenses.  I can't tell the difference without going back into Lightroom and looking at the data for each shot.  I'm betting you can't tell the difference either!