Meet Emily, my latest senior.

(1) I always start out with the "safe" shot, to make sure we get that in the can. For me, that usually means shooting from above with a long lens shot wide open. Works every time. Pay attention to your background. Even though the wide aperture blurs the background, I'm careful to select the pattern and colors I want to frame my subject and minimize distractions.  Canon 5D w/85mm f1.8, ISO 200, f1.8, 1/2000 sec, no flash.

(2)  Emily likes the outdoors, so we went into the woods for the next few shots. For this one we were going for a bit more drama. Canon 5d w/35mm f1.4L lens, ISO 100, f4.0, 1/200 sec. The first step was to meter the shot without the strobe in manual mode. I metered the shot about 2.5 stops underexposed to darken it. (The shot was taken at noon). Then on camera left I had a 580exII flash with a shoot-through umbrella. I adjusted the power on the flash to set the exposure on Emily, about 1/4 power.

(3) For this shot I wanted to shoot wide open, but I also wanted to light it with a strobe. Canon 5D w/35mm f1.4L, ISO 100, f1.8, 1/200 sec.  The only way to light this shot without overexposing Emily was to set the flash at 1/64 power.

Have a great holiday!

Meet Laura, my latest senior and a super girl.

No actions (other than sharpening) were used on any of these images. Images 1,3 and 4 were straight Lightroom conversions, no Photoshop.

1. Canon 5D w/85mm f1.8, ISO 100, f6.3, 1/200 sec. Guess what the background is? It's white seamless paper. You can turn any background black just by separating the subject from the background and keeping your lights from hitting it. I wanted to turn the background black so I put a 10* grid spot on my strobe. Laura is about 10 feet from the paper.

2. Canon 30D w/17-55mm f2.8 EFS lens @55mm, ISO 500, f2.8, 1/500 sec, no flash.

3. Canon 30D w/17-55mm f2.8 EFS lens @40mm, ISO 200, f/10, 1/250 sec, Canon 580exII flash camera left with shoot-through umbrella. Even if the location isn't great, you can always get a clean background by using the sky.

4. Canon 30D w/17-55mm f2.8 EFS @17mm, ISO 200, f10, 1/250 sec, 580exII camera left.

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Meet Taylor from my latest high school senior shoot. She looks like a model, no?

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Tech:  all images taken with Canon 5D w/85mm f1.8 lens

1 & 2)  ISO 100, f8, 1/200 sec, single strobe w/large softbox camera right, "storm grey" seamless paper

3)  ISO 100, f8, 1/200 sec, single strobe (Alien Bee B800) camera right with 10 degree grid spot. Note: only use this type of lighting on young skin (if your objective is to flatter your subject)!

4)  ISO 200, f2.2, 1/500 sec, no flash

5, 6, 7)  ISO 100, f8, 1/200 sec, single strobe w/large softbox camera right

8)  ISO 200, f3.2, 1/100 sec, window light only

9)  ISO 100, f8, 1/200 sec, large softbox camera right, strobe (no diffuser) backlight

Meagan was actually a first for me - the first time I did a senior session for a college senior, not a high school senior. And why not? I think it's a great idea!

Meagan is graduating from U Dub and wanted to document this important time in her life with a studio fashion shoot (although I convinced her to head outdoors for a few quick grab shots).

Congratulations Meagan!

Tech notes:  All images taken with Canon 5D and 85mm f1.8 lens. It was nearly dark outside, so off-camera flash was used on every shot (Alien Bee B800 w/60" umbrella). Studio shots were all taken with one light.  

Another senior shoot this week, this time with Amanda - who's (isn't it obvious?) is also an aspiring model.  It was really dark and raining, so the entire shoot was in the studio. 

We started with some ring flash, which really makes Amanda stand out against a white background.

These next couple of shots were taken in the freight elevator.  I lit these shots with only the modeling light from my monolight.

The next two shots were lit with a single large softbox to camera right.  No fill light or reflector.

Some beauty shots. I was standing directly in front of and below the single large softbox. Amanda is simply stunning!