retouchified

i've been working on mastering the amy dresser technique of retouching.... this is my first real attempt at using it. it's pretty different than my usual technique. i can see how using it aggressively could result in some really fake looking images.... but i usually lean toward the less-retouched, more textured results, so i think i should be allright.

this shot was taken with a 42" shoot-through umbrella providing light for alisia's face. the background is the front of my medium sized alien bee softbox. i just set it up and kept taking test shots, increasing the power each time until the background was snapping to white. it didn't take long.

anyways. i'm pretty happy with the results here. alisia looks great, and the snap-to-white background is quick and easy to do. done and done.

flared

i saw zack arias do a similar shot a while back, and i wanted to play with this lens flare idea... so i set up two lights shooting straight into the camera. at first i thought a reflector would be enough to fill the middle, but that proved too unwieldy, so i brought in the big gun, my 40" softbox. from there it was easy to power up and down until i had just the right amount of fill.

setup shot:

hot lights

i got the idea recently to do a setup with a mix of flash and continuous lights, each illuminating a different part of the subject. that way the cont light creates a blurry action feel, and the flash creates a sharp, detailed component. i don't have any studio hot lights though, so i had to grab a desk lamp and the base of a lava lamp to provide the continuous part.

these setups are just fun. you never know what you're going to get, there's an interesting color twist to it, and the more motion you put into it the better the shot comes out. i think the next time i do this setup i'll get someone with long hair, or some kind of swinging element to incorporate into the shot.


camera info:
on a tripod, at f 2.8, iso 100, 1/3rd of a second.


bonus super action shot:

setup shot: