on Fashion Photography, First Time, and Portrait #37

Photography... it is a never ending learning process.

I have never been someone who people would think of for a fashion photography shoot. I am not that comfortable shooting whole body portraits compared to shooting head shots. And I know next to nothing about fashion. You wouldn't really expect a guy who wears the simple t-shirt - jeans - sneakers combo to be much of a fashionista right off the bat. But then again, I went to a very hip and trendy college and do browse magazines from time to time so I do have some sort of idea what I am getting myself into; or at least that was what I thought. And believe me, I never expected it to be a workout.

 

 doing my usual head shots...

I took this fashion shoot as a challenge and told Paulyn, who invited me for this shoot, that I have very little experience shooting fashion stuff. Well, she had faith in me so I got the gig. I did my homework and got some inspiration from popular fashion bloggers in the country; and there is always 500px as reference material.

 testing out if the strobes would look nice...

My usual shooting order is find my models angle, place her in the right location, shoot my keepers and do my experiments later. This is how I shoot when doing headshots as I already have that basic formula from experience. I can get from finding angles to shooting keepers in about a few minutes time. The experimental part takes a lot longer. This is my usual workflow because shooting keepers first makes sure that the effort to do the shoot doesn't go to waste. Only after I know that I have some decent output do I even try to play around with what I have.

 I also tried if monochrome would work...

I went about the shoot in reverse of what I usually do. With this shoot, I first had a location in mind, did a few test shots and then worked for my keepers. I first had to experiment to see what worked and what didn't since I still don't have a formula for shooting fashion stuff. I spent more time experimenting than nailing down keepers since this is a first.

trying out composition I figured would look close to what I usually see in blogs...

I am happy I did this shoot. I learned a lot and gained valuable shooting experience which I could apply. There are things I need to learn like shooting details and knowing how to match my subject to my location. And I do have to overcome that mentality that I have to highlight the model's face; I need to learn how to balance my shots so I can show her beauty as well as her outfit. Overall, I did good considering it is a first time. I am still in the process of mastering the popular way of doing this fashion shoots for blogs. Sooner or later, I will find my own way of shooting fashion.

 I still have to learn how to shoot the whole outfit...

And before I forget, my model Paulyn is a fashion blogger, stylist, and makeup artist rolled into one. She is easy to work with and really comes prepared for a shoot. I can't wait to do the next shoot with her. We will start planning it soon.

Portrait #37: Paulyn

 

PS: Uber thanks to Paulyn for being very game model and for the confidence that I could deliver output, to Alfe for recommending me as a photographer and Francis for being the instant support crew for her sister. Until next time! :D

 PPS: do visit Paulyn's blog at http://dypaulyn.blogspot.com

on Workshops, Backlogs and Grain

Having backlogs has always been a part of my photography and blogging life; come to think of it, it is a part of my daily life as well. There is no shortage of things to do and stuff to place in the back burner.

Anyhow, I found some time to publish this long overdue set for my good friend Waqui. She's no stragner to this blog as she's has a number of photos here. One good thing I like about her is that every time I get a chance to shoot her, she gets prettier and prettier; and this shoot is no exception. She always finds ways to level up whether it be her fashion statement or her looks. And it is never boring when she's around.

I took this photos during the Photobombers / FPS workshop with the Philippine Institute of Architects as sample photos for the participants to have some sort of idea how I shoot. I took only a few shots and mostly during times when they stop shooting either to change pose or location. I'm glad I had some good shots even though I only took a fraction of what I usually take during photoshoots.

The post processing is again film inspired since it goes with the retro / boho / vintage theme. I like the old film look. Grain is always good in my book. I edit the matte film look using the S-curve slider in lightroom and I think I'll be doing more filmy looking photos in the near future.

PS: Thank you to the Photobombers crew / FPS people and the PIA for making this workshop for a cause possible. To Waqui and LA for being great models. And also to Iris for the awesome styling and makeup.