Model shoot

[Strong Bad]

This was one of my recent photo shoots. Just a few photos on there right now with more to arrive soon.

The movie Sin City inspired me to do the Black & White with a splash of color. It was done in Photoshop CS2.

My part time job really sucks! ;)


http://strongdigitalart.smugmug.com/gallery/1215069

Enjoy,

John

[aaharvel]

cool.

[CrBoy]

Nice photos... the 2nd pic looks really nice!

[brettw22]

The one on the left looks a little more vampirish than B&W IMO......

I'd say have fun, but we already know you're doing that............ ;)

[michael_w]

Cool pics John.

My next project in photo class will be much like this (in a studio doing portrait and full body shots). I've never had to have people pose for me so I'm not sure what to tell them. Any tips?

[Strong Bad]

The one on the left looks a little more vampirish than B&W IMO......

I'd say have fun, but we already know you're doing that............ ;)

Damn right I am! ;)

Underworld was an inspiration also. I always loved how they added the colorized portions into the predominately B&W films. I went back and enhanced the eyes a little bit. So check it out.

Michael, I had to learn on my own for the most part when shooting studio. Grab some magazines like Maxum, FHM, Stuff and even Playboy. The next time you're in the grocery store, glance at the covers of Vogue and mags like that. There's a wealth of knowledge (IMHO) just from seeing how the top pros do it. It will give you some ideas at the minimum.

Everytime I begin a shoot, it usually takes some time to loosen up and get things rolling for both of us. If you're shooting digital, just start out with some basic poses. You won't be wasting film! The big thing...have fun...both you and the model.

John

[BlueMDPicker]

Very nice, John!

[michael_w]

Thanks for your help. I'll have to try some of that. Maybe my teacher will let me use the Nikon D50 for the project :)

Grab some magazines like Maxum, FHM, Stuff and even Playboy.

I can see it now "Dad I swear I'm doing my homework!"

[Strong Bad]

Thanks for the comments everyone.

Michael, I really have learned a good bit just from seeing how they posed their models in those magazines. You'll get hints on lighting and studio setup also. What does your instructor suggest (model poses) or is it up to you to figure out?

You have a killer camera in that D50. Definitely use it. I'm shooting with the D70. I did those particular photos with the Nikkor 28-70 f2.8 lens. The best bang for the buck lens is the 50mm f1.8. You can get it for around $100. Great lens! I use Alienbee strobes (3ea - B800) with softboxes and firing with a hotshoe adaptor and wireless package. Oh yeah, cloth backdrops suck. I switched to rolled seamless paper (9' x 36' roll).

Have fun and post some "school projects" when they are done. ;)


John

[michael_w]

He hasn't really talked much about the project yet or given advice on it but I'm sure I can pick his brain for a little direction. He's one of best teachers I've ever had so working with him is great.

If you didn't see it already, these were the first shots I took with the camera. ~Link to thread~

My impression was that it was best to shoot people with a lens closer to 100 - 110mm for the most natural and undistorted pictures? It also gives the model a little more room to breath.

I just checked it out and you can get a d50 body for less than I had expected. I smell sweet graduation present to myself ;) I'm not certain on this since I've never really played around with it, but do you know if my lenses would work with a d50 or similar body? They're nothing fancy but it'd be nice to save a little cash until I can get something really nice. One's just a normal Minolta 45mm and the other is a Tokina 70-210mm (pics attached).

Not sure what exactly comes with it when they say "body only". Are they going to take that literally and not include the essentials like the battery, charger, usb cable, etc or is it just the normal kit without fancy addons and a lens. Here it is for 350

edit: damn that one lens looks dirty... the picture doesn't beautify it either . Those were shot with a not so great panasonic dcm-lc20... good for midday outdoor shots but other than that not much else.

[Zero]

Cool pictures John. Great shots.

I just tried some pics of some speakers hangin around the house.. and I just cannot get any digital cam to give off a good photo in a dark space... I am beginning to abandon hope.

[Strong Bad]

Thanks Zero!

Michael, those lens probably won't work on the Nikon D50 (or any other Nikon) since they appear to be for Minolta mount cameras.

Cool macro pics. I haven't toyed with Macro photography yet.

The D50 is a great camera. From what I've read, it is giving a very slightly better quality than the D70/D70S models, even though they are considered a step up from it. It has less features than those 2 models though. If you do score that one, maybe get the "kit" lens which is getting great reviews or perhaps the forementioned 50mm f1.8. When they say "Body Only", they mean no lens and no memory card. You get the body, battery, USB cable and a few little pieces.

Price shop here - http://www.bhphotovideo.com/

I read alot on http://www.dpreview.com

There is a wealth of info on the forums there. I read there that most people are using either the 50mm or 85mm in the studio. My studio space is a little cramped, so I wind up using the 50mm f1.8 for full length and sometimes switch to my 85mm f1.4 for 1/2 body shots and closer. I recently purchased the 50mm f1.4 due to some indoor sports photography. I wanted the fastest 50mm lens available. The 85mm f1.4 is AMAZING! It is also EXPENSIVE!

For outdoors, last summer I used the 70-200 f2.8 VR (which is major $$$ also) on the beach for some shots. Go here and view the Seagull photo. Also go to the Hopkins lacrosse gallery which was shot with that one. It's one of Nikon's top lens!

http://strongdigitalart.smugmug.com/...947/1/46932042

Have fun fun fun with class. Thats cool you have a great instructor.

John

[Strong Bad]

By the way Michael, watch who you buy your camera through. The cheapest ain't always the best place to buy it through.

Seriously, when you buy it, make sure they don't try to rope you into buying hunk of crap filter kits and off brand zoom lens packages. There are good off brand lens like Sigma and Tokina, but they also make some junk zoom lens (when compared to Nikon). If at all possible, stick with Nikon brand lens. Usually, they'll say "We have a great deal on this Sigma lens kit with Crystal Optics filters for such and such price."

Both JUNK! I should know. I got screwed! I didn't know any better at the time and didn't have anyone to educate me.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/

B&H is the best! Not always dead on the cheapest, but close enough and 100% first rate customer service. I've never had a problem. I can't recommend them enough.

John

[dorokusai]

You should go to Summit Point Raceway this year sometime. I'll be at the 1st SP Endurance Race(March), Jefferson 500(Vintage) and a couple SCCA/MARRS events this year.

I like to camp, but you can stay in a hotel if you want. It would definetly give you some fast shutter speed action :D

[Strong Bad]

Wow, this looks very cool. I will see how my schedule goes and try to make it possibly next month. I'll contact you as it gets closer.

John

[michael_w]

Thanks for all your help. It looks like I have a lot of reading to do before I make any moves, but for now I'll try and play with one of the two d50's at school ;) . When I do decide to get something I think I'll buy from a store in Canada so that I don't have to deal with border taxes, duties, brokerage fees and all that stuff, but I'll keep an eye on that site to make sure the places up here are offering reasonable prices. I'm sure I'll be able to find a credible place in Vancouver to buy from. I'm still a ways off right now but hopefully come graduation and birthday time (both within weeks of each other) it might be more reasonable.

I like that they take SD cards since that's what my pocket pc takes as well. I already have a 1gb and a 256mb so that should keep me going for a while. It seems the places around here have them for about $820cdn (body only) and moving towards a thousand with a lens.