I had another light painting session planned with Jusztina Hermann of Delighters Theatre. She also wanted to take some “regular” photographs as we headed to Blackford Hill near sunset time. It turned out to be a great idea.
I always like to shoot during the golden hour before sunset (or two golden hours, as the sun in Scotland is quite low in the sky even during summer time), because the light is wonderful and I can also control it with my speedlights.
I first looked for a clean background against which to photograph Titania, the character Jusztina got into. I used a single speedlight in a soft box camera left and underexposed the background for more saturated colours.
I found my background, but after taking this shot I thought the foreground lacked interest.Moving Jusztina a tad to her left gave the photographs more foreground interest.From then on, I let Jusztina go through as many poses as possible.Looking away from the light gives a more contrasty look on her face.Having her hand close to the edge of the frame adds visual tension.Finally, I had Jusztina interact with the viewer.Last variation.
After that sequence of full body pictures, I moved in for a few portraits. I also moved my light closer to Jusztina for a softer light on her face.
Looking at her crystal ball.Her face is directed towards the light for a nice portrait.More contrast on her face as she looks away from the light..And now for something different.
As I was about to pack my gear to go on to find a spot for light painting, Jusztina mentioned the wonderful sunset happening behind my back. Needless to say I couldn’t resist this opportunity to get a few more photos in the bag.
The sun was already below the horizon and we were not in a location for good full body shots, so I decided to settle on close ups.My favourite.Light to camera left gives a dark shadow on the left side of her face.With the light changing, I just kept taking frame after frame.Even on personal shoots I ask the model for her selections. Jusztina liked quite a few of these sunset pics.The light was fading quickly and it was time for a wrap.
And last but not least, we headed into the forest for a short but productive light painting session.
I have now done enough light paintings that I knew I had this one “in the can” in a single run just by glancing at all the frames on the back of my camera.
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