forest shoot - July 11th

don't be afraid
Originally uploaded by bongopix

On a very hot day in July, I met with Steph and Mel for a concept shoot in Toronto's High Park. It would be my second time collaborating with Mel. We met earlier in March for a fall fashion shoot in Kensington Market. We decided to approach our next project from a different angle by adding a second model and basing the shoot around a creative concept. I had expressed my desire to do something ironic with a forest theme, and Mel supplied a ton of ideas that would fit perfectly into the plan.

As I’m finding with every project that I do, I wasn’t sure what to expect. I had never shot in such a shady area before, let alone in a forest. I found myself using my 18-55mm more often than I ever had for a shoot like this. The 50mm, coupled with the cropped sensor of my rebel xti, just wasn’t fitting as much scenery in the frame. I used a mix of natural light and my sb28 strobe. I briefly tried incorporating a second strobe, but it didn’t seem to be necessary.

I’m really beginning to appreciate the sun. Being able to read natural light is proving to be very useful. For instance, we had one planned shot with one of the models holding a picture frame and poking her head out. The strobe was lighting the frame and her face. I dunno, it just wasn’t working for me. I didn’t have a snoot to isolate the flash solely on the model’s face. The picture frame shots looked a lot better in a nearby field under the muted sunlight (it was extremely cloudy). I’ve always loved looking at clouds, and now I can appreciate them even more!

All around, I am very happy with the results. This shoot officially marks the beginning of my creative projects. I’ve got one more coming up tomorrow, and another one that is waiting to be edited in Photoshop. I would appreciate any feedback that you might have about the results.