Backtracking: Day 180 and a half – studio shooting

I wanted to share these with you, because it’s something that you don’t usually get to see from me: studio portraiture.

I’d forgotten that last night was a model session at our local camera club, so I’d already taken and posted my shot for the day. Normally, if that happens, I’ll use some of my other lenses, but because I left the house in a rush, the Tamron 18-270mm was the only lens I went out with.

More after the break…

The way our studio sessions work is that everyone gets three minutes to shoot. At the end of the three minutes, an alarm goes off, and the next person steps up. This doesn’t give much time for building a rapport, so I usually bide my time and chat a bit in between shoots. This also gave me time to watch some of the other photographers, which is a good way to learn (not just from their strengths, but from the things they miss).

So when my turn came up at the end of the night. I spent thirty seconds talking to Ali, my model. I removed softboxes, moved the stands in, dropped the power, and turned off the backlight (the backdrop you see here is actually a lastolite hilite) to get something a little different from the bright, evenly lit person-against-a-pure-white-backdrop shots you see on the highstreet (nothing wrong with those, per se, but fifteen other people got those shots). Space was very tight, so I had to zoom out for wider shots, although I tried to keep it to a minimum. I shot for the remaining two and a half minutes, never standing still myself, returned the kit to its prior setup, and thanked the model, showing him what I’d done and how. He was ecstatic, even asking me if I’d have time to photograph him again.

Ali’s reaction to the photographs was all the reward I needed for these, but it’s another case of the Tamron surprising me with what it can deliver.

Above: Nikon D300; Tamron 18-270mm PZD @ 35mm; ISO 200; F/10; 1/125s. VC off.

Centre: Nikon D300; Tamron 18-270mm PZD @ 46mm; ISO 200; F/10; 1/125s. VC off.

Bottom: Nikon D300; Tamron 18-270mm PZD @ 70mm; ISO 200; F/10; 1/125s. VC off.