Lessons

Lesson Info

Shoot: DIY Shoot

Now you know um inga lisa is it just the whole orders liking glee sorry okay okay um when you're posing for this I'll crystal will be shooting you're going to start out with shooting crystal wright and I will I will direct you a little bit and then you can kind of like, you know, start just moving into your own thing but I just need you to be this's very painterly and um it's not it's all about just softness and you know you're kind of like in your little dream world type of things so a lot of it is you're not really going to be looking over at us unless I ask you just kind of staring off into the sky and whatever else okay, so I'll get the camera I'll start shooting I think it looks pretty if you come over here crystal and see it from this end how do you think she looks anything you wanna add or take away you don't need to focus on this wall a lot you could do your shooting into the point or more of it okay, I see how that is so like shooting more from like here okay and I have the fi...

fty on there and so it should be good for youto I think that flowers bugging me now look to get it from that angle but yeah yeah okay um you can find memory cards are in there okay so I'm gonna take a couple of test shots real quick and then I'm going to give the camera to crystal slow piece right you're okay I just know these were those details for me that I'd be like oh I wish I would have changed that it's kind of bright okay okay that's good how do you think of this slight good or do you want a brighter or darker uh maybe just a little bit brighter well I don't have a hair detail I guess I just want to make sure we can tell yeah maybe just a little bit so I think it's really close plus my um my screen isn't bright enough well how old is just my partially screen okay if you see it in their it's pretty right oh yeah it's always good I always under exposed my shots I don't always under expose him but I usually will like if it's under exposed I prefer that because it's a lot easier than when they're overexposing you're trying to bring back details it's a lot easier than to just up your curves or your exposure and light room to get the details back in there so um I guess we'll get started and I'll give you this um and let me know like this is what how many frames air left but she has my card so we'll switch over if we need to on dh I'll let you I want I want you to like relax your mouth and everything and just kind of even with your like your head is a little bit pull back kind of bring it just a little bit down if you can if it's not too awkward and the flowers I want you to kind of keep them close to your body again yeah and as some yeah and if you if you have ideas and you want her to do things, just go ahead and say so but I'll direct her a little bit and um and also with your hand do you want to even, like, kind of bring it up a little bit and we'll see how that looks kind of cause she had kind of her hand up yeah that's pretty good see how that's going it's nice. Do you like the exposure on there? Yeah, no good. Okay. And even I know sometimes and I'll bring the chair too. You can even sit so you can get lower a little more of a I was like, I'm really learning but the angles that air their best for this kind of work because I do a lot of like centered right um and so my distant so like this is different yeah, yeah and that's another thing I tell people like it when I'm teaching and stuff tio don't don't be stuck in one place and sit there and do the same shot over and over and over again especially when they're doing things like this in the models not moving stand up, get on the ground over there, go over here over top of her do all that you can think of to do even if you think you got the shot, you just don't know um so make sure and experiment when you're that's really pretty when you're shooting okay, I think I'm actually a little less about wall, I think pengelly so can you turn your body your hip a little bit this way more to let me just fix her skirt so we're just going to get her to move her body a little more and see what we can come up with? I'm going to get you to pull this leg out a little bit right there that's pretty you could even instead of because we won't see her hand maybe even want to put it over on your tummy or something and we see the ring that way. That's another thing I was talking about was paying attention tio details of things so she's got this ring on? I wanted to show because we're gonna play bought it for that right just a little bit more so that at the top of the ring will be yeah, I am only just fixed her headband again so usually if I have an assistant or find by myself I'm taking pictures or running back and forth doing this too it's a little bit of a treat that I'm not doing both here lift your head up one second go ahead I'm just playing around changing some stuff here that's pretty with her eyes closed thing is like one of the little beat these wait up yeah what kind of talk is that he's falling I know it's so heavy how could I do this just a minute I don't like that I need to take it out for a sec hold on so see this is stuff that happens I'm not liking the way this the pearls were sitting on her so I'm taking the pins out so I could just sit it on a forehead instead and hope that it works and it doesn't fall too much that looks better crystal it's a little more are down there yeah so when you move and move slow yeah yeah because I think he went over there and more so she's going toe so she took that shot and then it's just like there's too much body happening over here and not enough with the modeling anymore this is why I say to move around and change your angles because you feel like you're not getting the right vibe in the picture you got to keep moving until you find it I don't want any feels better that's really pretty like that what is it that you are really liking about what you're seeing so far crystal but what do you know and what do you not liking as well? Okay, I I think it's that angle like amanda was saying there was too much body from the other angle um she's sort of looking down off to the left which draws in the flowers which is you know, a big part of that pain but then her hair is also like it's just sort of this motion that moves this way um and then just like that light it's just cascading perfectly over that and the focus is back on her yeah, right yep angles on surprisingly play a big part on your subject you know it's depending on how you take it it's how people will perceive total to can I get you teo I want her toe like bring those flowers up towards her body and working maybe even hold them over your chester even little bit lower yeah just kind of we'll see how that looks maybe just a hair a little bit I like the hair spread on her do you like that over her neck and stuff? Yeah, it just kind of pulls it over to the side so just like uh picture told me I'm not I'm not you know I never really thought of it until somebody pointed it out but I'm not um like always is a lighting just so is it always that you know it's just perfect it's not about that it's to me it's just what looks good so you know about the hair I pulled it over because I thought well let's try it and she took a shot and I like it so we're just keeping it there until we do decide to change your position but kinga lisa yeah can you want can you actually bring your head up forward towards the ceiling like, turn your head upward and let your lips relax and just yeah, um I want you to just keep your eyes straight up like this like you're just staring off into the sky type of thing on dh let me just sorry this is such a weird it's so heavy this necklace it's what? It's not sitting good, but it's just what it is, right? Yeah. So I'm just fixing the necklace again because it's not being very nice. What was that under your head from two suggesting some of the flowers again? Sorry. Wait, wait. Stay. Uh, is there some flowers hiding over here? Just bringing them back into the frame, okay, so it looks straight up and you're just sort of yeah, you're daydreaming lips relaxed do you wantto box to sit on our fingers I was thinking about doing one where it's more straight down, but I don't know if you can you could just stand right or do you want to oh, no that'll probably stop in front of the loss that works oh, yeah, great, yeah that's pretty too. Yeah, I really like it it's turning out like your shoulder thank you. Careful. Any questions that I can't answer while we're going? First of all, do we have any questions in the room here? It's, like everybody is good for the moment, their love to talk a little bit about the kind of the d I y elements because we did just you just went to the goodwill we only went once. It wasn't like we went over and over again to try and find the right thing. So can you talk a little bit about the difference between finding the perfect wardrobe versus finding something that is good enough or that works for your concept? What's your level of perfectionism there, especially when you're doing something yourself? Yeah, um there's been shoots that I have in mind and obviously I'm not going to find everything in one day, so what happens is I make sure, like there was enough time to get that prepared, it could be a couple weeks, it could be a couple of months and as I'm whenever I'm out shopping are looking around or talking to designers or stylist or whatever we're collecting pieces along the way, so I as as the time is going coming near, I'm finding something here I'm finding something there, so, um, it depends like, and when we went to goodwill the other day, we got pretty lucky actually, we found what we needed and I worked out really well, so it just depends I don't know sometimes you get lucky and find everything in one shot, but not usually and as you collect things to, the more you buy little things, the more you're going to end up having to choose from and it's good to, um, rethink things, you know, toe to see things in a different way so you can reuse them like this. We've used his background what's this fourth time now and it's all different, completely different concept, soul it's working that's pretty you like it? I think she looks to happy e yeah, I think we need to look more just almost sad, you know, in that painting, she's just sort of like in the state of mind, almost like in a trance or something, right? Yeah, so just very maybe just kind of, I don't know just sort of like the dreaming kind of a model think about something sad look you trying some of those and let your lips relaxed because in the painting her mouth is like this it's kind of like let's just open and relaxed so that looks really pretty can you look right here just keep your eyes right there or maybe like right about there yeah I think you know that looks blinking do you feel like this is really dark do you wantto put the esso up a little bit yeah little bit that's really nice yeah and how's that focus for you because I sent her focus and then I recomposed how you do it yeah okay yeah you mean without uh I moved it upto three oh no I didn't move I move the other sorry it's a different cameras for me to do it out up to maybe a hundred yeah try from six forty yeah what's the aperture on er to what yeah you want to maybe would you truth to let's see what too looks like just one down two point oh yeah let's see how that looks might give a little more of a dreamy effect but yeah I like that better yeah nice yeah and we're going to change some of her position we're not going to stick to this whole this the whole time the polls because it gets going to get really boring really fast wants some close ones you know? Hi you're her laying down um or you? You mean, like while she's like this, you want todo a couple? Yeah, couple of moria let's take a closer in because I like getting the flowers, but I think a few yeah, amanda would love to hear if you don't mind when you are using second hand clothes is opposed to the kind of high end fashion do you use any different techniques to or do you shoot it any differently than you would? Ah, high fashion in the sense of are you shooting it differently to mask the fact that it's not high quality or anything like that? Do you shoot d I y any differently than you do? Yeah, with clothes? Um well, with things no and no, I don't know what how I do it is like when I separated like this is a hole, we have to pay attention to the whole thing we always have to pay attention to the whole image, but this is about the whole, the environment, her the look, um, I don't feel like buying low cost items or things from goodwill or secondhand wherever I don't think that people really even realize they don't they don't, they're not like, oh, those air cheap, they're from goodwill, those flowers people don't realise that and there's ways to shoot things, to always make it look better than it is when I am shooting fashion it's different it's a focus on a piece of garment that they're wearing so when we're doing editorials like I had showed that in majestic a with the pants she had these pants that were blowing that's why I had her legs in that weird position because that the focus was those pants in that photo so it just depends on what the like what the subject of the shoot is if it's ethereal if it's portraiture whatever it is that's where I focus not more about what I'm using, right? Yeah how's that looking face is a little blurry I wonder if we have to put that picture up might that lens is sometimes a little bit wonky, is it yeah that the auto focus goes a little off sometimes do you want him like a stool stab into there, eh? Don't be afraid to like you can even do this just stand right over oh like don't be afraid you're fine with that, right? Yeah so if you want to like, just kind of you because I think I worried over her and you know what do it this way even this way shoot down that my house right over top okay are its movies just leave them like even right here they don't have to sit on her hand the whole time and just yeah just kind of there yeah like you can kind of like coral were here stand right over her and try some of those looks pretty if you want to change your hair or anything else like just tell me you're just a little bit of home was like the tag from the pillow photoshopped yep but if we try to avoid photoshopped at all costs right I don't like photoshopped everything but if we can fix it in camera than we'll do that but oh yeah this looks so much better it's a better angle yep so same thing I had teo just reminder to go over there and you got to remind yourself to do that don't it's stuck and think hey, this doesn't work let's just get out of this pole's rotate the model do what you have to high and low on the ground this way that way you might find yeah that looks really pretty yeah because it's like that glass yeah yeah that I yeah that's pretty can you let's do this more and let's get her to look more towards you so your eyes down necklace okay, so turn your head that way and you don't have to look right up at her but your eyes can even just sit like this just kind of in a yurt still like in a daze, right? So do you feel like you have enough room to back up over there missiles good yeah oh no actually I think you're ok yeah, I'm sorry, but maybe a question just to expand on kind of our last the question that I asked liz caruso photography and shea from n y c how do you mask the kind of like cheap clothing and flowers like the flowers are not really there they're silk they've got plastic stems how do you how do you mask that with your photography? Are you doing that in post doing something imposed to you adding grain and you kept the field what do you what do you use it? Yeah, I do all that stuff at textures the flowers I feel like I don't ever really need to do much to them the leaves do come across like you can tell the leaves their plastic this is such a close up shot one like say right here this shot right here um this leaf right here I mean, like for this now it just changed, but it's all blurred out so it doesn't matter that shot previous that leaf you could see I would probably just notice it in my shot and go on flip it over, throw it out of the frame because I don't want to sit there and try to make it look real and I'll act textures to a lot of things like this when I'm trying to create natural looking you know recreate something natural that we're using all fake right all fake flowers moss everything else so yeah I'll do that in editing if I need to not always just depends on how I feel about it yeah we could move it crystal if you want we can back up more and try a even a further away angle weird because it's part of her all those not not shot if no we'll see when it comes up yes okay no I'd like uh okay well where's that silver reflector I think we'll have some just because the shadows yeah just cause or if she's turned this way now that actually is pretty it's I think it's nice but we'll we'll add a little bit of phil singer there if it will help a little bit can you can you not like do you want her right into looking into the wall ahead a little bit more up kid mara maybe midway between the wall and the ceiling so light right here turn your head like this yeah good just wait hold on one second I was fixing her hair looks that way aw no heart is bad you know I think we need to yeah but you're back to two point five because the focus is going off a little bit yeah it's the lens not you flynn's drives me bonkers I need to get a fixed wage could put the eighty five but then you're it's too much of ah yeah but again you cannot have it this hand like so like loose fingers um but in the center yeah that again maybe bring your eyes like right here but like right where your nose is pointing so just looking kind of straight ahead yeah and then let's to some maybe looking right back up in the ceiling again and then after this um do you want to do some standing over her here and then we'll get her to sit up and try some other shots I had this way more and even like full body too that's really pretty face come out blurry well that one's better yeah we'll just stay it two point five with this like a silly little lens okay we'll try that you want to try standing here yeah talk come this way so just remember you got that ring on so when you're yeah that hand should stay on the top two so the ring is always showing if it is in the frame um from this angle this fall a little bit outside yeah okay it's over woman dangerous you know it's all a big mess of stuff going on okay that'll have you look actually straight come on no I don't think so yeah well her face looking like this sort of like kind of like awkward yeah, maybe just in that way maybe just step up a little more just a couple steps closer. See if that looks any different yeah, I think I really like that better likes to fall so I just told krystal to move up a little bit because her face was looking a little bit awkward in the shot tony's definitely kind of kerosene it looks crossed that's pretty yeah if if her if it keeps looking like that you can try it um stay over top of her but stand right like where her hair is and shoot that way instead oh, like from yeah I find sometimes when you're shooting this way it's like you're going up there yeah jason and it's a little bit of awkward yeah oh actually more like um yeah we'll try a couple of those looks pretty yeah that's really pretty like sleeping beauty years yeah, yeah flip around and then you just stand over that way um like right here gotta watch your feet so you gotta kind of like sound like a penguin or something in them overhear that way. Okay, yeah it's this pillow's actually shifted just a little bit really likes that very nice. Yeah, there you go let's put the iast sew up a tiny bit more. Okay, well what's at one point too do you want it a one point to point what am I looking at? Ok, sorry never took a thing. Yeah, you do look what if we here. Can I just take one shot? But no girlfriend look, look straight. Like, right here. Um, I saw is good, but see here, um, yeah, ok, try, but let's see if it'll help it'll just because the pearls are coming out really blurry and we're doing such a close up. Yeah. Put that picture up a little bit. Any questions for we? Oh, amanda, always have questions. You know that. Now, when you can, we talk a little bit about lighting for this, obviously it's, just natural light on. And what was your consideration with the angle you placed the set at, uh, what's your thought around the lighting here? Um, I wanted natural light because this was done with natural, like, the painting. I mean, it's a painting, but obviously she's outside and it's natural lighting, and we try to mimic that that mood is much as possible. And when I do any kind of image like this, with when it's like a theory a ll I I like to stick to the natural light most of the time. Sometimes I'll try strobes. But it's, just I feel like it helps the reason that this is angled this way, I actually wouldn't have an angle this way. Okay, so everyone knows it's because we had tto, you know, the cameron everything had to, like, get access to what we're doing. Otherwise, this is why we have the reflector and the v flats, but otherwise this whole set would have been flat on to this window, and it would have been in a stronger, more contrast of light. But where were you compromising with what we're doing here? So this is why we have the reflectors and the other stuff to balance the light back to where we need it. Yep, that's pretty. Do you want to get it up? Yeah, let's, try some different shots now. Yeah, that looks looks really pretty. I think shots turned out good.