This shoot happened quite some time ago, but in my slack attitude to posting blog updates got missed. Anyway better late than never.
Sometimes an idea is suggested that sounds so crazy that you just have to get involved. That was certainly the case with the glittery boobs shoot. It started when one of the models involved in the GTC posted in the private Facebook Group that she would keen to do a glitter boob shoot. Basically these are semi-naked shoot where glitter of various size is attached to the body, with larger pieces covering the nipples.
Within the space of a couple of hours she had quite a number of models and photographers all wanting to take part. As the Trentham studio was booked on the day we converted the “Powder room” into the shoot area. The girls and two guys spread a large tarpoline on the carpet and used that area to apply the glitter.
I set you two lights in a standard 45 degree angle and we all took turns using them along with taking the models to other parts of the venue. It was a fun day and everyone enjoyed themselves.
Glitter is a strange substance in that it seems to expand significantly more than what is in the bottle and by the end of the day it was spread far and wide.
One of things that attracted me to the Lumix G9 was it’s very high shutter speed and high frame rate. While I was evaluating the camera I did a series of images freezing water at something like 1/2000 second.
Now that I had the camera I wanted to put it through it’s paces and see if I could create a milk dress. This is a relatively simple concept. Find a willing naked model. Thow milk on them taking lots of shots and then in photoshop merge them together to create a dress.
Traditionally the approach is to shoot inside in a studio using flash to freeze the action. The camera is set to the maximum sync speed and it is the shortness of the flash duration that achieves the result. This is effective but it means that you only get one image for each throw.
I wanted to do it completely different and shoot outside under natural light. This let me use a higher shutter speed and more importantly using the burst function meant that I could capture the entire throw.
A facebook post got me a willing model (Evie), a makeup artist (Ania) and two assistants (Peter & Nick), and the shot was set to kick up at 1:00pm.
Knowing that I would be dealing with the potential of harsh light I built a 2 metre x 2 metre scrim out of PVS piping and frost-cloth. All up it costs around $25. Then I bought a sheet of 4×5 metre black polythene that was used as the backdrop. Three pieces of timber were placed under it to create a small pond.
The setup with the overhead scrim and black plastic forming the backdrop and floorThe camera was tethered to the computer which was located in the shade of the garage.
As Evie was going to be wearing heels, I placed a small piece of rubber under her feet so that she would not go through the material.
12 litres of milk was purchased and left in a chilly bin overnight. Several clips that I had seen had recommended that you warm the milk. We did not do that as the forecast temperature for the shoot was 27 degrees so I figured that cooler milk wold be refreshing.
I moved my mac to the garage and tethered the camera to it. This meant that the camera was well away from the mess, and also I could see the images coming off in greater detail. Panasonic has a very good tethering app that lets you have full control over the camera. This was good especially when I discovered that there is no support in Lightroom for tethering from the camera.
Shooting outside is always a challenge. While the day had no wind, cloud kept coming over and that meant that we had to boost ISO to maintain the shutter speeds I wanted.
I had developed a plan of how to place the milk starting from the top down. It took a little time to work out what the appropriate quantity of milk was.
We used various amounts of milk at different stages to get different looks
We ended up shooting for around a hour getting around 500 photos. By this time the milk had got quite warm and was starting to smell. Evie was very grateful when I called the shoot to an end. We initially used the hose to wash her down before she headed to the shower.
Later that night I did a quick edit and picked the bets images and mashed them together. I will probably re-edit is later when I have more time.
Overall for a first effort I am reasonable pleased with the results.
Sometime projects take a little while from their shooting to when they are revealed. This is certainly the case of a shoot that was held over two years ago. I had answered a casting call from a local artist who was seeking photographers to collaborate in an art project. The artist was twice World Champion bodypainter Sofia Bue and the project was a book and exhibition called “Bodies of Art”. I had seen Sofia’s work previoulsy when she was one of the tutors at the BodyFX conference I had photographed.
We met and obviously clicked as one Sunday in 2015 we all gathered in a studio at Trentham racecourse to do the shoot. It was probably one of the largest collaboration I have been involved with. It involved three models (Sophia Sparks, Imogen Stone & Amelia McCarthy) , Sofia and two assistants and a behind the scenes videographer. It took Sofia nearly five hours to fully paint the models and then we shot for nearly two hours.
The lighting for the shoot was fairly simply. Two softboxes placed of each side of the group at about a 10% angle so not quite rim lighting. A reflector was used in some of the shots to get a little bit more light.
Following the shoot the process of turning them into a final product took considerable longer than I would have imagined. In the end Sofia turned to crowdfunding to get it out the door. This process was successful and I cant wait to see it when it arrives early in 2018.
The final shoot of the day was with Jess Boyack. By the time of thinking about the shoot I think everyone was exhausted. With no outfits booked we decided to make it a bath shoot and use a simple length of material for cover.
The bath in question was on wheels and it was moved into position in the carpark mid afternoon with the hope that the sun would warm the water up. That was of limited use and despite the addition of a couple of jugs of hot water it was fairly cold.
I ended up grabbing left over flowers from another shoot and by the time we shot had quite a number of people helping out.
Jess Baider was the model for my third shoot of the day and for this shoot I wanted to do something different. Earlier in the day I had seen a dress design by Jen Carlton made entirely of metal, and I managed to denogiate with the photographer who had it booked to use it first.
I also built a set using a whole lot of wine barrels. I had positioned a backdrop behind them to remove a rather ugly background. This proved to me almost a waste of time as the light falloff was such that it was almost in complete blackness.
I was using a single light with the 7 foot umbrella and a reflector to add in a little fill light.
Part of the arrangement was to swap out the metal dress for a design by Evem and this was used in the second half of the shoot. We also ventured outside at the end of shoot for a little variety.
Credits
Model: Jess Baider
MUA:
Dress: Jen Carlton Leather & Hide
Headpiece: Black Widow Fascinators
I had shot Hayley before as part of my honours set. When she arranged to use a gothic style dress then it was obvious that we were going up to the attic as it was the ideal location for such a shoot. That of course meant lugging all the light gear up four stories. I set up a small shoot area and decided to add in a couple of props of my own.
After working through several of the rooms up there we moved down to an open space at the top of the ramps where the ivy was changing colour. We also tried a number of images with falling leaves.
Credits
Model: Hayley
MUA:
Dress: Deranged
Headpiece: Black Widow Fascinators
Model: Olyvia Mayhew Mask: Black Widow Fascinations
Day two of the Great Trentham Collaboration did not start well with my first model of the day being one of a number who failed to show up on the morning. There was also not the same level of energy level in the room.
Fortunately for me one of the other photographers in the room was in a similar position and so she agreed to be my model. I had brought along my own red dress and a few props and having checked that she was not averse to fur, we headed out for a couple of locations around the base of the main grandstand.
The final shoot on day one was with Moana. We had discussed a number of ideas with her and had planned for a two part shoot. The first would involve her in a Viking outfit from ckfilmdesign and the second was to be a bath shoot. Unfortunately Moana came to the event with a cold and so we scraped the bath idea.
The costumes from ckfilmdesign are amazing and Wikitoria did an amazing job of the makeup. As it turned out Jordan was also doing a similar shoot so I suggested to the other photographer that we could bring the two models together.
They even tried some mock flighting although I think that Jordan was more enthusiastic about the idea of swinging swords.
The third shoot on day one of the Great Trentham Collaboration was with Ashley-Jane Cole. I had shot AJ three years previously at the waterfall in Upper Hutt and again when she was at a recording studio as she is a very talented singer/songwriter.
AJ had chosen a swing dress from Deranged, which styled up for a ballet theme. Her makeup was done by Eden Gibbons.
On the upper level of grandstand was a cafe with a Fence look so I made up of a large mural for my first set of images.
We then moved up in the attic area where the large windows surrounded with wines provided plenty of great light and interesting backgrounds
We then moved to the outside and particularly around the base of the vines that encase the building.
The second shoot on day one of the Great Trentham Collaboration what’s with Jordan. Unlike Kasey, Jordan had spent the previous hour in hair and makeup with MUA Charlie Timmins.
She had chosen two outlets from Wellington designer Evem. Unlike my first shoot of the morning, this time we moved around the racecourse. We started in a small space that I have discovered behind the make up room they have good natural light and a piano and us I thought it would make it interesting start.
We then moved outside and into an area this that is used on race day to stable the horses just before they come into the birdcage at the start of the race. Jordan does pole fitness and so she had no problem climbing up in the staples for a number of shots.
We then moved around the course and shot in a pavilion that is quite often used for outdoor weddings.
And then into an area that is immediately in front of the old grandstand. On our walk-through of the venue the week before I have noticed a old piano in the area and thought that this would be a great prop. As it turned out when we first arrived it was being used buy another photographer. So we moved a little further down and again Jordan showed her gymnastic ability.
I been noticed a number of windows and thoughts that we might be able to capture reflections on them. This was true however the glass had the remnants of sticky tape on it which I could not remove. Fortunately photoshop can.
For my final shot we moved a large gate in-place and Jordan made out that she was trapped.
Sometimes an idea is suggested that sounds so crazy that you just have to get involved. That was certainly the case with the glittery boobs shoot. It started when one of the models involved in the GTC posted in the private Facebook Group that she would keen to do a glitter boob shoot. Basically these are semi-naked shoot where glitter of various size is attached to the body, with larger pieces covering the nipples.
Within the space of a couple of hours she had quite a number of models and photographers all wanting to take part. As the Trentham studio was booked on the day we converted the “Powder room” into the shoot area. The girls and two guys spread a large tarpoline on the carpet and used that area to apply the glitter.
I set you two lights in a standard 45 degree angle and we all took turns using them along with taking the models to other parts of the venue. It was a fun day and everyone enjoyed themselves.
Glitter is a strange substance in that it seems to expand significantly more than what is in the bottle and by the end of the day it was spread far and wide.
One of things that attracted me to the Lumix G9 was it’s very high shutter speed and high frame rate. While I was evaluating the camera I did a series of images freezing water at something like 1/2000 second.
pwfotos 