The first set I did, was experimenting with a home-made lighting set up. Because the lighting studio workshop was cancelled and rescheduled to the end of January, I had to experiment myself.
In the images below I used two lamps in various positions, it was funny really, me directing Jenni into poses, while trying to get her to hold a lamp where I wanted, then myself holding another lamp all while trying to take a picture.
The light was low, and I am going to say this again, I NEED TO BUY A TRIPOD! Haha, but I think I managed to get some pretty nice shots without one, and considering my bodged lighting job.
I also practiced some editing on these images. I Duplicated the images into a new layer, added some gaussian blur, turned down the opacity to about 40% (the amount varies from image to image) and then flattened them. This softens the skin tones.
We then waited for the sun to start going down and walked to Hyde Park and did a shoot there with the sun low.
This time of day gave really lovely, flattering lighting.
I am happy with these portraits, however I think to capture the earth/fire themes more, I think I need to use more theatrical make up, this flickr user has done this beautifully, with element themed make up:
Their water shoot is gorgeous too and it has inspired me for ideas when doing my own.
Click here to see the water shoot, and more stunning photography from this user.
