vtography.com blog » fashion

Marietta at G-Lounge

vtography — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 15:28:11 +0000

Oh, Marietta! Is there anything you can’t do?

You might remember that I’ve previously put Marietta in a bikini and in a big ol’ furry dress on my other Halifax visits. She brings it as a model every single time. Did I mention she also acts and sings? Possibly her greatest skill is working retail without going crazy and/or strangling someone.

And because she moonlights as the hottest sever at G-Lounge in Halifax, she was able to secure the space for us for our most recent shoot.

It was about 200 degrees inside G-Lounge on this particular day and Marietta was sweating her proverbial balls off in the mock-PVC dress that I brought with me (yet another find from Intimates21.com). First we started out with a black dress on the purple couch…

…and then through a little bit of serendipity, we found ourselves shooting the exact opposite: a purple dress on a black couch.

The purple couch photos were done with just a single Alien Bees 1600 in a small umbrella (all packed in my checked luggage and somehow didn’t break), while the black couch was the bare AB1600 with standard reflector.

I’m so happy with how these turned out! Best of all is that we managed to do this in just under an hour — our time in the space was limited so we had to make the most of it. This is where having an experienced model comes in handy. Someone who can nail the shot right away is a valuable asset.

UPDATE 9/11/11
Marietta, upon seeing her own photos: “My face is like POW!”

Sometimes I Dabble in Fashion

vtography — Sat, 03 Sep 2011 22:18:22 +0000

Here’s the lovely ginger Caitlyn, doing what she does best.

Caitlyn lives in Middle of Nowhere, Nova Scotia, and this big expanse of grassy space we shot in is her neighbour’s backyard.

Wanna see Caitlyn in a bikini? Of course you do. Stay tuned for tomorrow.

Two More of Em

vtography — Mon, 21 Mar 2011 23:16:57 +0000

All New vtography.com!

vtography — Wed, 29 Dec 2010 16:41:51 +0000

I’ve revamped my main portfolio site, vtography.com, for the first time in many years. It features a new design, larger photos, an improved interface, and 160+ photos (many never-before-seen!). Go check it out!

Hotter Shots, Ghetto Style

vtography — Mon, 27 Dec 2010 06:54:20 +0000

Earlier in the summer I posted about my bare-bones ghetto beauty shoot with Amy that turned out spectacularly well given the circumstances. The shots of Erika above were done in much the same vein, but only because I didn’t know any better at the time.

These shots are from nearly five years ago, when I was armed with only a lowly Nikon D70 and a 24-85mm lens — not exactly high end gear by any stretch of the imagination. The shoot took place in my living room, where I set up a four-foot wide roll of white seamless paper. Four-foot seamless is barely wide enough to shoot a single person so every single photo had to be cropped and/or erased to eliminate the bookshelves that were creeping in from each side. Also, seamless paper + carpet = bad combination. Definitely need a hard surface to put that stuff on. You can imagine the damage that Erika’s heels did to the paper.

Lighting was simple (non-TTL) hot-shoe flash units in umbrellas. Most of the magic here comes via the post-processing, where I erased the bookshelves, made the background whiter, shifted the images to high key, and glued two together on one canvas.

It won’t exactly get published in the pages of W or anything, but it’s just another example of how good results can be achieved with sub-par circumstances.

This is the fantastic mess of images as they looked when they were straight out of the camera:

Brutal. I’m so glad I mostly know what I’m doing now, compared to then. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again — I wish I could have another shot at shooting Erika. Alas, she moved back to her native Bermuda a while ago, so I’ll have to make a trip down there if I want to make it happen.

On The Rocks

vtography — Thu, 11 Nov 2010 14:58:57 +0000

Light: Nikon SB-800 and SB-900 Speedlights on stands, mixed with sunlight

Camera and lens: Nikon D300s and Nikon 10-24mm

Model, hair, and makeup: Marietta Laan

Dress: H&M

Location: Bayers Lake, Halifax, Nova Scotia

Amy in Green

vtography — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 02:02:27 +0000

From my trip to Halifax last month: Amy tore herself away from her nuclear medicine studies for a nice dinner and photoshoot with moi. I got to try fried pepperoni for the first time, and Amy got to do a shoot at night — something that was apparently lacking from her portfolio. We headed to a wooded spot near an industrial part of Woodside in Dartmouth and I set up two Nikon Speedlights for lighting. I traveled to Halifax by air, which meant packing light was key. I couldn’t bring along my rather large Alien Bees, but nor did I have to. The tiny Speedlights did a fantastic job. Check out the diagram:

The rear Speedlight (an SB-900) was placed behind the trees, angled upwards, and covered with a green gel, using the supplied filter holder. The Speedlight in front (an SB-800 in a small umbrella) was placed to Amy’s left, but not directly aimed at her. I opted to feather the light by aiming the beam just in front of where she was crouching. All of this was triggered by the built-in flash of my Nikon D200, although not using Nikon’s CLS system since it wasn’t cooperating with me.

Amy’s blue eyes are insanely gorgeous, and yes, they’re really that colour! Oddly, this is the second time I’ve photographed Amy with primarily green tones. Our first adventure in green can be seen here.

Something Darker

vtography — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 03:40:40 +0000

Last time Amanda was seen on this blog, the images were light and bright and she wasn’t wearing very much. We got together for our second shoot at the end of June for something that was a little darker, and with more clothing.

Shot with a Nikon D700 and 85mm f/1.4 lens.

Erika

vtography — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 07:56:06 +0000

This is Erika, wearing my shirt, from three years ago this month. Beautiful, ain’t she? I hadn’t seen Erika in a while until recently, and it reminded me of how great she looked in front of the camera. In turn, she reminded me that I had no photos of her on my website! Hence this blog post.

If I revealed the contact sheets from this shoot, it would be obvious that I was not a tremendous photographer three years ago. I hope Erika gives me a second chance to shoot her, even though she doesn’t fancy herself a “model”. She’s tall and thin and just look at that face! I’d say she qualifies.

Technical details: Nikon D70 with 24-85mm lens @ f/8, 1/250, ISO 200, one Alien Bees strobe bounced into an umbrella.

Tania

vtography — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 09:34:25 +0000

Say hello to Tania. Curvy, gorgeous, and although you can’t tell here, she has possibly the best smile I’ve ever seen on a human being. As we live about 130km apart, we’ve only photographed together twice, but both times produced stellar results. The image above is from our most recent shoot in September 2008.

The best part about shooting with Tania is the awesome team she assembles before I even arrive. Her family and friends all pitch in with styling, wardrobe, hair, and locations, which make our jobs as photographer and model so much easier! So thanks to Adrianna, Enrico, and Stefania for all their help and I look forward to working with everyone again soon.

See more of Tania on my Flickr photostream.