This was one shoot that happened out of serendipity. I was in between ad campaign jobs, and it so happened that one free day was sandwiched in between. Apple messaged me out of the blue finding out if I was game to shoot.
Over the years, there’s no place like shooting in Raffy’s house — which I personally refer to as Raffy’s last resort. Hehehe. It’s one house I would never get tired of shooting in. There is always some nook and cranny you’d get to re-explore.
Did all of these edits in just a morning. There wasn’t much to work on except for color grading. So when I locked on one type of grading for a series, it was pretty much a “copy-paste” workflow from there. I did some slight experiments in the second and third sets though for the heck of it.
It was overcast for most part of the day, which gave a this bluish and spread out lighting texture. This scenario is a double-edged sword, but it turned out to be in our favor. Everything was shot in high ISO with at least 400. If I can’t get enough grains, I add some more in post production. I never left the F2.8 mark and went for very shallow DoF all the way.
Experimented with various color grading in post production just for the heck of it. I personally like the first one.
The high-slit cheongsam was pleasant surprise Apple brought given my brief to her was the vintage Chinese look. Obviously I am still riding from that Wong Kar Wai shoot I did with Jinri for her calendar.
Doing these natural setting shots is a step back from the heavy effects and post-production we usually do in cosplay.
Production Credits:
- Make-up: Kiko Escobar
- Styling: Model’s Own
- Model: Apple Angeles Chan
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Sir Raffy's house is real nice. I mean all those details. Could play all day in shoots!