Model Portfolio: Sheila Snow (c/o Intimate Manila)

As for these next four (4) images, I only worked on natural light. If you want intentional flare in your image, the lens you are using matters. Prime lenses give off a stronger flare compared to zooms. A common favorite is the el cheapo nifty fifty (50mm). It has a hipster artsy vibe that no L-lens could actually replicate. L-lenses were designed to lessen the lens flare effect since it is technically a light aberration. I used several styroboards reflecting the backlight so I could get details on Sheila. I didn’t care for much about background light measurement either, and expecting it to be over exposed anyway. What’s important here is the measurement on the model. The background would just follow. 

Working with available light all boils down to time. It’s very crucial when you plan your shoot since the sun shifts, and how the light refracts around the area is dependent on this. You also have to deal with color temperature — as the light goes into the afternoon, the warmer the light it gets.  

Light in this corridor is only good during morning until noon. Later than that, you wouldn’t get much of it coming through the passageway. So this was assisted with the Indras again. Now, my main goal here is to replicate natural light, and not replace it with strobes. I’m still relying my overall measurements based on what my camera tells me, but I have an allowance for a slightly under exposed measurement, assuming the Indras would fill up that remaining gap in the lighting. 

This is particularly noticeable in the left full body shot. The shadows produced by her legs and feet is sharper than what natural light would usually produce in this area. The two right images (they’re just the same, I did a B/W treatment on the other) had an interesting setup. It’s practically identical to the full body shot, but if you would notice the shadows on Sheila are inverted. In the half body shot, she has moved to the other side of the door frame avoiding most of the natural light (and strobe). To solve this, I placed a silver reflector on the camera left to bounce that light back to her. The result was something softer, but I lost about half a stop in the process.

This was in the other bathroom with pinkish tiles. Same principle, just a reversed light source. 

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