Sarah was introduced to me through a common model friend, and from one fateful shoot session, she has become one of my favorites. There’s something classic about her beauty that shooting her makes it look timeless. That, or I’m the usual sucker for vintage-looking imagery. This was a simple folio session that turned out interesting since I wanted to push the vintage / pin-up girl look again on her.  I wanted subtle eyes, but strong lips which coincidentally becomes the main focal point in her beauty shots.

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For those who own a studio or planning to setup one, I highly suggest buying white acrylic sheets. My usual source is Modern Art Broadway, and they sell all sort of useful materials for props and backgrounds we end up using heavily in shoots. Paper background has always been my default choice over rubberized cloth. Although the latter is more cost-efficient, the light doesn’t bounce as evenly because of the patterns and ridges it has across the fabric. Also as wear and tear, lint builds up and creases deepen making it more difficult to light over time. Paper backgrounds are prone to getting wet, despite the weight (a.k.a. thickness) of these being more than your usual oslo paper. They also catch dirt easily, and you’d up having to cut those eventually running out of roll. So what’s my point? Seems like a waste right? Now, having an acrylic sheet placed on top of the paper background becomes a more practical solution. It protects the paper underneath from unwanted stomping, at the same time pulling the paper evenly preventing any creasing.

You can finally create clean backdrops without subjecting the paper to too much abuse.

This works best with white backgrounds matched with white acrylic sheets of 1/8 thickness. It can work for other colors, but the acrylic and the paper background have to perfectly match. 

Production Credits

• Make-up: Jet Babas
• Styling: Hannah Kim (MIA)
• Model: Sarah Gill