End of Summer Celebration

Taken at a recent model shop. It was a 50s Style Theme shoot, but some of the models didn't get the word until it was too late. The model on the left wore baggy shorts and a scarf to give it a whirl...

G

http://www.gregbulla.com/Photography..._post_1200.jpg

Really awesome ambient light. lovely sunset. and the models are nicely lit. Technically very good. Good stuff!

I like it. The natural light is just beautiful. And you've caught a great moment with the two models.

A couple things: does the original crop have anymore room on the right side? That hand seems to be cut off.

And, if it were me, I might try to find a way to do some subtle retouching on their faces so the specular highlights are softer and a little more natural-looking. I'm thinking of that patch of glare on girl-on-left's forehead, in particular.

Very nice work, though.

wow, one complicated shot !
models jumping , lots of contrast and external lighting

you only missed having a shallow DOF :) (impossible, maybe?)

crop is a little to tight on the sides

Thanks for your critiques. We had the models, the beach and the setting sun, but wasn't sure what poses would be right, so we ended up doing a variety of stuff, including the jumping thing (maybe they just got new Toyotas?)

Liban, I'm just glad I got one right, for we needed to shoot a bunch due to the models were jumping at different times and one kept closing her eyes :) I'm pretty happy with it, though I think it could be a tad sharper..

Dray, the right side is what's in the shot (hope it doesn't hurt the image too badly). The left had more room but I cropped off a little to balance it. I see what you mean about the face needing a little processing: should be easy to do, and I already did so to several other shots of this model. Btw that comes from the off camera flash 45 degrees on their left.

Armando, you're spot on regarding the DOF - mostly impossible! I wanted to shoot at 4 or 5.6, but my flash sync is 1/320 (though I often shoot 1/250 because it's more reliable) and when shooting a Nikon with a minimum ISO speed of 200 (100 isn't recommended ...), you have to use a lot smaller aperture than you would prefer! I think this one was 11 or 16. Anyway, I think the only solution is to shoot with a ND filter, but that will make the viewfinder pretty dark when shooting, though maybe it won't be a problem if there's plenty of light (?)

Btw, this is the first time I really used off-camera flash/strobe via my SB-800 via Commander mode. It's a little trickier than it should be because the flash doesn't communicate with the flash via RF, but very small and undetectable micro flashes from the camera: the strobe has a side sensor to detect them. The only issue is that Nikon got cheap and only put a sensor on one side of the flash, so you have to be careful in a dynamic shoot to keep the sensor within line of sight of the camera (and in front of the camera). Given this, I may experiment w/ an off-brand wireless transmitter and receiver, see if it communicates adequate data between them.

Here's another shot of the left side model (Amy). She does trade show promotional work (and you can certainly see why with her smile)

G