Beatniks

[brmill26]

My brother has a friend, Leah, who will be going to France in the fall. To help pay for her trip, she's going to be hosting a French-themed "Beatnik party" and taking donations. So, to help her promote her party, I went and did a shoot with her and a few friends. We had a ton of fun and two great locations - on Red Mountain overlooking downtown Birmingham, and at a little cafe in nearby "English Village." Shot on the XTi using the 50mm.

Leah brought attitude in spades


I caught Lauren relaxing in the shade while we got things set up. I love the look of this photo. Somehow it pulls off an old school film look, yet retains the sharpness and detail of the digital on Lauren, all without clashing.


The guys (trying to) look tough. Lighting via 2 off camera flashes at 1/4 power


The full bunch of beatniks


Hanging out at the cafe


Fletcher looking decidedly French


Leah broke out one more intense look as the sun dipped below the roof line.

[JamesV]

Brad as always, Great shots.... :thumbsup:

To me it looks like the third and fourth are PS, but that is just from the lighting that you use and the background isn't lit up as much.

I hope that her party goes well and it's always nice to help out friends when you can.

James

[Grandpaw]

I'm going to date myself, but when I think of Beatniks my first though goes to Maynard on the Dobie Gillis show. He was later Gilligan on Gilligans Island, Jeff

[brmill26]

Thanks James. You're exactly right about the lighting. Adding in light throws off what the eye expects, and the way it's lit gives a 3D look to the subjects, while the background looks flat. I thought about dropping the ambient level even more, but I didn't because I wanted to keep as much detail as possible in the downtown scene.

Grandpaw, I'll have to date myself in return by saying I have no idea about the first reference! haha. I definitely know Gilligan's Island, though. I used to watch the reruns a lot as a kid.