All Photos Copyright Carla Coulson
These are some pics I did recently with a wonderful New Zealand model and French stylist Arno Ferrie. The plan was to shoot this 'Little Black Dress' story outside in my wonderful courtyard. In summer the light literally bounces off the white walls and creates beautiful soft light as though you have a reflector near the model. I had a white fabric backdrop set up and as I pressed the shutter on the first pic it started to rain. Yikes!! Nothing worses than a change in the weather. A neighbour of mine floated through the courtyard around the same time and announced that the rain was here to stay.
Me and my gang trudged upstairs to my apartment but there was no way I was sending the model or stylist home. Too much prep work. We 'built' a makeshift studio in front of my neighbours front door (it took a bit of shimmying to get in the front door but they were great sports) by taping the backdrop up to a flat wall (the space was too small for the stand). To the eye it was pitch black as there was hardly any natural light. The neighbours thought we were bonkers!
I had a back up profoto portapak flash and when I did the first test shot I noticed the white background disappeared as it received the full force of the light and as I was working in a tiny space. One step backwards and I was down the stairs.. I loved the blown out background and the effect of the bare flash head. In the space of two hours we shot ten outfits and saved the day.
All images were shot on my Leica M8.2
Voila and that's what you can do with a white background, a flash, a great model, beautiful clothes on a rainy day in a teeny weeny space!!!
Hope you enjoyed this!!
Carla xx
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No exaggeration - you just blew my mind. Before I even began reading I had presumed you had taken these photos in some studio. Well done!
ReplyDeleteGreat story Carla!
ReplyDeletea m a z i n g
ReplyDeletecongratulations!
magic, I love stories like this. I don't have all the flash gear profesionals use so my whole approach is adlib. Sometimes it works- sometimes not. I just shot some food for an article I wrote, and styled and shot the pics in my own home after I cooked all the recipes. I thought they weren't too bad. I love the effect my halogen lights in my kitchen has on food. See my last post for some of the pics,xxCorrina.
ReplyDeleteSuperb - love the contrast and composition of your images as well as the description of the shoot. You make it sound so straight forward........If only it were! You are obviously clam, and versatile under pressure as well as being a fab photographer. Bisous
ReplyDeleteAwesome! Love the start yet stunning contrast between the black dress and white background. And as always, your behind the scenes peak leaves me so inspired!
ReplyDeleteThe first picture is fantastic! I love seeing your work, it's always so beautiful and interesting.
ReplyDeleteYay, yay, yay! Remi is currently doing some studio work while crammed into a tiny space and I really see how difficult it is to make the lighting work--but what you did is even harder! Kudos to you and the fabulous model as well for kicking it out like she did under tough conditions. Wow.
ReplyDeleteA great set of photos. No one would think that you hadn't used a studio. What lens length did you use 50mm?
ReplyDeleteFabulous... and that's what you call old fashioned resourceful. Never give up too! Great photos.
ReplyDeleteHelen:)