Indian Bride Photoshoot

Gagen Chahal

This model photoshoot was the first TFP (time for print) job I've done in a long time.  I normally give the people that contact me on Model Mayhem my rate, and they never contact me back.  Yep, they always want stuff for free.  It's okay, sometime (rarely) I feel I have enough free time floating around to do a TFP, especially if it involves getting to meet a new make-up artist.

The theme in this one was... Indian Bride.  It was going to be more of a portrait shoot, so I was in my safe zone (I do a lot of portraiture).

The make up artist was Paula Lanzador also from Model Mayhem.  I find meeting other make-up artists to be a lot of fun, because I'm meeting other creative types.  And next time you have a project, you can call up the person who has the style you're looking for.  And if they have a job in line, they'll do the same.  Hopefully.

For this job, I said they will get ONE photo the day after the shoot, retouched.  Then 4 more photos retouched in the next two weeks.  Make sure to get the model release form signed too.

See the full set at my Flickr site!

For this shoot, I used a Canon 7D, and a Canon 15-85mm, 580exII,  and some 450w lamps with umbrellas.  The Canon 15-85mm is the sharpest zoom lens I own.  That's right, read the test data on photozone. I used to use the 17-40L but I quickly replaced it when I got my hands on the Canon 15-85mm, which outperformed it in nearly every way (no "weather resistance").  It's built really nice and feels really tight...

Here's an image and a 100% crop.

Here's a 100% crop

From the Above.  The image was shot at f/8, 1/80s, ISO-100 and 65mm.  This one was shot with a flash to get some dramatic shadows.  The 100% crop is preeetty sharp.  Keep in mind you can further increase sharpness with techniques like self timed tripod, sitting model, faster shutter speed, shooting at the aperture sweet spot, and such.  But I think this is a good example.

The title image was shot at f/8, 1/50s, ISO-100, 57mm, and flash.  I kept ISO low to minimize noise in the dramatic shadows.  The shutter speed can be lowered to 1/50s thanks to the Image Stabilization built in to the lens.  

Here's another one.  A Tyra Banks look.  I thought it was really cool.  Anyways, it was specially converted to Black and White at the model's request.

Converting a picture to monochrome is more than just pressing a button.  You can... actually... but it may not look the way you want it to.  I played around in photoshop to get this look.  I ended up using the "green" filter and fiddled with the neutrals.  Gave a nice high contrast look.  You can see the color version at my flickr site.

Actually, you can see the full set at my flickr site.