Portrait Shoot with Nina!

As a photographer with clients, I must cater to the needs of others, and often times, this can be somewhat limiting, in terms of creativity and preference. That's why it's good to constantly shoot photography for myself. One thing I have really come to enjoy is portrait shoots with models. Not only do I have the chance to experiment with locations and lighting, but I am also given the opportunity to meet new people from other walks of life. This past Friday, I did a shoot with Nina, a model from Vietnam, on the slopes of Diamond Head. I had planned the shoot to test out some new lighting that would compliment the afternoon sunlight, but the sun decided to hide behind the clouds, essentially ruining my set up. So instead, we went with natural light, and it turned out amazing! The clouds acted as giant diffusers, allowing only soft sunlight through, providing great rim light on Nina. (Image info: Nikon D300, Nikon 85mm 1.4 @ f2.2, ISO 200, 1/1250 sec)

she loved playing in the tall grass, so we stuck with that for most of the shoot...(Image info: Nikon D300, Nikon 85mm 1.4 @ f2.2, ISO 200, 1/640 sec)

playing with composition...(Image info: Nikon D300, Nikon 85mm 1.4 @ f2.8, ISO 200, 1/320 sec)

My favorite image from the photoshoot! Nina wanted a couple shots of her brown boots, and it turned out to be the perfect request :) This was one shoot where equipment made a huge difference. I shot mostly with my 85mm 1.4, a lens that is known as the "Cream Machine" because of its ability to make backgrounds melt away, and it helped tremendously to keep the stone walls, telephone poles, and kiawe trees out of focus. No reflectors or flashes were used in these images. Sepia toning was done in CS3 with slight contrast adjustments. (Image info: Nikon D300, Nikon 85mm 1.4 @ f2, ISO 400, 1/2000 sec). Thanks for reading! More model images to come!