15.30: After
many cups of coffee and lunch we now have our first ‘look’ and venture upstairs
to studio two. This is a glorious white-washed space flooded by natural light.
I though it would be the perfect opportunity to settle in the model. I wasn’t
at this point concerned about capturing a usable image, it was more about
building up a rapport with the model and putting her at ease. Our model Chloe
was fantastic, she didn’t need much prompting and totally understood what was
required. So we start shooting and this is when I started to get excited about
the IQ180. It’s a breeze to use and is logically laid out. I’m able to
instantly show our model and the team the captured images via the touch-screen
display. This was important as it instantly instilled confidence in everyone.
Whilst shooting, we decided that the makeup was too heavy and needed adjusting.
This then prompted and outfit change and a move downstairs to studio one with its
infinity curve.
16.30: We
are deep into the serious business of taking photographs, but also having fun.
I’m shooting, tethered directly to Capture One Pro and reviewing each shot on
an external monitor. I realise immediately because of the quality of the IQ180,
I can distance myself from the model and get into some creative cropping. I
could afford to lose up to 60% of the photograph and still retain a usable
high-quality image. From here on, we introduce a wind and smoke machine. The
creative cropping had brought about ideas involving the movement of the model
and the flow of material in her dress.
17.30: It’s
time for a few rapid changes and the final shots of the day. We have already
captured some great images, so it’s a good chance for everyone to experiment
and see what we can create in the final minutes of our shoot. After thanks and
applause all round, followed by a short interview with me for our film maker,
all equipment is packed down and loaded up. I always do a final check to ensure
I don’t leave anything behind.
19.30: I
return home, unload and place all used batteries on charge for the next shoot.
The next day: I start up Capture One Pro and scan through the images, selecting
the best ones from the shoot. Basic adjustments are made on selected RAW files
and once I’m satisfied I export them as TIFF files into Photoshop for their
final treatment. On a test shoot like this with lots of contributors, I like to
edit around 8-12 photographs, so everyone comes away with some useful shots for
their portfolios.
When organising a shoot, make sure to get a
good creative team together. Challenge yourself and push the boundaries. I’m
always looking for a new approach and a new way of shooting, this way you’ll
gain knowledge and confidence. Communication is the key to a well-organised
shoot. Any problems can be dealt with easily as long as you are communicating
with your team.
Angle
‘Shooting from a low viewpoint makes the
model appear dominant’
Backlight
‘Extravagant use of a beauty dish with a
grid to produce a back light to highlight the model’s hair’
Gold dress
‘Light hitting the gold sequins created
interesting specular highlights’
Black dress
‘The model and lights were moved away from
the white backdrop to produce a grey graduated background’
Close up
‘The IQ180 captures astonishing detail’
Fantasy
‘A smoke and wind machine were used to
forge a dreamy fantasy feel – check if the studio has these to hire’
Drama
‘A single key light was used to create
drama and interesting shadows’
The key set-up
‘Time was spent getting the light setup
right, so that only fine adjustments were necessary during the shoot’
Behind the scenes
Movement
The model was encouraged to dance and twirl
around, giving rise to movement within the dress
Hair & makeup
A separate preparation area for the model
is beneficial
Viewpoint
To get interesting angles, sit down or lie
on the floor
Window light
Nathan prefers to use just natural light
whenever possible to create a fresh, organic look
Checking the shots
Nathan and his team use Capture One Pro to
help speed up the workflow process and check the results in detail
The IQ180
Although you might have to re-mortgage your
home to acquire one of these backs, it has to be said that the IQ180 was a
dream to use. The touch screen display made light work of viewing all files. I
could easily check to see if photographs were in focus or not via its intuitive
controls. The IQ180 captures stunning extreme detail and the accurate and
neutral colour rendition is phenomenal. Skin tones are alive and natural. Its
12.5 stops of dynamic range means you can reproduce shots with extreme tonal
differences and adjust them accordingly.
