M.Mayhem: Valley of Fire Pt. 1

Model Mayhem: Valley of Fire (Pt. 1)

Hello everyone! This is the first part of my latest Model Mayhem project. The WPPI conference in Las Vegas was a great excuse to take photos some place completely unlike Spokane. Embarrassingly enough, I actually skipped WPPI to focus on this project. Yeah yeah…. I’ll take all the *tsk *tsk’s you’ve got. It was worth it. ;)

The Valley of Fire project was my first experience using outdoor lighting and (honestly) the first time I’ve really used lighting on my own. I need to send a HUGE shout out to Cameron Glass who woke up in the wee hours of the morning to teach me a thing or two about using strobes outside. Truly I feel these pictures in part belong to him too! Without his advice about placement, metering and adjustment I would never have been able to make these photos what they are. Thank you so much Cameron for being my sounding board and big brother in all of this!! It only gets better from here, right? *wink wink*

Our first model is Kim Nase of Bend, Oregon. She is a longtime girl friend of mine and someone I adore endlessly. I had the pleasure of being Kim’s wedding photographer last May when she married an amazing man named Alex Nase. Kim hands down has most incredible bone structure I have ever seen. This might sound silly coming from a girl, but she is one of those people you cannot help staring at. She is beautiful. Then you meet her… Her kind innocence and love for those around her makes her a true treasure among women.

I love you Kimmy!

For these photos (above) I used my Canon 5D Mark II and 50mm macro lens. I like the shallow depth-of-field you get with this lens at a wider apeture, especially in lower lighting conditions.

ISO 100/ F 7.1/ 1-200 sec

Oh those clouds!!! For this shot I used my 24-105 Canon zoom. Usually in photography, say, if I was shooting using only natural light I would have to choose between metering for the sky, the background, or the model. With having studio lights along for this shoot there was a lot more to choose from and the result was magic. To create the perfect balance of clouds AND model (basically the best of both worlds) I metered off the clouds and then adjusted my strobes to my preference on the model. For this specific shot I wanted to create an intense contrast between the shadows and the highlights, further chiseling Kim’s features and drawing your eyes to the sky. I love love love the result!

ISO 100/ F 5.6/ 1-200 sec

 

 

 

Some pictures of our shoot location… I’ll share some funny stories about how we actually got permission to shoot here next week. : )

 

Coming Next Week:

Model Mayhem: Valley of Fire (Pt.2)

 

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Spokane Modeling Photography/ Spokane Modeling Portaits taken on location in the Valley of Fire State Park outside of Las Vegas, NV.

Model: Kimberly Nase

Makeup & Hair: Heather’s Hair Design (the amazing Heather Washburn)  

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