Since achieving my AIPF distinction last September, my model photography went into hibernation. Partly because the effort to come up with my panel had exhausted my brain, partly because my main location in the shed/studio was too cold for comfortable winter work. so I was delighted this past weekend to be back shooting with Madame Bink in a heated old empty house.
The house had four rooms to shoot in, each with a fireplace and either one or two windows. Floors were bare wood and walls were wallpapered and in various states of dilapidation. I initially thought the fireplaces would make a central theme for the days shoot, but as it turned out the walls and lighting close to the windows took centre stage.
For the image above I was inspired by travel portraiture, where light bounced from the floor as well as the window, the rooms being small enough to reflect lots of their colour back onto Bink as well. The torn wall paper adding to the feel. So in keeping with that style my trusty 50mm 1.4 close in to give a slightly distorted subject seemed to work very well. Looking at the walls Bink chose a green top to pickup the green flecks in the old wallpaper.
An exception to close window work was the dark corridor, which had two south facing rooms opening onto it. So lighting Bink from the doorways was an obvious choice as soon as we started the shoot.
I am delighted with the results of this first shoot of 2016, and can see where some inspiration picked up over those dark winter months is finding its way into my work. It’s always satisfying to see your own work progress, so I’ll be looking forward to seeing how some of this new work performs in competitions and salons in the coming year.
Now time to plan my next shoot…
