In these strange times I feel lucky to have the headspace to want to exercise my creative side. So when Mischkah asked me if I’d like to try a remote shoot, I gladly said yes. I’d been thinking about these for a while and wondering just how well they would work for me. I enjoy my studio and the one to one contact with a model I collaborate with, but would it still work in a virtual world? Only one way to find out.
We booked a two hour session and two days later we connected using Anydesk and a phone call. Mischkah had already sent studio photos and I sent on some conceptual images to work with.
We started with Studio light and my conceptual images with various shadow casting techniques over Mischkah’s face. The first big difference with this kind of experimental lighting setup is Mischkah was doing all the studio work and I was just giving feedback over the phone. So really a remote shoot is more work for the model for complicated lighting setups. I was happy to experiment since I wanted to see how well we could do things similar to how I would at home in my own studio.
Mischkah was well setup equipment wise. Working tethered and on a tripod, I had remote control of her camera and once I got the hang of the software and focusing behaviour we had few problems during the shoot from a technical standpoint. The one set of images in low light I did shoot out of focus near the end, Mischkah noticed when reviewing and was happy to retake the set.
The natural light corner with the pillar was a no brainer for me to try, and I was very pleased with the results.
Given the short two hour session and the initial setup practice, I would say the productivity was on par to any other shoot I would do. Like any shoot, the more organised you are before the shoot the more likely you produce images you will be happy with. It was actually a great experience and I am looking forward to a second shoot with Mischkah in the not to distant future.
