Sunday, 15 July 2012

Starlit Sky Band location shoot

Photographing the band Starlit Sky was very easy and above all, fun for me. I have known most of the band members for years and we had so much fun doing the pics that we all did not want to stop.
For once we where not rushed for time and I could really experiment with different techniques. I think we spent about 4 hours shooting....
You can check out their facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/starlitskyband

I set up a studio using a black (for low key) and then a white backdrop (for high key), a Nikon SB 700 flash and shoot through umbrella, radio triggers and a silver reflector at band member, Kevin Wilson's home. Between the props, hats, jacket and shirt changes it reminded me more of a photo booth shoot at a wedding at stages... I cant remember laughing so much or so long in ages...

At one stage I set up the flash behind the subject and then used a silver reflector to bounce light back creating a very different and cool effect... 

 I love the low key images of the band accomplished by using the black background and moving the flash to the right to throw directional light from the side. I kept the flash quite high (near the roof) in the beginning and later placed it a bit lower. I shot in manual mode on the flash and the camera for speed and accuracy. At times I went up to ISO 400 but mostly tried to use a lower ISO where possible....
I used an 18 to 55mm Nikon lens for all of the shots... For the high key shots I changed to the white background and moved the flash to a 45 degree angle on the right hand side and quite high and increased the power to 1/2. to make the background whiter.

To book a photo shoot E-mail sgmproductions@gmail.com



The effect of the first image was done in camera using the flash to freeze the frame while using a slow shutter speed and then moving the camera in a circular motion. I think that I used a shutter speed of about 4 seconds.... I then used many layers in photoshop to boost saturation, add contrast and give a more grainy, gritty feel to the images.... By using a black and white layer and playing with the red and blue sliders and then changing the blending mode to soft light it really makes the image pop. I also used a sepia layer set to soft light on top of that....

www.sgmproductions.weebly.com
sean@sgmproductions.co.za

 Hard to believe that this is an in-camera effect....

This is a high key shot using directional light and a reflector on the left to bounce back some light....

This is another low key shot of Kevin Wilson which used a higher ISO and faster shutter speed.

Band leader Sheldon Muller leaning into the lens which was at 18mm...

 A nice high key shot

 A high key shot taken from a low angle at 18mm

For this shot I moved the flash behind Tim and used a silver reflector to bounce light back into his body

I love this effect,, hard to believe that it is an in camera shot....

This is also an in-camera shot using multiple layers in photoshop including a  colour gradient filter set to soft light

Clinton Lehman showing off the tools of his trade

           Another in-camera shot of Clinton using the flash and slow shutter speed to good effect. I really love this effect.





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