Shooting up the countryside with Holly - a hidden location and a modified style

This location is a fair drive. It's hidden, remote, and truly wonderful. Magical, even. Holly and I trekked out to this location and continued in the style of our most recent shoot, with a bit of a difference - I wanted to capture some more evocative, movement inspired poses, and different angles.

For a change, the sun was shining, as we slowly emerge from an Australian winter that was punctuated by lockdowns and flurries of doing absolutely nothing. The Australian (and in particular, Adelaide Hills) are rather verdant, green, and look like a fantasy setting at the moment.

That's if you had a fantasy tale set among gum trees and Australian native flora.

This was shot at various focal lengths, with a mixture of 85mm, and 24-70mm. For once, I used some flash-less photography, ensuring my natural light game was still in one piece.

There was also some flash, with a variety of bare bulb, softbox, and bounced light from a reflector. The sun was the best light on the day, however. I'm so pleased with the location.

This post makes up the first part of what will be a multiple part series, as I get more and more competent with extracting better images from my camera gear.

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This image was shot with natural light, plus a reflector - the sun was coming in from the left of frame, and the reflector (gold side) balanced the light, erasing the shadow that would be on the right side allowing for a balanced exposure. Pretty happy with the outcome of natural light!

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Then I decided to turn my flash back on...

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I'm much happier with the flash result. I then swapped places with Holly, she went outside, I went inside - and I got even happier with the outcome.

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I can't stress how much I enjoy using artifical light on location. The Godox AD200 is an absolute beast of a strobe, and is perfect for giving images an extra sense of oomph.

For this shoot, I had no one assisting, so I used a good old light stand. Next time I go back to this location, I'll take a tripod, as the ground was very, very unlevel.

I can't wait to share more of this location and what we have planned next!

As always, if you have any questions about my technique, please feel free to ask, as I'm always happy to answer!



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17 comments
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amazing pictures and really hard work.
I thought that cameraman will be with you but as you mention that you alone take all these photos and literally it gave me goosebumps. really appreciable work and remarkable.
and by the way angels from heaven are starting appearing in this world

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In prior posts, I do have some examples where I have an assistant with me, but this shoot it was just Holly and I!

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That model looks like she absolutely belongs there. Great choice of model and shots!

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Cheers! It was a wonderful day with excellent light!

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Get that pretty brooding lady to smile!!

Just kidding. The lighting must be hard to get just right to balance out the blue of the sky and the white of your lighting stand. So much goes into well-done shots and I love the fact you share and educate on the blockchain.

Well done again man.

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Don't worry, there's some smiling images coming, I promise, and if I don't post one that I fully retouched, I'll find one!:D

Balancing natural and artifical light isn't too hard, the Godox AD200 is pretty consistent in its colour temperature and science. The real challenge is in ensuring that the images taken with natural light are balanced when observed alongside those with flash. :D

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Fantastic pictures as usual. I think i like photo number two with her looking out through the ivy. She looks good with curly hair but I think the straight wavy hair in these sets look awesome on her. Nice job capturing all the hues so well between her, the clothing and the foliage.

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Thanks! It can be easy for people to lose details in tones that are close through over-zealous post-processing. I like to be a light touch in Photoshop, so as to preserve what I capture in-camera!

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I can see the fidelity yet subtle finesse in your photography in regards to the subject and media.

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For my next shoot, I think I'm going to post another "this is what I got in camera", "and this is what I did to it in post-production", type-affair (hopefully with a mic that won't constantly cut out!) - to share the workflow a little more.

I love sharing this stuff!

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Second one is my favourite XD

Why can't we have fantasy set in gum leaves with native Australian flora? :D

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We can, I'm just organising such a thing :)

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Damn, I came to see photos of her "hidden location" but had to settle with stunning portrait photos. Real nice work.

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Thank you! Stunning is an excellent adjective. I appreciate its use in this context.

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