Iryna Stevens photo shoot

Update: some of the photos from the shoot are now on iStockphoto. Click here to view my portfolio on iStockphoto.com.

In an earlier post I mentioned that I had planned my first photo shoot and I am pleased to say that it took place over the weekend. It was a fantastic experience; I learnt a lot in those two hours, made some mistakes, and took 479 photos! Sure I was nervous, I didn't have any experience of using studio lighting equipment, but it wasn't like the model was a wannabe model either - it was Ukraine model Iryna Stevens! I mean, this girl has done it all, and here's me with the opportunity to photograph her.

It will take some time to go through all the photos, so check back soon, but for now here's a sneak peak at one of the photos from the session.



I think the shoot went well considering it was my first time (darn, was trying so hard not to say that!); I'm not sure yet, but I reckon I got some cool photos and hopefully a few that I can add to my iStockphoto portfolio.

So what did I learn from my experience?

Being a little nervous I completely forgot some of the things I should have been checking as the shoot progressed. For starters, check and double check the lighting - without a properly lit model all that effort is for nothing. I temporarily messed up the lighting, where they were pretty much pointed in all the wrong angles - I can't believe I did that, but that will teach me not to rush next time.

Secondly, and without my realising, I must have turned a dial by mistake and the shutter speed was lowered from 250 to 160! I hadn't noticed until about 100 photos later. :(
To be fair, most of the photos are sharp anyway, so it was mostly the exposure that suffered a little. Messing up the overall lighting was much worse.

And finally, I took along some gray cards to use as my benchmark for proper white balance later - and did I use one? No! It completely slipped my mind and I only realised once I was packing up. Note: it was used before the session though...when I arrived at the studio I heard Iryna behind a set of doors and curtain give out a little scream when a wasp found it's way into the studio. I offered the gray card pack I took along as a means to remove the little beast!

So what about the camera and lens?

The Canon EOS 40D and the 24-70mm f2.8 L USM lens were perfect. Nuff said.