Shooting Bikini Models: How would you get this look?

Fantastic site. I can't believe how much info is here in the various

tutorials. I'm absorbing as fast as I can, but I have a shoot coming

up and I need some gut level advice from EOS users. I'm a computer

programmer, so the theory in the tutorials here is lovely... but

sometimes you just need some real world advice.

 

Forgive me if my questions seem adolescent or naive... but I am an

advanced amateur who is about to graduate from my point/shoot Sony

F717 to an EOS 20D (haven't bought it yet... but planning). The

biggest reason why I am making the leap is so I can get more control

over depth of field. You can see some pics I've shot at

www.bryanlamb.com/demo_pics/. I'm simply not happy with the quality

of the shots I'm getting with the Sony 717 anymore.

 

Given that... I'm hoping all you helpful folks can analyze the

online portfolio of a fantastic photographer (Andy McFarland) whose

work really inspires me and let me know which lenses / filters you

would choose to accomplish the look / quality he achieves. It's at

http://www.amaginations.com/am_portfolio.asp?

Dept_ID=0&NavButton=02&Main=Y

 

He says in his FAQ: "I shoot with Canon digital equipment and

lenses. I currently use Canon D60 and Canon 10d bodies and 3

different lenses: 50mm f/1.4, 28-70mm f/2.8 and 70-200mm f/2.8.

Since I do a majority of my work on location, I depend most of the

time on Mother Nature to provide me with my light source. I don't

use reflectors other than natural ones and I'm not that great with

the artificial lights (yet)."

 

Since I have no experience with this more advanced level of

equipment (i.e. EOS 20 w/prime lense), I can't help but wonder if

there is more to the story. As they say.... "the devil's in the

details".

 

- How would you attain this look with EOS gear, generally speaking?

<br>

- Are certain filters mandatory for shots like these?<br>

- Do you think there was significant Photoshop enhancement (curves /

dodge / burn / sharpen / blur, etc.)<br>

- How is he able to get such nice skin tone and facial lighting when

a shot is pretty clearly backlit?

 

One of my favorites is 11 rows down, furthest column to the right.

This shot is obviously top/backlit but her face and eyes are still

so bright. He says he doesn't use reflectors... so I'm left to

wonder... is an EOS 20D with a prime lense going to get me results

like that right out of the box?

 

Also... bottom row / first image on the left... the flesh tones are

amazing, the eyes and teeth are so sharp and inviting, yet the

background is so nicely dark and out of focus. How much of this is

done by the gear, and how much do you think was achieved in

Photoshop?

 

Thanks so much

If it's the portrait of the girl with the belt (?), all you need is a telephoto (the 70-200 f/2.8). I see very little retouching. In other words, you can do this easily, given the right light (the crucial element). Judging by the facial highlights, I think he also used a reflector. Easy peasy.

Thanks. Model is "Olympia". I think she has a scarf around her neck or something. I'm new to the whole detachable lense thing. I've heard that a 85mm 1.8 would be a good choice for work like this. Do you think the quality of a fixed prime would be any better than what you mentioned?

Oh yeah... the 2nd one I mentioned DOES have a belt (and that's about it!). Sorry. So if one were using the 70-200mm f/2.8... how far away would you be to achieve that depth of field? Where on the 70-200 range would you be? This is all very new to me. The 717 is very simple, but yields very simple results.

Andy is a regular contributor at the website <a href="http://garageglamour.com/">Garage Glamour</a>. He's quite forthcoming about his equipment and techniques.<P>

 

A listing of his posts there can be found at <a href="http://www.garageglamour.com/ubbthreads/dosearch.php?Cat=&Forum=All_Forums&Words=258&Match=Username&Searchpage=0&Limit=25&Old=allposts">this link</a>. You may need to register as a member at Garage Glamour before the link works (it's free).

How come a significant amount of photographers listed on Garage Glamour got predominantly nudes in their portfolios? Does that attract more models or something?

50mm f/1.4 is great for Portrait on 1,6 factor...

As you say, you are just starting, I can tell you, using this, will change your thoughts on photography, it's really a new experience, to go that open, and 50mm will result in "real" 80mm which is exactly fine for Portrait.

Good luck! Regards Axel

Yes. Thanks. In the time since I originally posted I have learned a HUGE amount by researching SLR technique to death, and by testing my new camera + lense rig. I got a used D60 with a new Canon 70-200mm IS, and I'm loving every minute of it.

 

I've exercised every single setting variation I could think of with this setup so I now have a really solid understanding of the various interactions between aperture, ISO, white balance, and shutter speed... and using the onboard metering to get consistently bright photos. I can't believe the control and confidence I have after only a week of testing. Thanks so much for all your help getting me started.

 

Now I can see just as you mentioned.... that an F/1.4 lense is exactly what I've been wanting and it will be perfect for the "eyes in focus / hair out of focus" shots I've been dreaming about.

 

I can also see that I will never have a positive balance in my accounts ;-)

Thought you might wanna see a sample of one of my first pics :-)<div></div>

One technique for getting the warm look to the images is to shoot at the "Overcast or Cloudy Day" setting on the camera.