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Shoot: Natural Window Light, Crown

Lesson 18 from: Fashion Photography 101

Lara Jade

Shoot: Natural Window Light, Crown

Lesson 18 from: Fashion Photography 101

Lara Jade

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Lesson Info

18. Shoot: Natural Window Light, Crown

Lesson Info

Shoot: Natural Window Light, Crown

So the first thing I want to do is to shoot with natural light in this environment, I'm looking for portrait again, going from what I did yesterday, I'm relying on backlighting, we don't have as good weather weather today, it's more diffused outside, but they're clouds outside at like a diffuser it's like almost like the clouds are soft bugs, so what's great about that is we can go really high on the ice so we can get that kind of light coming in from behind was still keeping the details and focusing on the eyes focus in on the clothes. Yeah, I'm just getting just making a beautiful image. That's the main thing with this, just making everything would look really feminine, beautiful it's great that my team around that because if any hair is out of place with this, you know everything's supposed to be perfect everything's supposed to be sleek and beautiful so it's great that they're there to coming with props to come in with their ideas as well. So I would love to take some questions, ma...

ybe from you guys until that ready there's always a lot of time in between waiting whenever I'm shooting a fashion editorial there's always like twenty minutes in between this look, so this is normal. Okay, if you guys got any questions for me about conflict was just vintage like an old vintage team and just that kind of open so many doors in so many different clothing and models, so the way that I cast the models came from that vintage theme, the clothes I pulled, the kind of textures, the look of the color palette or maybe on the face with the hair, so I gave them like a very or pin reference I don't like to be too closed in on reference with hair and makeup, like their input two something that was really important for me. Um, I currently have my settings on my camera for about shoot, I'm going to start with, and the reason I do this is because I don't like media, and the reason is I liked me during camera whenever I'm using my shutter speed, I'm tuggle ing when I'm focusing in I'm figuring out as I shoot a lot of first part of my shoot is figuring out exactly what I want to do, so I'm going in figuring out what cases does this pose? What is this suppose what is that light? A bit harsh or no is the expression wrong? And then after about the first look, things usually come together, so my settings right now, I'm on eight hundred shutter speed two point eight on my aptitude because I want it quite wine I want to be throwing out the background of what its soft have a nice store of six forty and this is to let the light coming from behind right now that's just gonna add some warmth and correct the white balance so everything's set in cameras well so I'm gonna take a few shots and then I'm gonna come back as well okay, so could I get you to a little bit further over that's even the center of the window so I'm positioned in the center of the frame like because of the composition come slightly back a little bit just put your left leg out and I want you to pose with both hands just like that and then face towards me that's great I'm just gonna take a few shots to test the exposure so what I'm trying to get for nurses I want you to look like a heroine almost like just kind of leaning back I don't want like strong poses I don't want this I want more relaxed on maybe something with a face a delicate hand that would be great okay, so that's a little bit bright for me sorry that shot was a little bit bright for me so I'm just going to take the shutter speed up to a thousand right now yep about what sort of lens you're using? Yeah so yesterday I was using the fifty one two today I'm using the eighty five one two and the reason is because it's great portrait whenever I'm shooting portrait so close like this so that when you shoot porch it has to be almost over seventy mill because of the distortion factor so I'm getting something true to the eye okay so the camera I have is the cannon five d mark three right now and this is great for me you know cameras just stools but it's great for me because I need the quality my images whenever I shoot something I needed to be an option for a billboard to be printed at a larger size as well just take a few more and then also okay so that's great just put your hand up like this just to sign it's beautiful and it's a little bit brighter again was gonna take down my eyes so two five hundred it's a little bit of over exposure that just come in this way a little bit that's great speed far I love when you just put your chin up like that and just open your mouth just slightly whenever I pose models like this I'm always just getting them tio relax as much as possible the first shot is always difficult because models don't exactly know how they want to pose but it's good to give them as much direction so I always have open lips here may be put in an arm to a face just relax in the body as much as possible springing this right shoulder out here you just put your hand down for me it's coming a little bit closer just head over that way so there's no composition yep. Just relax that arm again and twist your shoulder this way yep. Both hands down that's great. Okay, so you can start to see how these air coming together. I'm just shoot as many options right now. First shots um always just trying to figure out where I'm going. What I want from this whether this is gonna be a portrait shot whether I want a full length from it but I'd love if you ask me questions as I go is because I know I'm very like into what I'm doing but that's just my natural way I'd like figuring out so I'd love feed it probably with questions I know people are curious about settings that kind of thing's just ask me, okay, just what are you so as you're figuring this out, what are you liking and not liking about each particular up and not right now I'm not not liking anything I'm just figuring out how best to pose her because when I first shoot models if I haven't shot them before trying to figure out what their best things are like maybe it's, the way that their chin is up, the way the light falls onto the face, the way the eyes look in the shot, the way the makeup is on the face and this will be a time if I didn't like hair and makeup, that would be a time where I'd say, debra, alex, do you think you could come in and that maybe you just ahead? Maybe the hair isn't working down? Maybe they want it up because it works better for the portrait as well. Okay, I just I want to try and do a full life so for a full length, if you could just pull your leg like that and maybe just yeah, can you just move over to the window? Little yes, that's great. Thank you. Okay, I'm just gonna come in close, mate. You're doing great. So if you just pull one on and that face in ok and not too much with the hands because I feel like the dress cuts off here. It's nice to just get this detail within the top. I'd love to do it's symmetrical shot. So I'm gonna shoot and not on option for a cover shot, so I always do this whenever I shoot editorials I'm always focusing in cropping around here. Leaving some negative space at the top ok I'm always trying to get girls to look symmetrical when I first to cover shots and then it kind of play around with that as well so if you look straight down the camera for me chin up just a little bit that's great when your mouth just a little bit wider eyes with me and relax again okay just time this way maybe just dropped that on yeah yeah that's a really nice with the aj yeah that's definitely where I want to go with it so just back yeah so laura what did you see that you said I definitely want to go with this well, I saw an art in the back and work for like the composition of what I'm going for so you know, this is a really simple set up I just want some beautiful portrayed so I just want a great canvas to try and work on later and this is just like a shot that we use it while shooting an editorial my place is next to a full length with maybe a different outfit or you know, this is grateful I'm looking at like the detail like the the crown this could be great for a cover shot because we've got the detail of the necklace we've got a beautiful hair and makeup and then we've got the crown as well so this is definitely more over a portrait things that when I'm trying wide angle and I'm coming out I'm thinking maybe that's not a good idea this dress is not that great for full length especially with this background for me I'm going to shoot the full length hair but I would only know that my experiment it's well I'm not gonna know that straightaway okay there any other questions? Yeah can you touch on the angles and distortion? I'm sure some people are curious you know when you step away fooling shot how you're sort of focusing in more towards her waist as faras the angle of shooting can you just kind of just like down south like this? Yeah, okay, so whenever I'm like you're in full length I always bend down to a little bit um I just want to give that kind of perspective like yesterday I love focusing a little bit more down on the models and that was kind of enhanced the composition so when you focus down on somebody it's gonna have a kind of smaller appearance it was more feminine funyuns today. So that kind of worked for this, you know, she's very strong this wouldn't look right if she was kind of sitting on the floor and I was works in down and I want her to look like a strong character I want hit it like she's got that beautiful like dress, that kind of enhances the shoulders. So I want his shoulders about everything. About this outfit is kind of telling me to do that. Yet you tell us where she is. Yes, this is beautiful. Mariana on, um, way got you from which is your agency, major? Oh, you julia. Okay, you look so similar. So you eat from it. Um, major. So I found her. I emailed major and I said, do you have any girls that which feed this seems so I'm sending my mood board to them on dh. Yeah, they they sent me this package and you is in it, and she just really went for the theme and what I'm looking for for this particular thing, do the girls go together and how well they would see I confuse them. This's what I always do want yusef, I'm using twins girls to get I always do that. So, yeah, I'm sorry. But no, she is definitely great for this team because she worked with that strong kind of heroin, like vintage game as well. Just get a few more you down some close ups for me, so what I want you to do is just move slightly in every shot so fast starter for the front moved slightly towards aside it's all about the angles of the shoulders because of the type of face towards me. It's great. I love that. See, now I'm starting to see I'm starting to feel inspired by what I'm doing. So the last few shots, if they're just coming up you want was antsy. This works for me, what's coming on screen. Now, this is when the point I would look at the photos and taken and say, okay, this works, I'm happy with that. I'm gonna stick to that, and I'm gonna keep experimented with that. Well, okay, yeah. Trying to put your hands too much like it's all about or lack shoulders into choosing shoulders to kind of come in. Ok? Just shorted down for me. Yes. It's a maybe a straight one. So maybe just hold your hands like this and then head slightly to the side. And the emotion I want you to give it's kind of a little bit tried to give emotion for you that would be just like soft, maybe a little bit lost because they open eyes open, mouth to salute, maybe even try looking off to the distance. It's great. And just with your hands trying to class, then more like separate so just one finger over the other. Yeah, I want everything to be very soft and gentle and if you could look over here for me, I'm just moving around, which is a cat. I've got the settings I won, just moving around the model, figuring out what works for me. This is why when people say, oh, you gotta storyboard do you have to stick to that? You don't, because if I was to write this on the storyboard, if I did it in a full length on the storyboard, I'd have gone. But that's not what can I get a crop in and see how it works? So you never know like you've always just gotta experiment and move around and figure out what works for you and how it works on there. Just a few more, and I think we're good. Straight on with you you tend to me it's beautiful yeah with your fingers could you like overlap in like this yeah yeah that's it yeah and then down a little bit away from the body yeah, beautiful and then just relax your eyes just a little bit and then look straight to me with a few close ups and I manually focus in I know a few people asked yesterday and manually focus I hold my camera this way and now you're just because that's how I've always done it manual for me I am this is probably coming from the fact that I had a broken fifty mil when I couldn't afford a new one that I would never trust the order focus on it so I go in I was always manual so the way I do that it's like focus in on the eyes and I'm moving the camera around I kind of pressed the should've halfway down on the I moved the camera from there and I'm going into focus in like that and figuring it out okay, well, I think we've got some great shots here I'm happy teo yeah, I'm happy to grab the other model and get on with the other set I would love to get questions well there coming in on the other set though if that's okay, yeah, what would you bring in a I usually just shoot natural light and only have the reflector. And then when do you bring in a reflector? When do you bump up your settings? They could get more light when you bring in a light just for this. For me, I'm using natural light because with the lab site and now the sun's starting to come true, it's got a whole different thing I've got to do next with a diffuse like this is great because that I s so lets the light seep in its very soft on the skin you can bring about that contrast, veteran retouching, um, for me, a reflector wouldn't have worked here one, because only when it's, um, wasn't there. There's, nothing really to reflect. The war was a white, and you've got this pillar here that's already about that light if you need it. If this was on stay like a black wall, you'll probably need to bring a reflective. And if someone's like this and you just wanted some reflection like you see how she standing now. If you had a reflector like here, like coming in from the light. And you wanted her face in the light because she put all of this. And that would be a good time to do that. Or if you doing backlight in. And you've got the light coming from behind. And you want to get some kind of fill in the face because I don't like using reflected a lot of the time. It's. Because I'm very natural with my lighting approach. And sometimes it gets too much of a phil to what I'm doing, okay.

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Ratings and Reviews

a Creativelive Student
 

It was an amazing class. I have seen many fashion photography courses in Creative Live and I find this one was one of the best and very easy to follow. Lara was very clear about the fashion photography industry, explaining the differences between editorial, commercial and advertising fashion photography and when/why you work for free, the process, the importance about experimenting solo or with a creative team. It was very inspiring and loved her!

James
 

Having dusted off my camera after a 3 year inspiration slump I decided to head toward the fashion/editorial/Fine art/Portrait route. I discovered this course and after researching Lara Jade's work and seeing the course content I decided to buy the course. I'm completely new to the fashion world having mainly shot personal stuff. Anyway, for anyone reading this review who might be thinking 'should I, shouldn't I book this course?' I'm only up to video 6 - the vintage natural light look. I've learned so much already, even if I'd paid the same and got the first 6 videos I'd have been happy. So far it's covered so much about planning shoots, directing models. I like the fact that Jade is a working professional photographer rather than a want-to-be-but-failed or a long time passed has-been. I like that she's British (as am I). I like how she teaches and how down to earth she is and how happy she is to answer questions. I like how humble she is. The content, the teaching style is nothing short of being an assistant on set and learning first hand. Don't think about buying this course, just do it. You will not be sorry, I promise you!

a Creativelive Student
 

Lara's course was very well put together. She covered so many aspects of her shoots, including letting her creative team have the perfect amount of input; so she demonstrated how important it is to surround yourself with the right people and consistently getting their input. I'd love to be able to work with her hair stylist and wardrobe stylist for future editorial shoots. For being as young as Lara is, she is beyond her years in preparedness, experience, and aptitude to instruct. I thought she handled situations, like some "dead air" during live shoots very well by explaining in detail what was going on. Needless to say, I was super impressed.

Student Work

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