Maternity Photoshoot Edinburgh

A couple of weeks age I met and photographed Rebecca. Rebecca was around 36 weeks pregnant when I took these photos, and it was a pleasure to photograph her.

I think this is my favourite. Rebecca looks so beautiful-calm,and serene...

 

Don't you just love these gorgeous curves?



 

and this wee peek of baby belly?



I also love this silhouette with a peek out of Rebecca's back door, giving some context to the photos.

 

And finally, there's nothing like black and white to create mood in a photo.

 

Thanks for being such a great model Rebecca-wishing your a stress free straightforward delivery!

 

 

Studio Lighting Workshop

Last week I attended a studio lighting workshop. It was interesting, and surprisingly straightforward. I used my macro lens. which is something I don't usually do for portaits, and it worked really well, especially for the sharpness of the eyes. There was a lovely model called Hannah who was very patient with those of us learning the fundamentals of indoor portraiture.

Here are some shots from the evening:

The first type of lighting was Rembrandt lighting. This it lit by one soft box at 45 degrees to the right and 45 degrees above her. This is the type of lighting you would get through a window.and gives a shadow to one side of the face with a highlight on the cheek of the shadow side. In this shot a reflector has also been added to the bottom left to open up the shadows a bit.

This is the same lighting set up, but since Hannah's head is turned away from the key light she has more shadow down her right side. This is my favourite image of the night, but next time I would brush the hair back from the left side of the face, as I think the shadow created by the hair is somewhat distracting. I would also move in closer for a tighter crop.

This image is lit by the soft box and three reflectors. See how the skin has a warmer tone due to the use of gold reflectors:

And this one has a kick light in the background to add a highlight along the edge of the hair to separate it from the background a little.

The key light here is a beauty dish in front, and there's also a reflector underneath. this is butterfly lighting, because appearently the shadow under the nose is butterfly shaped-although I can't see it!

So I enjoyed the workshop, and learned a lot too.

But I still prefer natural light portraits!

Edinburgh photos

Well, it was a funny old day today. Woke to a light dusting of snow, but the day brightened up and was dazzlingly sunny this afternoon. A perfect day for a walk on the Union Canal around Lochrin Basin. See how that blue sky has created perfect conditions for reflections?

 

 

 And here's the same photo in black and white-it looks so much more atmospheric, don't you think?

 

Some detail on one of the houseboats:

 

Bollards-I can see myself using these bollards in a photoshoot.

 

 And another view of the canal development to finish up with:

 

 

So that was part of my walk. I found some great places for  location shoots too!

Tis the Season...

...for a countryside walk. The sun was shining, no wind and it was a warm 11c so we decided to go for a walk around Pentcaitland in East Lothian. Although it's very close to home I've never actually been before as I have other favourite spots in East Lothian that normally get my attention first.

So here are a few snapshots from the walk.

 

Firstly Winton House, the big house on Winton Estate:

 

 I thought these chimneys on the gable end were interesting:

 

Winton House looks out over a terrace onto an ornamental lake:

 

The lovely iron gate through to the walled garden:

 A forest track through the estate:

 

So excited to see snowdrops in the woods-a sure sign that Spring is indeed around the corner:

 

 And finally, the church in Pentcaitland village:



 

It was so nice to get out into the fresh air, and explore somewhere new.