On 19th and 20th of last month, we carried out an outdoor model shoot workshop with Tristar Synergy Sdn. Bhd. in the compound of a bungalow in Country Heights, Kajang. In a nutshell, this was one of the many workshops that Solarex Imaging is working with other organisations, to bring the fun side of photography to the masses.
There was a total of four participants in this particular workshop, each of them with varying expertise in photography. Unlike other workshops, where large numbers of participants have to shove one another to shoot the poor model in a (for the lack of a better word) disorderly manner, we kept the number small, so that each of the participants have the opportunity to shoot in the manner that they really want, and not just shoot along with the crowd.
Carrie Chan was the star model for this shoot; a sexy and beautiful young lady. Her long and beautiful tresses did wonders for the swimming pool segment, where she lashed it out with ease.
From the lush green and scenic surrounding of the bungalow compound, all of the participants managed to get the hang of how to communicate with the model, getting her to exhibit the the right kind of emotion, to bring the image to life. As mentioned before, the key to a good human subject photography lies in exploiting the human emotions, rather than to avoid it altogether. Hence, working with a small group makes it even easier to practise this communication skill.
As seen above, Carrie had no trouble in blending into the natural surrounding at all. In fact, she looks completely at home, being surrounded by all the greens. Even the dog seems to enjoy all the attention, being at the front end of so many cameras.
But this is nothing compared to what happened next… At the swimming pool…
All of the images were taken very close to the surface of the water… Yup, all the participants had to take the plunge (literary), in order to get a low-level perspective of the model. A low-level perspective is always more interesting than looking down at the model from the side of the pool. Aside from being able to throw the relatively far away background out of focus with the shallow depth-of-field, looking at the model at her eye-level is always more attractive. And the water surface effect does lend an attractive change to the viewer as well.
While the photographers took a plunge, care must be taken to ensure that the cameras remain dry. Perhaps it was a good thing that the water was only chest-high, so it wasn’t too hard to keep the camera level with the surface of the water, looking towards the model.
And a dry towel really did come in handy at the side of the pool. It’s almost impossible to keep your hands dry as you wade through the water to reach the photo position at the far end of the pool. So a quick wipe on the dry towel, and you’re ready to fire away…
A word of thanks must be forwarded to Carrie for a job well done. I’m sure the participants really look forward to shooting with you again in the future.
