I like to experiment with different types of photography, it helps to keep me fresh and allows me to fine tune my skills as a photographer. A lot of top photographers have a very defined style, they know what type of images they love taking and concentrate on them. While I do have some preferences in terms of style, I need to have a decent variety in my stock portfolio before I can decide on specializing in one particular look for my photos. So while I define my “style” I like to try new things.

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I enjoy photographing people and decided to embark on a project to get 100 individual faces all for sale on microstock agency websites.

The first thing I did was put together an event on facebook, make it interesting, informative and exciting. Then I invited all my friends and asked them to each invite as many people as they can for the event. Once I had enough people keen on attending I set a date. It took about 3 days to get 80 confirmed models. When I emailed everyone the details I asked them each to try and bring someone with them to the shoot in order to make sure that I had good numbers. Due to model availability I had to shoot this project over 2 days which were separated by 1 week.

Before the shoot date I did a lighting test to figure out exactly how I wanted to light the faces, this would make it a lot easier on the shoot date. Just setup and go. I toyed with different lighting techniques and eventually settled one and made sure I drew a lighting diagram and took down all the settings for each light. Unfortunately I did not take any BTS pics this time as I was super busy making this project happen.

For each shoot day I split my models up into skin tone batches, this would help me make the least lighting

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I recently did a shoot of a skateboarder for stock sites. I wanted the model to wear clothing that would offer good texture, colour and look realistic. I went out and selected the clothing from 2 different stores that I hold accounts at, so I could return them for credit when I was done with the shoot. Just make sure you dont get them dirty or damaged on shoot, keep the tags on and return them shortly after the shoot. This is a great way to have wardrobe variety without spending a lot of money.

For this shoot I did a lighting test about 2 weeks before so that I knew exactly how I wanted all the lights positioned, which attachments to use and all the power settings. Pre-lighting your shoots will help make the whole process easier, smoother and more enjoyable for the model and you. Testing and changing lighting while on the shoot will decrease your number of shots and disrupt the flow.

My lighting setup consisted of the following.

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Last weekend was the first time I have had the opportunity to use a beauty dish. I love experimenting with light and learning new ways to shape it. I must say that I was very impressed with the results. Before stepping into the studio and experimenting, I did my research and came across a few helpful articles on how best to use a beauty dish and how it works.

A beauty dish focuses diffused light onto your subject, giving a very soft light with decent falloff to help shape the face. It is best used for close up portraits and helps to evenly light facial features. The dish reflects light from the light source onto a dish which then reflects the light again onto your subject. The optimum distance to place the beauty dish from your subject is roughly double the dish size, obviously you can adjust this to get different effects. A beauty dish can be used as a key light or as a fill light to help give life to eyes and smooth out shadows. Beauty dishes come in different

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