Modelling with a Gas Mask and a Smoke Machine

In the last blog entry I mentioned the studio shoot that I did with Jen Latham, a film maker and photographer taking her first turn in front of the camera.  Jen's an unconventional kinda person, and so the photo shoot was somewhat unconventional too.  We'd bounced a couple of ideas around, taking the notion of traditional glamour photography and doing it with 'alternative' props and costumes.

I own a gas mask.  It's just one of those things that I bought a few years back just because I thought it would be a quirky thing to own, and so when Jen was looking for one for a photo shoot, I lent her mine.  We got talking about using it in photo shoots, and the idea began to form.

A big part of glamour imagery is the connection between the model and the viewer, or the viewer-substitute:  the camera lens.  Eye contact is a key part of this, the notion of being able to look the model in the face; this is what we wanted to play with.  Eye contact is still possible, but when the face is hidden it makes a connection harder.  Factor in props that aren't traditionally associated with glamour, such as gas masks and lab coats, and that makes for an alternative glamour shoot!

When you have a gas mask, you need to have gas.  Or more photogenically, smoke.  I borrowed a smoke machine from two local film-makers, David Gammon and Dan Barlow, and whilst it was being dropped off I got talking with Dan about the concept for the shoot.  Dan mentioned that he had some props that might be suitable and went off to fetch them before coming back with a case full of military paraphernalia.  Coupled with the outfits that Jen had brought along, we were able to put together some visually stunning combinations.

We also found time to do some more traditional portraits during the shoot, but Jen still managed to make them quirky and interesting in her own way!

The shots are being released gradually in this online album: Jen Latham photoshoot
Keep checking back as more shots are uploaded!

Headshots, Smoke and Rudyard Lake

Last week I turned 40,  and thanks to the wonderful generosity of my better half I'm now the proud owner of a Nikon D90 camera, a camera that I've been eyeing up for quite some time now.  Other models have come along, newer models, but the D90 is a cracking camera, robust and reliable, and adding one to my kit bag has made me a very happy snapper!

Even though I've only had it for just over a week now, I've been very busy with it.  The shots at the Central Chambers that I mentioned in the previous blog entry were taken with the D90, and since then I've done three other shoots - two in the studio and one on location.

The first of the studio shoots was with independent film maker Andrew Carson, who was looking for a fresh set of promo shots and headshots to use for publicity purposes:

With Andrew's background in film, the scope for experimentation with the lighting was pretty wide, and it resulted in some less conventional headshots and promo shots.  The majority of my portrait shoots are done with constant light, and this shoot gave me the opportunity to mix conventional 650w and 300w lights with LED light panels to create some different lighting effects:

The full set of shots can be seen on Flickr here: Andrew Carson promo shoot

The second of the studio shoots was definitely a more experimental one!  My model for this shoot was another film maker, Jen Latham, taking her first turn in front of the camera for a shoot that we'd both been developing.  The concept centred around conventional glamour, but in an unconventional manner, using props that included a gas mask, a smoke machine, a lab coat, and a whole range of military paraphernalia.  The shots are still being edited at the moment, but I can give you a sneak peak:

Watch this space!

The location shoot was done on Thursday evening, with a trip to Rudyard Lake in Staffordshire.  The evening gave me a chance to try my hand at a variety of different shot styles, and to see what I could do with a couple of filters:

The main filter that I tried out was a Cokin P197 sunset filter, a graduated orange rectangle that sits in front of the lens, and turns even a cloudy sky into a sunset:

The combination of this, a polariser, and a little touch of HDR using Photomatix can give some excellent results!:

The full set from Rudyard Lake can be seen on Flickr here: Rudyard Lake photos

Thanks for reading!