Get behind the scenes of a shoot that I have done at the end of a very long production day.
Actually, this set was the cover shot with sexy Melisa Mendini.
We totally nailed it in an amazingly free-flowing shoot that took us less than 10 minutes! The result looks most attractive.
Transcript
This set is actually the cover shot with the stunning and sexy Melisa Mendini. You can find it on my latest book about lighting.
Now the cover-set was planned for the afternoon. Yet the previous shooting of my other series took longer than it was supposed to. So the cover was actually done in the last minute of that day.
Skipping my first plans, I decided to shoot this series in front of a painted, structured dark grey wall.
The setting was simple and so was the lighting design as well.
I went with just two flash heads; one with a mounted beauty dish, the other had a stripbox on it.
Melisa received a quick touch-up and I decided to go with a bright creamy net outfit as a lovely contrast to her tanned skin and against the dark wall.
When you take a look at the final result, you’ll see how wonderful this creation looks!
My beauty dish with a mounted grid functioned as key light. The grid narrowed the light beam perfectly and only lit up Melisa while creating a nice light fall-off around her. This helps to get a more dramatic and – how I like to call it here – “dark look”.
The model simply stands out.
The rim light from behind right helps to nicely separate the body from the background and creates an additional decent glowing atmosphere. Important is the attached fabric grid that directs the edgy light to Melisa’s right side only.
As mentioned before, this really is a quick and simple setup but in front of a dark background it produces a very atmospheric ambience.
Regarding posing: The original plan was to let Melisa mirror a Jenni Czech pose because both models were supposed to appear on my book’s cover. But my idea was not working out well because of its whacky concept.
So I quickly decided to simply let the posing flow and Melisa stroked various amazing poses.
Now we have a fully independent story and imagery that can be seamlessly combined with Jenni’s photograph on the cover.
In my opinion, the final result looks most attractive. We totally nailed it in an amazingly free-flowing shoot that took us less than 10 minutes!
BESTSELLER: 19 Complete Studio Lighting Blueprints (+ Training Exercises)
ESSENTIALS. Studio Lighting for Nude Photography
Lighting Blueprint. Theory, showcases and exercises. Extensive theory part to strengthen your practical work. 19 all-inclusive case studies/lighting setups for 1, 2, 3 & 4 lights. Featuring Jenni Czech & Melisa Mendini. Sexy Women Photography at its best!
It seems to me that in a course on nude photography, it is rather hypocritical, that you have chosen to block parts of the models body from view. I assume this is a course for adults and that we can all handle all nude women or we wouldn’t have chosen to take the course. I also find the “blocks” very distracting and they actually place an emphasis on the very areas that are covered. Just my opinion of course.
Hey Thom, thanks for watching the video and your comment!
I totally get your POV. I am trying to find a balance between the “nudity approach” and making the video social shareable (FB etc). The videos are posted on Youtube and publicly listed. Full nudity wouldn’t be possible to use in social networks and they won’t get picked up by other mailing lists (and helping me spread the word…).
Now what I should think about is probably this: doing an unlisted & uncensored version for my BLOG+ and a public listed censored one. Hmmm…
What’s your opinion on that fellow readers?
Thanks and best, Dan
Hi Dan,
That makes absolute sense for both a public vs. a subscriber list. Hope you will institute it!
🙂
I concur on this as well.
An unlisted and uncensored version makes sense for subscribers; as Winston mentioned, no need to censor your work as we are adults here.
I totally understand the public version as well. I believe it would serve you well for content marketing and comply with FB.
All though this may be more work for you I think the ROI in the end will prove to worthy.
Again, great work.
I think the video is great. It is informative, produced well, and straight to the point.
I like to see theses type of behind the scene productions because it helps me unlock my creative possibilities and it helps get me out of my own self inflicted in the box type thinking.
I like that you included the lighting set up and camera info. This helps in learning and is also a good reference for post cc.
I do not mind the blocks as I completely understand the reason for them and I’m more focused on the technical side of the shoot.
Videos are a great way to learn especially when time is limited and reading is not always an option.
I’m looking forward to more great productions.
Great Job.
Hi Trekk, thanks for watching and your comment.
Glad you like the approach and the direction. I will definitely publish more “Freemiums” like this one on a regular basis.
The “block”-topic I will rethink but basically the format will stay the same:)
Best, Dan
Dan..one of the best things I ever did was sign up for you blog. I have learned so much from your generous sharing of your work and techniques. One of your (and Jimmy D’s) lighting methods I have learned and love is the edge lighting of the model from baffled strip soft boxes from the rear quadrants of the set. In today’s post you only used one and it gave a superbly dramatic result. In my small home hobbyist studio I use two..maybe I will try with just one. However the main point of this comment is that I totally agree with Tom Keach’s observation, those black outs are distracting and very unnecessary for your serious adult followers. Perhaps you should consider two publications of your wonderful blog. Hell Dan, I am a 70 yrs old, when I try to learn from your work I don’t need to made to feel like I am some pervy 17 yr old kid.
Again Dan, Thanks for your post.
Hey Winston, thanks for your comment and glad you are part of this community!
Regarding the censor-thing in the videos: I understand the pro and cons. Before I will edit the next FREEMIUM I will take all aspects and decide how to continue with this.
Thanks for watching,
Dan
Hi Dan,
I like your new video, and it’s always a learning experience to watch other photographers work, and how the prepare, what tools they use and their interaction with the model and production crew.
The censoring doesn’t bother me, it’s the techniques that I focus on… although I must admit that Melissa is one of my favorite CZ models. 🙂
Regards,
Dana
Hey Dana,
thanks for watching and your comment.
Censoring: I’m quite convinced I will from now on produce 2 versions of the videos. 1) unlisted/uncensored /
2) public/censored/social object.
There are more stunning models to come :-))
Best,
Dan
Hello Dan,
I must say, it was an informative video of behind the scenes and I suspect, your team and you, had a hard time adjusting the censored bar around the delicious Melisa Mendini.
Many Thanks
Hey Roy,
LOL 🙂
Thanks for watching and your comment! Yeah basically it’s a shame to hide perfection…
More to come 🙂
best, Dan
Hey Dan,
Aside from enjoying the read/video, I do have a couple questions. In the video with Melissa, I noticed that you appeared to have quite a scripted “shoot plan,” for lack of a better word. Now, I know that the shoot was part of a book production, but I was wondering just how extensively you plan out your shoots. This might make a good article/video for the website.
Second video question, again about something I saw in the bts part. I noticed some frames on which probably had different background designs on them. Did you make those? And what do you use to cover them? I was actually thinking of doing something similar.
Keep up the good work!
Joe
Hey Joe,
thanks for watching and your questions.
Shoot Plan: If I have a fully packed schedule for an educational approach where I need to implement all the concepts I need or if I am shooting a series for a client where the outcome is clearly defined I always go very precise in planning. The more precise I am prepared the more freedom I do have on the set to start the creation process based on a foundation. As I am commercially very busy right now I am almost all the time working with this plans. Not much time for personal work.
But if I have time for shooting my personal stuff… – there’s more free flow involved. I then just need a great location or story or look or…. Like here done with Chloe: /articles/chloe-nude-photo-shoot-nude-in-the-gallery
There was no plan at all.
Backgrounds: they are painted (mixed colors) on a plain big canvas. We had two in the studio: a greyish one and a blue. I did not do them myself but the studio assistant (partner studio) is in charge for this.
It’s cheap to “construct” and very versatile. After a while it gets painted with a new “style/color”.
Best,
Dan