Beauty Test with Model, Anka

I consider myself lucky to live in New York and work with such a talented pool of artists. Erin McCarthy invited me to a test at the MUFE studio and booked a lovely model from Russia named Anka. Stephen Eastwood kept me company today and helped light the set. Stephen is an official Canon Explorer of Light, but he happily stood there with a reflector in his hands, joking about one more talent to add to his extensive resume.

Stephen and I set up a small softbox camera-right and added a gridded kicker light in case I pulled back. Erin worked her magic on Anka’s delicate features, and we got a nice series of beauty shots today. My lens did a lot of hunting in a low-light setting, and the focus did not always lock properly. I wish I brought a different lens, maybe the 100 mm Macro or 180 mm Macro if my arms could keep it up and steady. I really like the 70-200 mm f/4.0, but if you can afford Image Stabilization, I say make that splurge.

I have one outtake to show my blog readers, but please forgive the ruddiness of the shot. I will have the whole series ready and retouched in a few weeks, and I promise they look ten times better! Thanks for checking in, and I look forward to seeing you at the next blog post.

Photographer: Amy Dunn
Lighting consultant: Stephen Eastwood
Makeup artist: Erin McCarthy
Model: Anka

Gear: Canon 5D Mark II
Canon EF 70-200mm f/4.0 L USM
Hensel Studio Lights

Posted by amydunn on Saturday, August 22, 2009, at 9:59 pm. Filed under Photo Shoots. Tagged beauty, closeup, cosmetics, Make Up For Ever, makeup, model, photo shoot, portrait. Follow any responses to this post with its comments RSS feed. You can post a comment or trackback from your blog.

2 Comments

Michael D. Ward | August 23, 2009 at 6:57 am | Permalink

Very nice. I can’t wait to see the others. I really like your shots earlier with the 100mm. I may have to try that lens myself. Anka looks promising BTW.

Would a monopod help with the bigger lenses? I understand not wanting to be tied to a tripod.
amydunn | September 20, 2009 at 6:02 pm | Permalink

You’re absolutely right, a monopod or tripod would help, but (for me) it hinders my ability to move around and re-compose. I always ask for a forearm massage after using one of those bad boys.