Amy Dunn, Houston Photographer Blog » lighting

Always Have a Plan B

amydunn — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 13:31:30 +0000

This weekend, I really wanted to shoot outside to try more location lighting. Much to my dismay, Texas had some uncharacteristically bone-chilling weather. Instead of complaining, I decided to do a little beauty shoot. Sabrina, a fabulous makeup artist in Austin, had a colorful story in mind and went to town with the hair and makeup.

As Sabrina prepped the model, I looked over some tearsheets to decide what kind of lighting I wanted to try. I opted for a blown out white background and wanted two lights side-by-side to create a fun catch light. But for some reason, the first look did not come together. I wanted strong beauty, but the images looked too commercial and blah. Jaysen suggested tossing up a beauty dish and lighting it like this image here. I liked the dramatic tones and directed the model, Haley, to tilt her head in exaggerated poses to show off her beautiful bone structure.

Even though I had traveled to Austin hoping for a location shoot, and even after my first lighting attempt failed, I held out hope that I could salvage my shoot. I owe a huge thanks to Jaysen for allowing us to use his immaculate studio and for suggesting lighting and retouching fixes. It goes to show that sometimes Plan B can work as magically as Plan A.

Photographer: Amy Dunn
Photo assistants: Jaysen Turner, Jon Slevec
Makeup artist: Sabrina
Model: Haley

Jaysen Turner’s Studio
Austin, TX 2010

Gear: Canon 5D Mark II
Canon EF 70-200mm f/4.0 L USM
Lighting: AB 800 Beauty Dish + grid

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Amy Dunn’s Pin-Up Lighting

amydunn — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 04:58:51 +0000

Forget about the lighting, it’s all about hair, makeup and styling.

But since you asked…

Who loves you?

(Kick-ass lighting psd from Kevin Kertz)

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Shoot with Alayna, Inspired by Shakira

amydunn — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 11:08:42 +0000

During my trip to New York, Peter Yang graciously allowed me to use his studio for the day. He is a regular contributor for Rolling Stone magazine–in fact, he won the PDN award for Best Magazine Cover last year for his photo with Barack Obama. Naturally, he had a few issues of Rolling Stone magazine in his studio. I saw the November issue with Shakira on the cover, and since Alayna has a strong musical and dance background, I used that cover as inspiration.

Shot on a white seamless background, I asked Alayna to take a few steps forward to get some space between her and the background. Quite simply, I lit Alayna so that the background–with enough distance–turned gray from the lack of light hitting the seamless paper. I only used one light, a Profoto with an umbrella attached. Peter rarely uses umbrellas, but he had one in his studio that had this amazing pearl finish on the inside. That gave a subtle iridescent quality that reflected beautifully on Alayna’s skin. We brought a fan forward to get some rock star hair movement, and Alayna–the consummate professional–knocked out some poses in seconds.

Alayna and I did not plan this shoot; in fact, she called me the day of to announce she would stop by and say hi. With that sunny smile of hers, I had to take a few shots. Even though we did not have the luxury of a big budget production, we tried to get as close to the quality and finish as possible. One light can create stunning results, and with that fabulous smile and energy from Alayna, it is easy to yield superstar results.

Peter Yang’s Studio
New York City, 2009

Photographer: Amy Dunn
Makeup artist: Candifiend Studios
Model: Alayna

Gear: Canon 5D Mark II
Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8 L USM Lens
Lighting: Profoto + umbrella (pearl finish)

Solitude of Self

amydunn — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 08:14:09 +0000

I shot this in my kitchen. I did not intend such a moody, introspective self-portrait, but rather, I wanted to shoot a kitchen scene while baking cookies. I goofed on my lighting but liked the way this overhead light highlighted my bone structure. A quick change of clothing, and I embraced a secondary self-portrait setting.

I enjoyed shooting this self-portrait much more than my previous one for a couple of reasons: (1) while Houston had yet another thunderstorm tonight, I did not have to run outside in the spooky weather, and (2) I finally replaced my remote switch so I could shoot from afar. This time, I did not break a sweat other than setting up the lighting which consisted of a beauty dish and grid placed on a boom stand. The remote facilitated the shoot, and after a handful of shots (16 to be exact), I went with the classic, “Good enough.”

Other than a little dodging and burning to bring out textures, I did not do much in post-production. If all self-portraits were this easy, I would shoot them more often. I do have some set-ups that I want to try soon—including the one I missed this evening—so please keep up the support as I fumble my way through these ideas.

Houston, TX 2009

Gear: Canon 5D Mark II
Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8 L USM Lens
Lighting: AB 1600 Beauty Dish + Grid on boom

New York City Fashion Week

amydunn — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 02:34:21 +0000

Lots of exciting news in New York City this week! Did anyone catch the MTV VMAs last night? I’m dancing around the house to Beyoncé’s and Michael Jackson’s choreography–but not at the same time. Because I’m in such a good mood, and because it’s Fashion Week, I will share a lighting set-up from last season.

First, I want to thank Dex Studios for this amazing studio space. I teamed up with a very talented group of artists and stylists and knew I had to do a good job with lighting and direction. Since I had a generous shooting space with super-high ceilings, I decided to go high and wide with my lights.

In this photo with Anya, I placed an Alien Bee 1600 Flash Unit on a boom with a 30° grid and barn doors to control the spread on the spotlight behind Anya’s head. Then, I used a strip box to camera-right to provide the main light. Professional models make my job so much easier, and Anya killed it with her posing. After every click of the shutter, she subtly varied her pose going from fierce to even more fierce.

Doesn’t this lighting kinda remind you of Beyoncé’s “Single Ladies” video? Speaking of, I have to go cut a rug.
Woah-oh-oh, oh, oh, oh…

Photographer: Amy Dunn
Photo assistant: Jon S.
Makeup artist: Diana Manzanares
Hair stylist: Scott Wasserman
Clothing stylist: Ty Fajemisin
Model: Anya

Gear: Canon 5D
Canon EF 70-200mm f/4.0 L USM
Alien Bees 1600 Flash Units

Dex Studios
New York, NY 2009
© Amy Dunn
All rights reserved

Beach Shoot with Model, Amber

amydunn — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 03:56:00 +0000

I. Preparation

Amber approached me to do a beach shoot, and I happily obliged. A lot of photographers freak out about beach shoots because of all the sand or possibility of losing or damaging equipment in the ocean, but I wanted to diversify my portfolio and took a chance. Amber sat with me in front of my computer one day, and we went through a gallery of inspiration consisting of Sports Illustrated Swimsuit and Victoria’s Secret images. We talked about bikinis we liked and how to accessorize each look. While I usually do not have consultations prior to a shoot, this one proved beneficial.

II. Location

Because Amber is a beautiful model and because a lot of people like to rubberneck when photo shoots carry on, I needed a somewhat private beach. Good luck finding that on a warm, sunny day in NYC! I consulted with James, and he picked a beach halfway between Manhattan and the Hamptons. The traffic could not have been worse. Good weather + the weekend + the Hamptons = disaster on the L.I. Expressway.

When we arrived at 4:30 p.m., the beach was PACKED. I worried that my shots would be peppered with gawkers, and I really wanted privacy so I did not have to think about the safety of the model or my equipment. We made a long, painful trek away from beachgoers, and I prayed to the Lord Baby Jesus to give me strength. The heat penetrated my skin, the rocks kept cutting up my feet, and sand would uncomfortably fill up my shoes if I wore them. My equipment got heavier with each step, and I considered ways to pack lighter for the next shoot.

III. Gear

Despite my better judgment, I took my new Canon 5D Mark II even though I probably should have used my back-up camera. The sand made me nervous, but I love the ISO settings on the Mark II. I took two lenses, the Canon EF 70-200mm f/4.0 L USM and the Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM, just in case. I hoped for a beautiful sunset shot and brought one AlienBee B1600 Flash Unit, the AB 22″ beauty dish and grid, reflectors, diffusers, and the 18.6 lbs. AlienBee Vagabond. Now do you see why the Lord Baby Jesus got a shout-out?

IV. Lessons

I have noticed a recent trend on working with Speedlites and may consider that as an option for future shoots. It lightens the load and may be more cost-effective. I brought a Vivitar 285 on my last bikini shoot, but the light was very inconsistent. (I may have had weak batteries.) If I could do it all over again–and I will in Texas–I would try shooting at a remote beach later in the year, perhaps October. Yes, the weather is chillier, but it eliminates a lot of the summer beach mongers and sweltering heat.

Other useful tips:

1. Bring an assistant or two. They can help schlep all the equipment and will hold the reflectors/diffusers. Just make sure they don’t sail away with a gust of wind like I almost did holding a reflector at this shoot.

2. Bring and drink plenty of water!

3. And don’t forget the bug repellent–the thicker, the better. On the east coast, these giant black flies (possibly greenheads) mercilessly pierced our tender flesh. In addition to the heat, the weight of the equipment and the long walk, these nasty flies and mosquitoes relentlessly followed us everywhere we went. I had the foresight to bring repellent after this hellacious experience in 2007 (see below). Stephen had the right idea by wearing long sleeves and jeans.

V. Results

Beach shoots are harder than they look, but they are well worth the effort. In this first shot, James diffused the harsh afternoon sun coming in from camera-left. Amber’s boyfriend, Andy, added some fill with a silver reflector on the opposite side. We waited for the sun to set for the bottom shot and set up a beauty dish and kept it dry on the coast. I did not bring a light stand, so Andy and James took turns holding the big light source like a handsome human sun.

Hope you enjoyed the photos and learned something from my experience on the beach–I sure did!
See other photos from the shoot in my Commercial section!

Photographer: Amy Dunn
Photo assistant: James Dentel
Model: Amber

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