What's this? A hint of Spring? Yes, and it's Week 14: Rapunzel

            After so many months of winter and an array of unwelcome snow showers, Spring is finally in the air! Everything is still pretty drab and dull, but who cares? At least the temperature is above the mid-30's and I can feel the warmth of the sunlight. So of course I took to taking photos outside... a treat, after a long affair with indoor shooting. 

            Since I'm leaving the Midwest soon and will be busy with preparing for the bar exams this summer, I figured I'd add to my portrait collection by scheduling a few shoots with some models before I left. And what'd you know? I had 5 shoots in my calendar before I could figure out all the details of what the shoots would be! After some research and pitching a few ideas to the model, I knew I had somewhat of a theme, or title to a series for that matter... it was just a matter of bringing life to my ideas via photography.

            I had the pleasure of working with this beautiful model, who was simply a versatile doll-like character in her shoots. We did about three rounds of clothes, backdrops, set-ups and so forth. We started at 1pm, and at around 6:30pm, we were growing tired and hungry. But low and behold, we got some of our most amazing shots in the last hour or so of shooting. I think this had to do something with the sun setting, as the light reflecting off her face was not as harsh as it was in the beginning of the shoot. That said, my bf and I spent a lot of time trying to discern how to diffuse, bounce and reflect light in several ways via an umbrella reflector. 

           With a few camera settings adjustments, we got this wonderful shot which has only be darkened for some added effect. Everything else is the product of camera setting adjustments, diffusing light via the umbrella reflector and a flash. 

         I chose the theme, Rapunzel, because my model highlighted the similarities to Rapunzel when I showed her one of the takes I'd made. That is, the flowy blond hair, the sun-setting light, the female high on a stair/tower waiting for the knight who will rescue her. I loved this shot because it was just so perfect :). I'm one of those photographers who is not very keen on editing. So after I saw the RAW-image of this shot, I was quite pleased at knowing that there wasn't much that needed to be done to this photo for it to 'pop'. I didn't bother cropping the photo because I think the reeds add a certain dreariness to the scene that I like. That is, a lot of time has past since the knight was supposed to come, but Rapunzel doesn't care. Her heart still propels her to wait for a man she's never met, but whom she loves.

          Moreover, this shot was a testament to how much I've learnt since I started this photoclicking venture of mine... When I first started shooting, I stuck to non-RAW images. Then I started shooting in RAW, but was too afraid to get off the preset modes of Portrait and so forth on the camera. Then finally, I started shooting my RAW images in Manual... and it's been a great experience ever since! I'm more than excited for the remainder of this portrait series and what the final shots will look like. Stay tuned for more!.

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