Day 22 - Project 365

"and you will be day 22" -

The early bird gets the worm! I'd say the 365 photographer gets day 22 by having his equipment at the right place at the right time. The idiom is a slight bit more compact, oh well! After the nearly last minute upload of day 21 I found myself ready for a beer, but not before a shower. Contrary to what I may have been told, I still felt like I had a slight smell of barn yard, as I was nearly laying in it just 2 hours before. I jumped in Erika's shower and washed away any evidence of my closest encounter with farm life to date. Erika's sister Lety was in town for a wedding and decided it would be great to visit her sister for the night, she was correct. Lety, like her sister is a beautiful, dark haired woman standing about five foot four inches tall, slender but with just the right amount of curves. Erika left her car at my house and when my responsible brother decided it was time to call it a night, she went with him to retrieve her car. I had made my way out to the car with Shawn to try to find my emergency deodorant, which was inexplicably missing (I don't know whats worse, barn yard or B.O, but we'd find out!).

It was Erika who put the idea in my head of Lety as day 22, I immediately decided that it was perfect and grabbed a handful of gear from the trunk. I slung both sandbags totaling 50 pounds over my shoulder and grabbed as much equipment as I could handle. I opened the door and made my way in, looked at Lety who was now confused as to why I had strange sacks around my neck and a whole lot of photography gear. I simply looked right at here and said "and you will be day 22!" I really didn't give her a choice as I was a little more than confident that I would soon be looking at her through my lens (It's not cocky its just confidence). After I explained my project, showed her the pictures and assured her the lack of sleep didn't show, she agreed. But not before I cooked breakfast. Home fries with sautéed onions and scrambled eggs. Nothing gets a girl ready for a shoot better then a plateful of delicious food cooked by yours truly! To add a little mexican flare to the dish I decided that fresh cilantro would be perfect. I washed the meal down with a little frosty Sam Adams Cherry Wheat beer (there's a first time for everything… beer with breakfast). Lety and Erika both agreed that it was tasty and soon we were on our way. I had Erika step in to test the lighting. I wanted a white seamless backdrop but only had a wall. So like any creative photographer, I simply aimed a soft box at the wall and turned the power to "white seamless" or "blind your model". This in combination with the correct shutter speed would blow out the wall (who needs a white backdrop!) I decided that I'd hop on the bed and have Erika take my picture. After a few seductive yet wholly unattractive poses I retired as the model and directed Lety on the bed.

Being her first time in front of my camera I eased her into it. She was nervous, as to be expected but quickly warmed up. I assure people that there is no reason to be nervous. However, After 5 beers, I say it a little more obnoxiously and loud. This being the reason I normally don't mix alcohol and photography. She didn't seem to mind the loose, loud and direct version of me. I'm surprised I didn't knock a light over or trip as I didn't bring any extension cords. The light cord was stretched like a clothes line across the room. You actually had to step over it. I know it wasn't very safe, but hell, I was drinking and so was Erika and alcohol puts common sense in time out. After a few minutes I instructed her that the shirt was to come off. She had a really interesting bra beautifully stripped like a present you'd find under a tree on christmas. She laid down, she sat up, she laid down and so on. I wasn't feeling the shot with the black pants she had on… so they too came off. Now that we were shooting a Victoria Secret ad we were really getting the good stuff. (hey, I'm a guy… Near naked woman, go figure). Every time I'd say, "Ok we should move to another location" she would move in a way that I would just have to shoot. Shortly after the second accidental perfect move I said, "Please, don't move" I turned the lights off and we moved to the living room. I needed more space between Lety and the background as I wanted to get a total black backdrop. Not having a black backdrop, the separation between subject and background with the correct settings would allow the background to drop off. Its odd that I love lighting this much. When I did TV and short films I found it a chore when I had to light a set. At this point the bra came off and a button down shirt was put on. We did several different poses, moving from the couch to standing up. We did however, have one failed attempt at a window light. I placed the Soft box outside on the patio and opened the blinds. I didn't really think this shot out enough as I quickly realized this just wasn't going to work. Oh well, live and learn. I knew I had the winning shot back in the bedroom. Sometimes I just get a shot and know its the winner from the second the preview pops up on the screen. I remember back when I shot film, never knowing weather a shot turned out until after you developed it. I'm way to impatient now for that. Lety now, tired and slumped on the couch was awaiting my next instructions. I told her "I think we have the shot, lets go look at them" we then spent the next 45 min going through the shots. I was right as the shot I took in the bedroom was indeed the winner. I edited the winning shot in front of her showing, my process and assuring her she didn't look too white. I had explained to Erika how I like shooting tan people better than white as its like starting with a gray canvas. You can add white or black, darken or lighten. When you start with a pasty white skin tone (like mine) its hard to add color to it. Latin, spanish, or islander ethnicity skin tones are perfect as they are my "gray canvas" I finished the edit and my eighth beer, rendering me useless for the remainder of the… morning! It was now nearly 6am! Day 22 was done nearly 13 hours early. It will be a relaxing day. Now all I have to do is kick this hangover! I need to go to sleep!

Lighting:

AB800 Medium Soft box Aimed at Wall 3/4 power
AB800 Beauty Dish Boomed overhead approx. . 2 feet above head and tilted toward model. 1/4 power.