Sean's Recent Shoot: Panos Galore

[Sean Setters]

Yes, it is, actually. When replying from my highly modified Kindle Fire, I deleted the signature. However, I didn't bother modifying the signature after installing Tapatalk on the Nexus 7. Truth is, these days, I'm just as likely to reply on my computer, phone, Kindle Fire, or Nexus 7.

Speaking of the Nexus 7, I think I was one of the last of the pre-orders to get one, even though I pre-ordered on June 28. The 16gb variety was being sold in the local Sam's club a week before Google shipped mine. I wasn't happy about that fact, to say the least. Regardless of Google's handling of the release, it's a fantastic device.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2

[Sean Setters]

Speaking of the Nexus 7...


Google Nexus 7 by budrowilson, on Flickr

[Sean Setters]

Here we are with Kailey Sue again. This shoot was unusual for me because of the utter lack of planning. I didn't have a shot in my head, I just knew I had to shoot. It'd been nearly three weeks since I shot a portrait. I contacted Kailey and she happily agreed to come out shooting. No plans, no agenda, just quickly set up the lights before the sun goes down and start firing away.

Canon 5D Mark II
28-70mm f/2.8 L
CPL

[Steve U]

Great stuff again Sean, do you have to pay Kailey Sue for these, or does she help out struggling artists from the goodness of her own heart?
I liked the second one on my phone and the first on the monitor. You're just plain good.

[Sean Setters]

Most of the time I'm paid by the subject. However, for this particular session, it was a mutually beneficial (non-monetary) arrangement.

[Steve U]

Good arrangement, great shots. The head shot on Flickr is sweet.

[ddt0725]

Fantastic Sean! Perfection at its best and she most definitely would be very successful with modeling as a career!

There are pros like you that can just set-up and shoot on a whim and produce glorious shots like this with no sweat and then there's me who spends hours just trying to figure it all out ...someday, maybe I'll fall in the middle there somewhere!

[Sean Setters]

Fantastic Sean! Perfection at its best and she most definitely would be very successful with modeling as a career!

There are pros like you that can just set-up and shoot on a whim and produce glorious shots like this with no sweat and then there's me who spends hours just trying to figure it all out ...someday, maybe I'll fall in the middle there somewhere!

It was still hot outside even though it was later in the evening. I assure you I was sweating by the end of the setup.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2

[Mark Elberson]

I really like this Sean. The background is painterly. On Flickr you said that you shaded the setting sun. How did this look with available light only?

[Sean Setters]

I really like this Sean. The background is painterly. On Flickr you said that you shaded the setting sun. How did this look with available light only?

I have no idea. I set up the shade umbrella before she ever arrived. I've started making it a habit to shade my subject unless the sun is directly behind them. Shading allows me to shape the light exactly how I want it with utter disregard for where the sun is positioned in the sky. In other words, it allows me to point my camera in the direction that gives me the background I want without having to worry where the sun is in relation to my subject.

However, in this case, the sun was getting pretty low in the sky and it was 90 degrees to my left. When using polarizers, having the sun at a 90 degree angle (or thereabouts) allows me to capture the deepest colors from the sky. This angle to the sun, however, doesn't really give me the placement I want for a mainlight. With an ambient only shot, only the right side of her face (her right) would have been illuminated by the sun. The (rather hard) transition from highlight to shadow would have fallen right across the bridge of her nose splitting her face in the middle. Also, using ambient only, I wouldn't have been able to underexpose the background and sky, so the image would have looked completely different.