Missing Studio Photography

I miss working in a studio with models.

I really like playing with different lights, shooting high-key and low-key photographs—ones that take advantage of lots of light with a white background and others that use very low light, with dark backgrounds.

One of my very favourite people to work with is BC model, Olivia Preston. The first time I worked with her, in a house out near Kinburn, Ontario, I had never had a one-on-one meeting with a model. Before then, I was in a studio with other photographers and was led by our photo club's organizer, Mike Giovinazzo, who has been working with models for many years and has lots of tips and suggestions, as well as knowing how to direct his subject.

Olivia needed no direction. We walked around the house, looking at the various spots that would make a good spot for photos, and we settled on three: the living room, which had lots of natural light flooding through; a bedroom, which also had glass sliding doors that looked out on the same side as the living room; and the bathroom, which had a giant bathtub.

When it came time to photograph Olivia, I gave her a basic idea of how I wanted to capture her, and she did the rest. We chatted about all kinds of things during the hour we had together, and because we were chatting and I was focused on the composition of the shots, I barely had time to think that I was alone with a beautiful, naked woman.

We met at a couple of shoots a few years later, at an abandoned factory in Carleton Place. Again, I had her to myself for an hour (Mike was nearby, in case either Olivia or I needed anything—he ran out for a moment to pick up some food for Olivia, as she was working back-to-back with various photographers and didn't have time to get anything for herself) and we chatted while she posed and I snapped away.

She's a pleasure to work with.

The last time I worked with her was in Mike's home studio, and we were taking low-key photos. Of that set, the best photos I shot were with Olivia in front of a black backdrop, sitting on a black stool. Two soft boxes, at low power, were angled on two sides, toward her.

I didn't have to tell her to do anything. She just started positioning herself in different poses, and as soon as she stopped moving, I took my shots. In one pose, Olivia brought her legs up onto the stool and raised her knees to her chest. Her feet hung over the edge of the stool and she placed her hands atop them. It was one of my favourite shots.

In post production, I increased the contrast to remove the stool as much as possible from the shot. Olivia is illuminated but everything else is in darkness.

Initially, I created two versions of this shot: the first one, in greyscale (not black and white). I shared it, a couple of years ago, as one of my favourite photos of 2019. Here it is, again:

Because I've been avoiding studios since the pandemic, I haven't taken any high-key or low-key shots in more than two-and-a-half years, and I miss it. I'm afraid that I'm going to forget what I've learned in the past.

Last night, as I saw some newly announced photo meetups—all, outdoors—I started thinking about when we'd be able to meet in the studio again. I was thinking about the last time that I was in a studio, in January of 2020, before the lockdowns started, and just before that, in 2019, when I worked with Olivia.

I haven't posted any photos from that shoot, save for the greyscale photo, above. I might post more, though most of them aren't safe for work. I'll see what I can come up with and maybe share one or two, on Friday. Stay tuned.

In the meantime, I looked at these photos again and decided that I would re-edit the colour image, but this time, using Luminar AI, which I didn't have in 2019.

I applied a portrait template to the image and then made a few subtle edits to the contrast and colour saturation. Doing so illuminated the stool more than I wanted, so I used the erase tool to eliminate areas where the lighting fell on the legs and edge of the stool.

Here's the result:

Thoughts? Which image do you prefer?

Until I start working in a studio again, I'll probably look at old model meetups and see how I can improve the images I've already shot. It would be great to work with Olivia again.

Happy Tuesday!