Black and White and Red

When I signed up for a Goth/boudoir/BDSM model photo shoot, I really had no idea of what to expect.

I imagined a lot of black outfits but that's about it. And when I started thinking of ideas of what to capture, I didn't have a lot of things in mind but I did know that I wanted to explore strong light with dark backgrounds in black and white.

Colour didn't come into the equation for me.

I had only been to this photo studio once before, for the projection project, so I knew what space I had to play with. I wanted to get away from relying on my Nikkor 24–70mm f/2.8 lens, which I'm starting to think detracts from my creativity, so I affixed my 50mm f/1.8 lens to my D750 and told myself that I would have to be the one to move toward or away from my subject.

But I wasn't 100-percent confident with this choice, so I also grabbed my D7200 with an 18–105mm f/3.5–5.6 lens. I wanted a backup. In retrospect, I should have left my secondary camera at home because I found myself relying on it too often.

Take, for example, today's photo. I zoomed in to 98mm (manual settings: ISO 100; f/16; 1/125 s). Because the D7200 is a cropped-sensor camera, the 98mm translates to roughly 130mm on a full-framed D-SLR. But because of the composition of the image, I could have used my 50mm lens and simply closed in on Kelsey (our model for the evening).

The setup for these particular series of shots was my idea. There were five photographers for this meetup and we each got a chance to choose the lighting and situation, and then we'd all have a few minutes each to work with Kelsey. This shot is with an overhead spotlight with a long snoot to direct the light in only one direction. Kelsea simply had to make sure she was directly under that single beam.

Kelsey had brought a wide variety of lingerie and accessories that portrayed a soft yet kinky and edgy side, and the photographers were also asked to choose the outfit that Kelsey would wear for their shoot setup. I had absolutely no idea of what I wanted to see her in. I left it up to her.

She noted that red is her favourite colour. Indeed, besides black, the only other pieces she had were red, so I pointed to a bra and said, "This is nice." She found matching panties, grabbed a one-piece outfit of black leather straps, that would go over her bra and panties, and went off to change.

I still had visions that my photos of this shoot would be exclusively black and white, but the red of Kelsey's bra was hard to resist. So, when I processed this photo, I placed a mask over everything that appeared red before I added my black-and-white filter.

I softened the details, added a bit of a glow, and that's about it. What do you think?

I've said this before but I think low-key portraits are my favourite kind of studio photography. I plan to join more meetups through the year.

And I plan to only bring one camera with a prime lens. I need to get out of my comfort zone.

Happy Friday!