Fashion / swimwear on Helium

[Curtis boggs]

Hi gang,

Shot a little fashion / swimwear thing on Red Epic-W Helium. ( can't wait for my upgrade to new Helium )

Shot mostly at 6k 75fps. IPP2 high key. Sigma Cinema Primes 20,24 & 50. I've got to rave about the Sigma Primes!! they are fantastic.
Only one shot at end had diffusion, all the rest where Firecrest .9 ND

https://vimeo.com/280043331

 

[Curtis boggs]

I would be thrilled to have some feedback on this.

Anyone who shoots fashion or high key, or whatever.

Cheers

 

[rand thompson]

Curtis,

I'm not a fashion shooter, but I think the subject matter and the composition looks great! However, in some scenes the highlights look a little hot and I think a little more contrast will really bring it out. Maybe try a softer IPP2 highlight rolloff like for example a Medium/ Soft or a Low/ Medium or maybe even a Low/ Soft and add contrast from there.

 

[Dominik Muench]

some lovely work Curtis. Would have loved to see a few more close up shots. flicking hair, shimmering fabric....hands, eyes. Those sigmas really are razor sharp lenses.

 

[Scot Yount]

Hi Curtis, if Dominik says it is good, then you know you are on to something. One thing to think about. I always watch stuff with the sound off first. (I don't know about anyone else...) I knew you were editing to the music as I watched, even though I couldn't hear it, because there were series' of jump cuts (nothing against jump cuts btw) that just didn't look right, again, with he sound off. For me, the shots were too similar. This is just me, but I always feel like if I make something look good without the sound, it is supercharged once I turn on the music. Just my two cents.

 

[Curtis boggs]

Oh wow, awesome feedback guys thank you.

Dominik, detail shots, of course. thank you.

curtis

 

[Luca Volpe]

I do Fashion here is a couple of video on Epic W
Sunmer Vibes: https://youtu.be/viYmQslhKn0
Elegance: https://youtu.be/DdWZrtQtwbk

 

[Dominik Muench]

Hi Curtis, if Dominik says it is good, then you know you are on to something.

:emote_22_yikes: thanks but I'm far from an authority in that matter :/

If you want to to check you the real guys in that game have a look at Marcos Mello Cavallaria or Mert & Marcus.

See it this way Curtis, fashion is all about the clothes and the women who present them so don't be afraid to get in there. closeups of the material, any special features the items might have. shoot the models hair, eyes, feet, shoes, hands, jewelry she might be wearing, just to give you options later on in the edit. I often work with longer focal lengths too so you can get these closeups without being "right in there" and having to shove the camera in the models face.

 

[Curtis boggs]

Cavallaria and Mert & Marcus are some amazing talents.

Really appreciate the feedback.

The Sigma lens set is easily the best purchase i’ve made besides the Red Helium.
Super sharp but not “ugly” sharp. They have a nice focus roll off and beautiful bokeh.
I can see why they get so many rave reviews.

Cheers ��

Curtis

 

[Chris McKechnie]

Contrast on your models would help you immensely to bring about separation between your subject and the background. To me, they are seeming to blend in to the background. Backlighting would help with that more than anything since it looks like you're just running and gunning. I know it's not always possible to backlight...so modifiers will be your saving grace.

Or, you can track matte in resolve to bring more subject isolation too.

 

[Curtis boggs]

Chris I was going for that low contrast "blown out" look typical of the fashion magazines.

So I purposely didn't bring in any more contrast in post.

Biggest issue bringing the subject out of the background in my opinion
was the choice of clothing she was wearing. Not under my control.
Some of it worked really well, some not so much.

My favorites are the blue & white bikini and the black and white top & dress.

Curtis

 

[rand thompson]

Curtis,


I think what Chris and I are saying is you can have a slightly "blown out" look but with give more separation of your talent from the background. I captured a few screen grabs from your video to try to give you an example with the three different outfits she was wearing.

 

[Curtis boggs]

Rand I can totally appreciate what you and Chris are saying,
but I don't like the way it looks, I prefer the lifted blacks for this particular shoot.
Of course this is totally subjective.

I tried that in the grade and actually had a version that the mids where pulled down some as
well, more "dense" or saturated grade but again I just didn't like the way it looked.

Once I pulled the overall exposure into "normal" and got more color saturation
it just lost the feel I was going for.

The skin tones are all around 50-60 IRE in resolve

ill play with it some more

Cheers,

Curtis

 

[rand thompson]

No problem Curtis! I get what you are saying. I could image my images above could look "processed" and I get now you where going for something that had a more "natural" feel.



Rand

 

[Curtis boggs]

No problem Curtis! I get what you are saying. I could image my images above could look "processed" and I get now you where going for something that had a more "natural" feel.

Rand

Yes I really appreciate the feed back and I am going to revisit the grade with this conversation in mind.

I shot fashion as a stills guy back in the 90's and loved both the cross processed film
as well as the really blown out style stuff. And Thats what I had in mind here.

Remember Herb Ritts, Mark Seliger, Annie Leibovits etc.

 

[rand thompson]

Curtis,

I was doing a lot of "Dark" Art and paintings in the 90's similar to the artwork I did in the"Some MONSTRO mixed lowlight impressions ....." thread. I can't paint for shit these days but I am "now and then" using computer programs to do more art. I use to know the names of almost every fashion photographer and every designer from each of the fashion houses, but after I got my business degree I kind of lost interest. I think all of us here on Reduser comes from some "artistic or technical discipline" or another and I think that shapes how we interpret and approach the images we see here on the board.

 

[rand thompson]

Curtis,


I tried to blow out the highlights more in a similar manner as in the picture you posted above. I think there will have to be more Light shining on the talent to blow it out that way. You will probably have to use a lesser strength ND filter with more specular light on the skin.

 

[Curtis boggs]

±Revisit colorgrade

±Revisit colorgrade

So I finally got time to go back and revisit the colorgrade on these fashion images.

Quite a swing from the earlier posts but I'm curious what you think about this.

 

[rand thompson]

Curtis,


Now that looks great! especially without the more blown-out highlights and with that just right amount of contrast for better separation from the background.

 

[Mark K.]

The added blue in the new grade really throws some extra life into it. My main suggestion would be to add a little diffusion, and reduce a bit of the high-frequency detail on her face, as her makeup is WAY too visible for my tastes. The liner on the lips, the foundation and the eyeliner all really draw attention to themselves.