Creating stunning portraits for Katumi using hard-light.(BTS video and set photo included)

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(Edited)

Nine out of ten times I'll choose to create photos using soft lighting. The one time would be if push comes to shove. And this one time happened few weeks ago when I had to create birthday portraits for Katumi.

Katumi contacted me to create photos for her birthday and she already knew what she wanted. I saw the sample photo and immediately decoded that I'll need to shoot with hard lighting setup. I've never had the need to create photos with hard light; personally, I love it soft. But based on the kind of photos Tumi wanted, I had to. And I'm glad I did. ⁣

Before the session, I created the set and had a few test shots with my friend Yankee. Check out the photos of the set;

IMG-20210330-152400

Two light setup, and the curtains from my room window was the major set. The set looked really basic and that was the idea. The drama we needed on the set was the attitude and poise from Tumi, and also the lighting.

After few hours of test shooting and waiting, Tumi arrived and we created these;

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PSX-643
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PSX-662

Who knew hard light can be this "delicious". Since this shoot with Tumi, I've been more endeared to shooting hard light, although I haven't had the right opportunity to try again.

Here's a BTS video of how the session went;

Here's EXIF Data;

1617468865026

Lemme know in the comments section which frame was your favourite. Thanks!

PS: I realized that I talked about hard light in this post without actually explaining what hard light is. The truth is that I tried to explain, but it didn't come out good. And might be confusing if you were an amateur photographer. So I browsed the internet to find an article that explains hard and soft light sufficiently in understandable terms. You can read about it here

Furthermore, it's been over a week since my last post on Hive. I have been busy with compiling and selling my preset pack; "Tropicana". It is a color grading preset pack I compiled from my last project "The Moss Effect". I put it out for sale because I'm trying to raise money to get a new camera; Nikon Z6 preferably. I currently shoot with a Nikon D750, but the shutter count has maxed out.


Tropicanatemplate.jpg

The pack is sold for #5,000 which roughly converts to $10.5. However, for purchases on Hive, I've left the price as 20Hive. Irrespective of Hive price. BTW, when are we going to have a Hive store? Is it possible?
Anyway, if you wish to make a purchase, comment under my recent post, send Hive and use your email address as memo. The download link would be sent to your mail address. Thank you very much.



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16 comments
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but the shutter count has maxed out.
do you know what is the count? :)

this ended up really good, nice work.

There were few tries of a store, not sure what happened with the last project. If we somehow manage to stabilize the HBD to be close to a dollar that would be great for selling and buying stuff.

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Thanks Bil. The shutter count is currently at 152,000 thereabouts. I read Nikon D750 maxes out at 150,000. Also read that cameras can outlive their predicted shutter count lifetime. However, I feel I'm at a risk right now as it can freeze at anytime.

Yea, if HBD is stabilized, then a store can work. I can't wait for that to happen.

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i seen them going to 400k and more. it is the curtain that fails from shooting. but it is a bit uncomfortable thinking about it. But again it is also crazy that something that moves 1/8000 of a second works for that many shots :)

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But again it is also crazy that something that moves 1/8000 of a second works for that many shots :)

Really crazy that that happens.

Maybe mine can't get up to 400k+ actuations, but the thought of it really scares me. Aside from the whole shutter count issue, I really would like to switch to mirrorless.

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It would be interesting to hear from fashion/portrait photographers who have switched to mirrorless. As a landscape photographer I find the electronic viewfinder detaches me from the scene and makes it harder to see the image I want to get. I'm waiting for the D850 replacement to land so I can pick up a D850 for a good price. Can't wait to get back to a DSLR.

Oh, and great shots, BTW. :)

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It would be interesting to hear from fashion/portrait photographers who have switched to mirrorless.

@revo as soon as I get it, I'll make a review for you. But aside from the fact that Z6 is a mirrorless camera, I'm switching because it has more lowlight capabilities than my current D750. Then there's that issue of weight 😁.

I'm waiting for the D850 replacement to land so I can pick up a D850 for a good price. Can't wait to get back to a DSLR.

Yea, D850 is an amazing body. I'll absolutely ditch buying a mirrorless camera if I could get that. But that, the price of a dollar to my local currency is at an at time high. I can't even attempt to get that right now.

Oh, and great shots, BTW. :)

Thank you very much.

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The reason I can now afford a D850 is thanks to $VET. Sold for a 2000% profit. :)

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I absolutely have not idea about $VET. It seems like you are active about cryptos. Well, it's great news that you can purchase the D850. I hope to get a Z6 soon as well.

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They're all beautiful shots and it's hard picking a favourite but I'll go with the sixth shot

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Thank you very much for your kind comment. I also had a hard time picking a favorite. It's everything for me. 😁

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Great set! I love the hard light look from a beauty dish.

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