Shooting a portrait is probably one of easiest and also daunting at the same time.
Easy; because we have so many of us human around. If you are a people person;
then I guess its easy to convince one to be your model. Next will be the daunting part.
Today’s at Fujifilm Lifestyle Portrait Workshop is all about it. I started by sharing
about my portraits shooting style. For a start; have a concept before you even
start to shoot. Having an idea on how you wanna achieve helps build that foundation
block. With that in mind; we could start mounting the right lens for the scene. If
one don’t it; rent one. Having the right tool is also an essential. In fact Fujifilm
Singapore has a rent a lens program. It’s free for the first 2 time. This is also Fujifilm
Singapore way to helping its fellow user try out the lenses before making that
investment.
Art direction is next. For today’s workshop I wanted to achieve a fun and technically
challenging, owner and pet portrait. My model for today is Dwayne Lau. I always love
having an actor or actress as my model compare to a fashion model. The reason
is very clear for me; having an actor as my model; he or she is able to give me more
expression and feel; which helps in the making of a great shot.
I handed the next part to Eujin Goh of Broncolor Singapore. He shares on the important
of lighting. Getting the right light is crucial in photography. Be it natural light or artificial
lite. For this afternoon Eujin also gave a demo by taking time to do a set-up. Using the
different light shapers for its specific purpose on our model Dwayne. He started with
a light and ended with a 4 lights set-up and Para 88 as the main light shaper.
During my demo, my weapon of choice is Fujifilm GFX 50s with a GF120mm Macro lens.
All the participants also had an opportunity to try it on their own. They call the shots.
Directing the model on how to pour the water, and what expression to give.
Once the session is over I handed the next part to Mezame from Capture One. As a
commercial photographer I believe in sharing what are my tool for my trade. From
Fujifilm systems; be it X100 series, X series or GFX series. And for lighting choice,
Broncolor and finally for image editing software; its Capture One. This is a very
powerful professional image editing software. (Yes, its more powerful than Lightroom!)
Mezame shared on some of the powerful key feature of this software. I wish we had
more time; infact there was a 30 mintues overrun. I promise the participants I will try to arrange another 1 day session on how Fujifilm works beautifully with Capture One’s workflow. Till then, below is the final pictures and also a behind the scene video.
I was about to ask why you’re abusing that fish and then … realized at the end of the article that the fish was added in. Whew!
Love the setup and wished I was closer to attend these. I’m in Princeton, New Jersey.