lens lighting maja windows washed Simon Q. Walden, FilmPhotoAcademy.com, sqw, FilmPhoto, photography

AOP part 25: Backlight

To fix this I moved both Maja and I further back towards the window light. This has let me lose the distracting dark area at the top of the image.

maja rim worked windows washed Simon Q. Walden, FilmPhotoAcademy.com, sqw, FilmPhoto, photography

AOP part 24: Rim Light - Front Light - Fail

So while we are on the subject of failures, what went wrong here? I wanted to use the door frame as both a compositional device and for something for Maja to pose against.

AOP part 23: 8 Compositional Failures

This is a tight profile shot from the same space. There are several failure points on this shot. Not sharp enough: at f4 I have not quite nailed the focus and it is just slightly unsharp around the eye.

background thirds soft scheme rule Simon Q. Walden, FilmPhotoAcademy.com, sqw, FilmPhoto, photography

AOP part 22: 9 Compositional Elements

This shot gives me a great example to talk about a number of compositional elements in one image. Colour scheme: the pale blue background pushes the warmer tones of skin forward with clear separation of subject to background.

maja defined tones toned tiny Simon Q. Walden, FilmPhotoAcademy.com, sqw, FilmPhoto, photography

AOP part 21: Portrait Close Up

Of course, the next step having got that close is to get even closer still. Rolling Stones anyone? On the following two pages I want to show a small collection of the images from this tiny session.

vogue post blumenfeld worried working Simon Q. Walden, FilmPhotoAcademy.com, sqw, FilmPhoto, photography

AOP part 20: Portrait with Post

From that lovely serenity we move to something much more sexually charged! This has had a bit of a working over in post processing.

maja soft lighting applied windows Simon Q. Walden, FilmPhotoAcademy.com, sqw, FilmPhoto, photography

AOP part 19: Portrait

Up to this point I had largely been shooting full or three-quarter length images with Maja. Clearly though her fine features, symmetrical face and perfectly applied makeup meant I should really make sure I got some portraits too.

props themes symbolic poses model Simon Q. Walden, FilmPhotoAcademy.com, sqw, FilmPhoto, photography

AOP part 18: Simple Props

While props don't feature too often in my work I do like them because they give the model something to work with, which in turn gives them some different poses and themes.

practice ones location review learn Simon Q. Walden, FilmPhotoAcademy.com, sqw, FilmPhoto, photography

AOP part 17: How do I learn to see?

I can tell you simply in three words "Practice. Shoot, Review". Then repeat this a few 1,000 times. When you first start taking photos you make all the usual mistakes, lamp posts out the top of peoples heads, distracting backgrounds, bad lighting.

maja lot shape million lines Simon Q. Walden, FilmPhotoAcademy.com, sqw, FilmPhoto, photography

AOP part 16: Triangles and Leading Lines

The technical bit of photography really is the easy bit. The really important part is happening the in the equipment behind the camera - in your head.

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