5DMKII + 85mm f/1.8, 1/125 @ f/3.5. Model: Taravat Makeup: Mika
Another moody & cold day for shooting outdoors. This was my first of three shoots I did yesterday. My model was freezing so we huddled in a back alley which was slightly warmer than the wind tunnel where we first started shooting. Nothing more glamorous than shooting in a back alley :/
I was using a really basic one strobe set-up: The 430EX strobe was set to Manual, 35mm, 1/8th power and was triggered using the Alien Bees Cyber Syncs. I softened the light by using a shoot-through umbrella. This set-up which works well if you are shooting outside on the fly and you can’t carry a lot of gear because you put your back out the week before :-/
I was almost ready to give up on the shoot at this point because there was no light and we were both shaking from the cold. Then, out of the corner of my eye, I saw a car coming slowly towards us. I asked Taravat give me a lost/mysterious expression and I snapped this. It was the last shot of the photo shoot and told such a story — almost like a scene from a movie.
Everytime I stick with a shoot to the bitter end, I always get an unexpected shot that I hadn’t planned. And often the last shots I shoot are the best.
What I’ve learnt from these shoots is that you never get a second chance to capture a spontaneous moment, so shoot furiously until your hands are numb and your legs are shaking and you know you’ve got the shot. Trust me, it is worth it to have no regrets with your photography.
