As I wrote in previous post – I wanted to shoot more in Chicago, since it’s such a great city and has so many interesting locations. We scheduled Saturday shoot with Amber, early in the morning – well kinda – around 8.30AM. We drove to her apartment and Kamila did makeup and we were ready to go within 45mins! I scouted the locations the day before, so we knew where to park, or at least where to try
First location (from where we got kicked out btw) was Michigan Ave, just across Marilyn Monroe Statue, for main and only light I used Elinchrom Quadra RX + Rotalux 20×51 Softbox - recently my favorite setup. I just love the soft and even light that comes out of it, and ability to light whole body. I had my 85mm 1.2 II L and 50mm 1.2 L, both with CPL filter so I can shoot wide open.
Then we drove to Alder Planetarium, good location for fashion look. It was also warmer there, and no one bothered us, so it was win-win situationWhen Amber was changing her outfits I went down the dock to check the light, and the moment I looked thru my viewfinder I knew I’m gonna be in trouble. It was just too bright – CPL, ISO50, and still I’d have to shoot at 8.0 and 1/125, but I didn’t want to do that – I wanted at least 2.8 or maybe faster… So what do you do? You put your .9 ND filter on – that gives you full 3 stops. Only thing that you need to keep in mind, is that you need a LOT of light, but that wasn’t a problem here – I cranked up my Ranger Quadra to full power and started shooting. I thought that auto focus will be worse, going thru all that glass – CPL filter and .9 ND filter, but no – it was actually alright. Sure, sometimes I had to use manual focus – especially when shooting against the sun (ND filter holder I use prevents you from using lens hood).
Then Amber, who was by the way great to work with, changed her outfit again, and what happened after that was what I call “Great Success” – *Borat Voice*
Before I bought ND filters I did my research, here is info about ND filter system I use:
1). LEE Foundation Kit - http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/87108-REG/LEE_Filters_FK_Foundation_Kit_Standard_4x4.html
it allows you to hold up to 3 filters. It’s unavailable all across US, but you can get it from ebay, that’s where I got mine.
2). 4×4″ Neutral Density Glass Filter - http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/491473-REG/LEE_Filters_9NDG_4x4_Neutral_Density_ND.html
3). LEE Adapter Ring – 72mm – so I can screw it into my 85mm or 50mm - http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/87120-REG/LEE_Filters_AR072_Adapter_Ring_72mm.html
Thanks for stopping by, and remember “pictures don’t have to be amazing, but they sure can…” www.bizior.com
by bizior
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