I have been in Belgium for almost a month now but I'm still posting images from shoots I did in Estonia. It's pretty awesome actually, I crammed in as many shoots as possible before I left, mainly because I wanted to take advantage of using the studio I had access to over there. I had pretty much used up everybody I knew for shoots already so naturally, I had to find complete strangers to do shoots with. I mean what could possibly make more sense? I somehow stumbled upon the Facebook profile of Breth. She seemed like she could do a really stellar job at this shoot, and she did. It's always a little bit sketchy to get complete strangers to come and model but most of the time it works out really well. The basic idea was to go the studio, spray her with water and take photos using a beauty-dish with a grid on it. The grid really helps to point the light giving a really dramatic, mysterious look to the image which I think worked really well here.
"Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go." - T.S. Eliot
This images is the one where the effect of the grid is most strongly felt. As you can see it lit up Breth's face with a really nice smooth light and then shortly shifted to nothing. I think it turned out really well in this post. Initially I thought I'd just dump a bucket of water on Berth, it seemed like a pretty quick and effective way of getting her wet. We quickly realised however that this wasn't going to work because all the clothes and everything else would get way too wet also. So instead, I sprayed her with water trying to make sure that the water doesn't get to any unnecessary places.
Hah, aren't I a rebel, no quote. I really needed some horizontal shots as well, this is one of them.
I really have to start shooting more horizontals as well. My portfolio is full of vertical images and while there's nothing wrong with that, it does get a little bit repetitive. I think I'll be trying to plan a few shoots where I can just shoot horizontal the whole way through, I think it could be a nice change.
"Have no fear of perfection - you'll never reach it." - Salvador Dali
I love that quote, it embodies one of the things I love most about photography, the fact that you're always learning and never slowing down. Vince Lombardi said "Perfection is not attainable, but if we chase perfection we can catch excellence." - that one also resonates with me so much. Nothing is ever perfect, nothing - but if we strive for perfection nevertheless we can accomplish art which is in fact, excellent. I'm always chasing perfection, it is up to you to decide whether I also succeed at catching excellence.