PQs Goddess of Bronze Light
photography Naomi Rowlands
model Rhonda Jewell
mua Anna Mathiassen
What kind of gear do you use?
· Camera body – Nikon D750
· Lens – Nikon 50mm F1.8
· Tripod – Promaster XC525
· Filters –
· Flash – Godox 400W with 120cm Double Diffused Octogon Softbox
· Camera bag –
· Mention others, if any.
Which is your favorite lens?
I own the 50mm and in the process of deciding on a new lens. I love the 50mm as it's so crisp and clean but I am leaning towards the 105mm Micro as I love the ability of getting in nice and close with that particular lens. Also taking the 135mm out for a spin next weekend. So my choices may change.
When you go in one of your travels, what all you take with you?
At the moment when I travel I actually take my Samsung NX500 Mirrorless camera, as it is very light weight and has the 16-50mm & 50-200mm kit lens. So it is perfect for what I need and takes beautiful landscape & portrait images. If I am going for a photographic specific holiday (which has not happened as yet) I would be more inclined to take the Nikon, my speedlite flash and other lens.
Among the gadgets that you own, is there something that you wish you hadn’t bought?
I am still building my studio, kit & gadgets; so no at this stage I'm pretty happy with everything I have so far. Though actually I will say whilst my Samsung mirror less is a great lightweight camera, it is really bad in low light conditions. So I don't use it as often.
In the field, what are your settings?
· Aperture – usually between 2.2 - 3.4 depending on location, lighting, subject etc.
· Shutter Speed – also ranges but probably about 1/80 - 1/200 - again depends on many factors lighting, subject, or do I want movement Y or N?
· ISO – in my studio it's about 320 - 640 for natural light, with flash or outdoors 100-200.
· White Balance – at the moment I use auto. As I sometimes change the colour temp in the photos to the style I want.
· Focus – Manual/Auto - both
· Image Format – RAW/JPEG- Always RAW
What kind of tools do you use for post processing? Explain your work flow.
I use both Lightroom & Photoshop. I import using Lightroom, cull and file in there. Then take the photo I am working on into Photoshop for retouching and then back into Lightroom for any filters I may choose to use and then export.
How do you educate yourself to take better pictures?
I practice, practice, practice. I also move a lot. So if I set up my model into a pose I'll take the same shot from 6 - 7 different angles, close, far away, left, right, high, low etc. I also like to try and crop in camera as I like to take the photo as what I visual the final product to be. Not cropping everything later. Every point of view if different and some will look great some won't and you learn from experience.
Among your works, which one is your favorite?
That's a hard question, as I love all my work and each has its own uniqueness to it. If I list a couple quick ones:
* My Colourful & Crazy Series - I love the makeup artist’s work in the series, her work plus the location and the models beautiful big blue eyes just always draws me in every time I look at those photos.
* This Goddess Shoot - What I love about this was what we created in the costume; with very little effort. Basically strips of tulle, some material I have in my studio and we hacked 3 - 4 outfits.
* Pretty In ink Series - My model Summer is exquisite. Her tattoos, presence and expressions were just magnificent. It was so easy to get so many beautiful shots. And the tulle skirt I made of this shoot was a 3 hour job that turned out amazing. Was very proud of my limited sewing skills.
Whose work has influenced you most?
I love taking photos of beauty. So people inspire me. I don't follow a particular photographer or style. I just see something and I like it. I love making people look beautiful and amazing. Modern Portraiture is my go to and I also love dabbling in shoots that are outside the box.
What is the one thing you wish you knew when you started taking photos?
More about light. How to make it work for me..... And I'm still learning it. - PQ
