Ellie Rhodes ~ One light, minimalist portraits with the Fuji E-X2

Dec 7, 2013 | Continuous Lighting, Flash, Studio | 6 comments

Raw beauty with minimal make up and mostly lit with one light. That’s how I shot this set of images of new model Ellie Rhodes from Gingersnap. I was running a 1:1 training session for a documentary, travel and environmental portrait photographer who wants to take control of light or make it as required.

01. In camera jpeg. No Photoshop.

01. Simplistic lighting on Ellie set against a stark grey background. I tussled Ellie’s hair for effect. We did have a hair brush on set somewhere but I can’t remember us using it.

Here are 15 shots from this shoot…

Make up: Ellie
Styling: Ellie
Post Production: Lightroom tweaks of the in-camera jpegs

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03. In the viewing room we shot with window light balanced with a Lupolux Quadlight.

04.

04. I shut the curtains and just used the Quadlight for the shot on the right.

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05. A Speedlight in a Lastolight 55cm Ezybox was used for these shots.

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07. A Quadlight, and for the shot on the left I added a Lupolux LED 650 set at 20% with a Scattergel to light the background.

The X-E2 performed like a dream using my shooting systems mentioned here. I’m really into this less is more approach to photography at the moment. Especially when it comes to make up and Photoshop. The vision of a false perfection that photographers and retouchers create is definitely affecting the teenage generation. A  lack of self confidence and hangups over appearance is largely down to the over use of Photoshop since the birth of digital imaging.

Please feel free to comment below.

6 Comments

  1. mike

    This is more like it,natural beauty,simple lighting,and as you say,there is to much of this false perfection that some create,in the world of photography.

    Reply
    • Damien

      Thanks Mike :)

      Reply
  2. Rick Lewis

    I have been told by other pros that jpegs SOOC on the Fuji cameras were as good as RAW under most conditions. I think this kind of confirms it.

    Beautiful B&W images! Thanks Damien!!

    Reply
    • Damien

      Hi Rick, The OOC Jpegs are great as long as you get the shot right in camera. RAW is still the better option if you want to manipulate the tonal values etc.

      Thanks for your kind words :) Damien.

      Reply
  3. Thorsten

    I’m loving these Damien; it’s so easy to get caught up with the tools we have at our disposal and end up adding something not because we should but just because we can.

    Reply
    • Damien

      Thank you Thorsten :)

      Reply

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