Bailey in Tall Grass
Josh Harmon
Summer has passed and with it's hot and humid weather hopefully. The feel and sense of Autumn is strong now with cool crisp evenings almost here. There are a few leaves beginning their colorful transition on campus but it is the gorgeous late afternoon that shines the strongest. I have been itching to (hopefully) take advantage of the fall landscapes around campus that magically appear during this time of year. However that sad, yet exciting and happy, one week window has not occurred yet and I am left wanting to do something autumny that's creative.
Last weekend my friend Annika did a gorgeous shoot at a really fun spot on campus, both of which inspired me to do a portrait shoot. Here is a link to her website:
Anyway, I shamelessly decided to use the cool spot she found for a shoot, but instead of midday light like she used I decided to go for the golden hour. Next up was finding a model who would want to do a shoot, luckily Bailey was excited and willing! We decided on a darker dress to contrast with the light and grass.
My main focus when shooting was to work with the light as much as possible; using flare and the very warm temperature of it. I shot digital with my 7D using a 50mm f/1.4 lens (thanks Annika!) and my 135mm f/2.0. For film I shot two rolls of Fomapan 100 in my Pentax 6x7 using a 55mm f/4 and 135mm f/4 lens. Interesting enough, even though the lenses between the camera systems have the same focal lengths (roughly) they have completely different angles of view. The 55mm f/4 for the Pentax has the same angle of view as a 28mm on a full frame camera, and the 135mm f/4 has the same angle of view as 68mm lens on full frame.
When editing I was really working with dual toning the images, having the shadows a deep navy blue and the midtones to highlights a glowy warm golden hue. Using curves mostly to get the color I ended up with quite an intense curve block.
The duo-tone curves adjustment I used
I still have yet to develop the film, as I am in need of some fresh developer, but I am very happy with how this shoot went. I managed to get the look I wanted to achieve both during the shoot with the proper poses and with the color in post. It is rare that this actually happens.
I left this shoot excited even more for fall to finally hit its "peak week" on campus where I can crack out the Pentax and shoot the last of my 120 Kodak e100s slide film that I have saved.