"Cut Throat Carly" pin up photo shoot-ric woods photography

Carly commissioned us to create her "retro pin up portfolio". She came to the studio armed with a collection of amazing clothes and then her and Amanda her mother/assistant/coach layed out a wardrobe that we could have spent days shooting.

Professional presentation was key word in this shoot ,all the clothes came pressed and on hangers, the shoes we like art pieces. Maree did her make up magic and we were ready to create "Images with an Edge".

The most difficult part of the photo shoot was deciding which outfit was the best...The Sailor Suit...

This Killer "Spanish" influence full skirt with yards of petticote..

..OR...this huge cluster of balloons...

We also created a collection of romantic monochrome portraits at the end of the Photo Shoot...

See the Low Res Behind the Scenes Video below...

Jo Nelson-hair and make up artist

Jo Nelson asked us to photograph her for her website.

We work with Jo lots and like many photographers, make up artist can cringe at being in the shot. But as you can see below, we always crack our subjects up. Our key is to not operate on ego. Be focused to do what ever it takes to give your client a natural image. Jo was pleased with the shoot.

Here are a few behind the scene images of Jo.

Carl Barron get some minature cooling during the TVC shoot for Hunter Mutual. Little Green Frog was responsible for the creative on these shoots.

Waterford County shoot

Jo has all the moves

Waterford county shoot

A GREAT GIFT FOR HER BOYFRIEND

Anna Lee commissioned us to do a beauty shoot for he,r as a gift for her boyfriend. The images were stunning. We shot on varius backdrops with a selection of lighting. After viewing the proofs she chose a selection of warm tinted mono images, in favour of colour.

It was a 3 hour shoot and although she was exhausted at the end of it, the results were worth the effort.

Lisa's Success Story-A 95kg weight loss.

Lisa is a fantastic success story. Lisa a client of Curves Gym, Mayfield branch.I was commissioned to do a shoot for diane the Curves Magazine.

The brief was to supply a selection of images where Lisa looked vital and dynamic to capture her excitement at losing 95kg. Sample pdf was sent as samples of the layout.Clothing guidelines were no frills,plunging necklines or florals.Darker solid colours were the preference. We decided to add some purple the signature colour of Curves. Text will be added to images so there needed to be provision for that. Through discussion with the art director a seamless white studio shot was arrived at, with various poses.Facing the subject in both directions enables the graphic artist freedom when laying up the page ( they appreciate it).
Once the brief was filled we decided to add some more dramatic images, hard lights and some showing the light source. Many of our clients like a "behind the scenes" style of image. I think we are swinging the other way from OVERLY DIGITALLY MANIPULATED images and PHOTOSHOP DISASTERS. These images of Lisa are not liquified, pushed, pulled or reduced.
The more dramatic images were a hit with both the art director and Lisa and they are the selection that will appear in the magazine.

ric woods photography studio totally enjoyed the shoot and sharing the excitement of Lisa's fantastic achievement.

3 Sisters Shoot

Maree and myself shot 3 gorgeous sisters the other day. The girls commissioned us for the shoot to give their parents a print as a gift. We were shooting both outside in a local park and inside the studio.We use different lighting set ups during the shoot to obtain different looks. People of different ages have their own ideas of the look they want.Some people like contrast and others like a light mood. We provide colour and mono images. I like to light Mono images differently colour to get the results I want.

The sisters are very attractive and have vibrant personalities so I chose to shoot the outside images with a shallow depth of field and allow a little camera movement to portray that dynamic feeling. Pin sharp has its place and so does movement in the image. Photography for me is about not only filling a commercial brief but also bringing a little something else to the client. I always deliver the requested brief and get lots of information from the clients about their personal tastes. The primary focus for this shoot was a GREAT picture that their folks would adore.....It had to have not only great technique as this would be a very large print, but we had to capture the energy, humour and close relationship between these women.

Maree my prod mgr and second shooter is fantastic on a shoot , she watches the details that I may miss looking through that small viewfinder i.e. small strands of hair across the eye, crooked belts,necklaces and comes up with interesting additional poses.

These is NO SUCH THING as a self made man/woman. I am surrounded by many people that bring expertise,skill and creativity to www.ricwoods.com

SPOT THE DIFFERENCE

I did a shoot for The Little Green Frog Marketing Think Tank. It was to update some of their staff portraits. My brief was to shoot was to supply images to the written brief

IMPORTANT NOTE:I always ask for a written Brief .Ask the client to drop their thoughts and suggestions in an email ...that doesn't mean i always get a brief.Creative people think in videos and when your a stills photographer if you cant get a written brief it creates a risk that your client may not be happy, because they haven't thought in a stills photography mind set.It also give me invaluable in site into planning the shoot i.e. talent look, costume,venue,camera angle etc This time Mary ( Gidget) gave me an excellent brief with poses, etc Fantastic.I follow the Brief and then add some of my ideas when they crop up.

Prior to the talent arriving Ive read the brief and am able to plan the lighting. Three of the images would need to be deep etched so they are shot on a white back ground son the graphic artist can drop them on their chosen back drop.

I am doing a self portrait holding a grey chip .It helps as a tool to remove an color cast. Lights even strobes do have a colour cast especially as they age.

The images on the left below of the before and after are virtually straight out of camera ( they are cropped etc) . As you can see the contrast needs adjustment shooting into the white paper background which acts likes a large light source.

IMAGE 1: Below is Katie aka Lucy from an old TV show "I Love Lucy" I think she nailed the character.


Image 2 : Mary aka "Gidget" from a an old TV surf series

IMAGE 3: Dominique "Shirley Temple" arrived with a selection of Lollipops, this one was the smallest.


Lighting change now, Jamie the owner of the Little Green Frog helps here.Jamie a good mate always gets into character when I point a camera at him. Here I think here he's being Kevin Rudd.(just kiddin")


The styling of the shoot was handled by the whole crew. I like to be influenced by the other "creatives", it makes for better images.



IMAGE 4: Megan aka "Mafiette" was looking good against black.The Mafia was the influence for the look.

Film Noir-Hollywood studio set up

Our recent Film Noir/ Hollywood shoot with Kristan was great fun. Maree Nichols was the 2nd photographer and stylist, Jo Nelson did a great job and the right look for the hair and make up.

Every now and then I come across a subject that are transformed when they are in front of the lens, Kristan was one of those subjects.Looking through the viewfinder I just knew that this was going to be a strong collection of images. Her "Armani" look gown was styled by Maree, she has a gift with black cloth & some bull dog clips.

This shoot is the beginning of a series.........finished images will be posted on my website www.ricwoods.com

Corporate Indoor and Outdoor Shoot

I did a shoot the other day for Andrew, a corporate client who works in alt. health and life industry.I didn't post his site because I checked and he hasn't posted the images yet, my ego wont let me be blamed for the ones hes currently using. (I'm smiling)
The idea was to produce some clean images that can not only be used on a website but also brochures.Following my advice Andrew agreed to having Jo Nelson do his hair and keep an eye on the shine that may be present under the lights.

In the studio (www.ricwoods.com) when shooting men that don't have a full head of hair I do not use a hair light.
I generally use a large soft box in clos, if the guys have deep character lines, and a white reflector.It gives some contrast to the shot but has good detail for print and web. Remember you cant EASILY put detail in later and having black holes in print is not the go.

We tried various outfits but Andrew and myself were pleased with the white shirt on the white background.The correct exposure ( I know I mention this often) is important so that I keep a clean defined edge with the white on white.These studio images are shot with a Nikon D300 and a 24-70 2.8 lens ( which I use often)

These images will easily lend themselves to being dropped onto another colour background or natural image like clouds etc for his brochures.
We went outside as Andrew wanted to have a natural shot with his car to show the distinctive number plate. That is my hair and makeup artist on the reflector trying not to sail away...Jo is little and light. You can see the reflection in the subjects face of the Styrofoam reflector which creates a pleasing fill light. I was lucky to be using this as a big gust of wind came and as I grabbed the reflector the wind snapped a bit out of the side and Andrew was swatted with it (I'm pleased he didn't sue). This Styrofoam is not real good for the enviroment but great for photographers. You can get several grades and the cheapest is not the way to go, as soon as you touch it, it turns into bean bag filling. You can buy the stuff from Insulation Industries, tell them I sent you over to buy the damaged or dirty interior suspended ceiling tiles. You can gaff tape them into a folding book, they are much better in wind than those expensive folding photography types. I also use blocks of the stuff for kids to sit on and for product photography.

I am able to use the many places near my Carrington Studio to the best advantage for shoots. We have waterways, the harbour, industrial backdrops including sheds, boats ,trains, waterways, boat ramps, marina, bridges, parks and sports ovals and a walkway through the mangroves....a top place. I sound like a real estate agent.

This image was shot with an 85 1.4 portrait lens.This is a fantastic lens, especially when you want to isolate your subject in a crowd, or drop the background, in low light its a dream.It has creamy tones like European glass. I believe I was using an aperture of f2 for this with a circular polariser.This reduces the reflections on the front window. Circular polarisers only work for best effect if your 90 degrees to the sun, we were lucky in this case it was just about right.One disadvantage Ive noticed with the polariser is that you can get a blue halo on some edges due to the colour spectrum shift. I'm not a scientist so I don't know all the correct lingo, but I do know a bit about light and i do see it. Adobe bridge can pull some of it out but not completely.

On a personal note Andrew was real pleased with our work and we had lots of good laughs during the shoot talking about motorcycles and what we got up to. That was in my previous life, the image below was 22 years and 5 driving licences ago...

the next images was was 3 years ago....the camera was always around... I don't need to own a motorcycle, my old boss lets me borrow them...a real cool guy.

I really enjoy working with people and finding out about them .....I love this job......

TEMPLE GOL:D CARPET HAIR & FASHION SHOW-Panthers 2009..Photographer to Art Director in a SLIP !!

This is the Studio we created inside the auditorium

(all images are un edited to show exposures . Digital does not like to be over exposed,Im mindful of highlights..watch the histogram NOT the screen image)

A big thank you to our FANTASTIC assistants...well done

Photographers, Jamie, Maree and me..

LATER THAT NIGHT......

I slipped on a broken glass and spilt drink ( I was informed later) whilst shooting the Gold Carpet Hair and Fashion Show at Panthers last night.Popped the shoulder out and went from Photographer to Art Director...in and instant...OUCH !!! Maree and Jamie both put it back in but the verdict was in I couldnt carry a camera.
Ill post some images from the night soon...Thanks again to Maree and Jamie for stepping up and getting the Shoot done.

Carnival Shoot-ric woods photography studio carrington

Tuesday the neighbourhood was invaded by
the FLURO clan.Much to the delight of the neighbours
as filed into the studio...



The idea of doing the proposed "Funeral on the Beach"
shoot was canned due to the rain.So an inpromptu
studio shoot was to follow..



Mt son was "lucky" enough to walk in towards the end on
his way home from work...instant fame

CONCRATULATIONS to the talent, you did

fantastic with the costumes.AMAZING what

a pair of shears can do to a set of tights..

I plan to do a shoot every fortnight.

The theme of the next shoot will be

"FILM NOIR" ( take the jump and check the google images)

It will be in the back streets of Newcastle.

Im casting for men and women now.

Those interested organise that baby sitter

for a couple of weeks away ( usually a week night)

drop me an email and

snapshot of your outfit to

enquiries@ricwoods.com.

ric woods blog

Welcome to my new blog ...I hope to bring you behind the scenes of some of the work we do at ric woods photography studio's at carrington nsw australia. website http://www.ricwoods.com/

Maree Nichols the studio production manager (seen here receiving make-up from our make-up and hair stylist Jo Nelson http://www.jonelsonmake-up.com/ will also be making an appearance and giving a few hints on the organisation, the shoots and subjects.