I have focused heavily on shooting maternity photography lately….. mainly studio shoots. We loved this image from our shoot with Kiera yesterday. Studio portraiture is a skillset that I have been working on for a long time. It was important to me when we moved into our studio last year that I would be able to have an excellent space to shoot in. We are still working on finishing the administrative side. However, from a photography perspective, it works beautifully.
How we shot it
We photographed this image with a Canon 5D Mark IV with the AMAZING Sigma 105mm F/1.4 art (you know you have been looking at this one for a while, buy it, and you won’t regret it). We used 3 Profoto USA D2 lights here. The key light was in a 5′ Octa cam left high above Kiera, there was a Profoto A1 behind her for the background. The 2nd D2 was in a 3′ Strip box behind her to the right. Lastly, we used a D2 fired into the white wall behind me for fill.
If you want more natural looking studio lighting, don’t forget that fill light, it makes a HUGE difference.
To get the motion, both Jennifer and Courtney were on either side of Kiera waiving the fabric. We also used a fan to add movement to her hair and to push the material up against her body. Our studio isn’t climate controlled yet, and it was a bit cold, but Kiera handled it like a boss having to stand nude while we shot through the motion to get a perfect movement in the fabric.
Lastly, we used a Denny Backdrop for the background with her. This backdrop is one of the old masters painted backdrops.
Fun fact, our first paid shoot ever was a maternity session back in 2011…..but I think we are going to start promoting it more because it gives me a little bit more variety of work to shoot. As Studio 23 grows, and our associate team continues to photograph more weddings, I want to focus on the artistry of portraiture.
Editing Technique
I don’t teach editing often online, mostly because of the need to teach photographers how to shoot for the final edit. Studio techniques, however, are a bit different. This image had three primary methods done for the edit. We used curves layers in photoshop to dodge and burn the image. Also, frequency separation was used on the skin to bring the color tones together. Lastly, we used a bit of liquify to emphasize the shape a bit. In the end, I used an unsharp mask to sharpen around the eyes and hairline and added a bit of color toning to match the skin tones and blend in the shadows with the background.
Lighting Diagram
