Light is something that photographers work with. I started as a sound engineer, which was the study, capture, release and manipulation of sound waves. I have always thought of photography in similar way, just the waves are a lot faster. Physics wasn't ever my strongest science subject, but it has followed me (or is it the other way around) since I started working for myself and passions became part of my livelihood.

For anyone who has ever taken a photo in a darkened space without flash. Trying to capture what our eyes see is the holy grail of optics and photography. Over the decades the technology has increased and made this much more of a reality. Some cameras can 'see' in almost total darkness. Quality is always affected but photographers have adapted to the challenge and creates regardless.

This shoot was interesting as we had a very small hotel room and either really awful overhead light or small sources like table lights. This was the first shoot I did with a Sony A7s camera which purportedly has the best lowlight ability of any digital camera on the market at the time of use. It was a challenge to use, totally different physically and it having an electronic viewfinder was a blessing and a curse. Basically I went to the deep-end on purpose but that is the joy of this kind of shoot. The shoot also combine my normal camera (Canon 5D MKIII) and Mamiya 645 MF with film back plus the A7s.

Lots of photographers call themselves either "a strobist" or a "natural light" photographer. It's like there is an exclusivity to each style. While I more fall into the strobist area overall, I don't identify by that term. I also don't identify by "natural light" either. I that a good photographer just works with light, regardless of the source. So being able to work with anything thrown at you is part of the amazing challenge of this work. I urge photographers to look outside of those terms, and work with anything or everything available to you. This doesn't mean you shouldn't have favourites. I certainly have my "go-to" ways of shooting, but I also know that it's a crutch and if I use the same techniques all the time, others become rusty.

Therefore, the "deep end" is something I will try to push myself into as much as possible. Low light photography with and without strobe was this challenge with a mix of cameras and film + digital.

Model: Samantha Mansfield
Location: Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia

Captured using Mamiya 645 Medium Format with Ilford Delta 3200 Pro film

A few weeks ago I was in Melbourne and got to work with Erin again. This was our third shoot together and easily the most fun. We tried a heap of different ideas and styles that ranged from simple beauty shots to shadow play and nudes.

The advantage of working with a model you have shot before is a lot of ideas flow faster, as you both know how to communicate with each other more effectively. It also means that trust has been built up in previous sessions and therefore nerves can be lesser (but never all together).

So, we have a lot of different images from the shoot. Today I am posting 2 different styles. Above is a beauty portrait. This shot has been retouched to give a smooth perfect look after stepping out of the shower and dried off a bit. The skin needs to be almost flawless, but still believable. More in-line with what you expect from fashion magazines. Stick an expensive necklace onto Erin, and you would have an advert ready image.

The second image is from in the shower. This image has very little work done on it from the actual captured photo. I used what is called a Gobo (Go Between) to create the colour and shadows through the shower door and finally onto Erin. A Gobo is a light that has something in front of it to alter the look (colour, shadows, etc) and then is focused using a lens, so it keeps the detail and doesn't become a mess. In this case the Gobo is a slide with blue and purple colours on it. The light hits the glass door which has some steam and water on it, creating shadows and something for the light to reflect off. Lastly, the rest of the light hits Erin and fills in the rest of the image. For me this was an example of trying something completely new because Erin trusted me enough to experiment.

So this is really just a taste of some of the amazing images we created together. I am looking forward to showcasing more of them in the future.

Samantha - Low Light Portraits

ERIN - Experiment | Beauty | Portraits