Today’s Post by Joe Farace
Several years ago John and Dawn Clifford graciously hosted several group model shoots at their home in Northern Colorado. During one event, I was photographing a model in their front yard and a bunch of photographers started hollering at me, “Look at that dummy, he turned the model away from the sun and is using flash.” They thought the former Kodak-recommended method of having the sun over your right shoulder was the best way to photograph a model, when all it did was produce a portrait of their subject squinting. All of which brings us to…
I was fortunate enough to photograph the famous Interest model Maria Cedar on one of her visits to Colorado. The original plan for us was to focus on studio shoots but she asked if we could also do some outdoor photographs of her wearing “promo shirts.After picking Maria up at the airport I drove her past the giant Jacks & Ball sculptures at the Parker, Colorado library and suggested we shoot there. She liked the idea and my next decision was what camera to use. The choice was simple: My Olympus E-M10 Mark I. Here’s why –
Photographing models outdoors in a public place is always problematical and almost always attracts the attention of local gendarme. The original Olympus E-M10 and its later iterations is a small, understated-looking camera and I thought it would make us look like a couple of tourists, which essentially we were. For this series of portraits, I shot all of the 95 images we made in RAW+JPEG mode, giving Maria the JPEGs for her social media use but processing and retouching the RAW files for other applications, including Maria’s annual calendar and the portrait at right.
My 16-megapixel Olympus E-M10 Mark I is a terrific entry-level mirrorless camera and the entire E-M10 series is an excellent introduction to the Micro Four-thirds system, although the construction of the third and fourth generations changed from metal to plastic bodies with the Mark IV offering 20.3-megapixel capture. I’ve always been pleased with the image quality from this camera and its IBIS makes it useful when shooting outdoors at modest ISO settings. OM Systems has not created their version of this camera (yet) and is currently selling the E-M10 Mark IV with the Olympus name on it. Also worth noting, Olympus used to sell refurbished cameras at substantial discounts and I’ve bought a few lenses as well my beloved Pen F body from their refurb site but OM Systems seems to have given up on the concept of selling refurbs at bargain prices, so you’re better off, I think, purchasing a new Olympus?OM Systems camera from your favorite retailer.
How I made this portrait: Although it was cloudy most of the morning, the sun broke through during the 95 shots that Maria and I made around the sculptures. Lighting-wise, I used my preferred outdoor portrait technique posing Maria with her back (more or less) to the sun, side lighting her hair and using the E-M10 Mark I’s built-in flash (GN 19) as fill. Surprisingly this tiny flash did an excellent job with some assistance from the camera’s exposure compensation control. Lens was the wonderful M. Zuiko 45mm f/1.8 lens with an exposure of 1/250 sec at f/5.6 and ISO 320, and an exposure compensation of plus 0.3 stops.
*If you’re interested in participating in a private glamour photography workshop to be held in my in-home studio, click the CONTACT tab and let’s talk details, schedule and price. Look for a post on this topic real soon now.
If you enjoyed today’s blog post and would like to treat Joe to a cup of Earl Grey tea ($2.50), click here.
My book Joe Farace’s Glamour Photography is full of tips, tools and techniques for glamour and boudoir photography and includes information on all of the cameras used as well as the complete exposure data for each image. New books are available from Amazon for $33.83 with used copies starting around twenty-three bucks, as I write this. Kindle version is $19.99 for those preferring a digital format.