My Muse

Granddad · Aug 8, 2015

Things have been quiet on the photography front at my place and I haven't posted any photos in an age and a half because I don't feel I've had anything worth sharing; even I get bored with belly dancers!

However, earlier this month I got my muse (Granny) dolled up in biker chick mode and took her to the local beach. It wasn't a hugely productive shoot but we had loads of fun and I thought these 6 might raise a smile or two. No matter what my shots are like, big kudos to my wife for being such a good sport!

C&C are always welcome; I don't often shoot outside my home studio so these are a departure from my norm and I made loads of mistakes. I used my SB600 with a £7 soft box for fill ... although for the ones in the water I forgot to turn the thing on again.

Anyway, here they are...

1

2

3

(This is going to be her birthday card image in 2 weeks time - she hasn't seen that I changed the number on the beach chalet door.)

4

She looks more like a pirate here than a biker chick!

5

6

Derrel · Aug 8, 2015

Always glad to see you around TPF! As I said earlier in my PM, it is great to see you back here! If I did anything on these it might be to lighten up the black tones on the first three, just a tiny bit. Shot #1 looks kind of like one of the Lightroom pre-sets, like New York Style, with sort of a monochrome look over most of the frame, yet with some color allowed to remain in some areas, which I kind of like. It's not quite selective color, but it still has that funky, not-fully-RGB-color feel to it.

Granddad · Aug 10, 2015

As suggested by Derrel, I've lightened up the black tones in the 1st 2 shots, I agree that they needed it (I'll do the 3rd later as I have more work to do on that one).

Processing on #1 wasn't a preset, I painted in saturation to the sky, painted out the saturation and vibrance on the background vegetation (which was pretty blah to start with) and played around with the settings on the model. I'm getting a little daring in my old age when I work on photos that are all mine (i.e. not for someone else or for stock).

1b.

2b.

JustJazzie · Aug 10, 2015

I am loving the reflection in her glasses in the first shot. Suits the mood just right!

tirediron · Aug 10, 2015

Very nice series GD; glad to see you back, and agree with both Jazzie & Derrel's comments. GM looks like she's in good form!

Granddad · Aug 10, 2015

Thanks guys, it's nice to be back. I have thoughts to shoot SWMBO in different costumes and places... Interpret that as you wish.

JustJazzie said:
I am loving the reflection in her glasses in the first shot. Suits the mood just right!

I had to clone myself out of both lenses! After I noticed that little SNAFU I had her move her head but this was still the best shot of the batch and the others ended up in the bin.

JacaRanda · Aug 10, 2015

What a fantastic model!

Granddad · Aug 10, 2015

JacaRanda said:
What a fantastic model!

When my grandmothers were her age (64 on the 21st of this month - and not worried about who knows it) they had cauliflower hairdos, wore vintage clothing (because they got stuck fashion-wise at age 40) and the most adventurous thing they ever did was go to the village fete. She's definitely a keeper.