I have been wanting to do a shoot that replicated the classic hollywood portraits of the 50's and 60's so when I had the opportunity to photograph Laura at Shutterworks Studio in Southampton I jumped at the chance.

Shutterwork is a great little studio with plenty of lights, modifiers, backdrops and props. Scott who runs the studio is a great guy and is on hand to assist with modifier changes etc if required.

I started out using just a single strobe through a beauty dish that had a honey comb grill on the front. The reason for the gril was to reduce the spread of light from the dish increasing the fall off to darken the background. Pre-shoot conversations with Laura had given her an idea of the look I was after and she arrived with a number of outfit to suit the shoot style.

This shot Shot used the beauty dish almost directly in front of the model.
Canon 5D mk3, Sigma 85mm f1.4 lens. 1/160s @ f7.1 ISO100 Classic beautyShot using a single beauty dish almost directly in front of the model. Canon 5D mk3, Sigma 85mm f1.4 lens. 1/160s @ f7.1 ISO100

Canon 5D mk3, Sigma 85mm f1.4 lens. 1/160s @ f7.1 ISO100

Scot has a lovely chaise lounge and Laura took direction well in creating a classic reclined pose.

EleganceAgain using the beauty dish you can see how the honey comb grid makes the light fall off very quickly. Canon 5D mk3, Sigma 85mm f1.4 lens. 1/160s @ f5.6 ISO100

I the changed to modifier to a large Octabox and directed Laura to give me a more vulnerable look The result below looked fantastic in B&W so I have reproduced it below. I especially like the juxtaposition between the delicate look of Laura and the chunky boots and necklace.

Stunning Black and WhiteLove the look of B&W. Canon 5D mk3, Canon 5omm f1.2 lens. 1/100s @ f13 ISO400

The 4 hour session just flew by and thanks again to Laura and Scott at Shutterworks Studio

Links;

https://purpleport.com/portfolio/laurabetton/
http://shutterworksstudio.bigcartel.com/