Another model for another background? Ah yes, tis true!

Richard Charpentier Arizona, Ghost Towns, Photographing Arizona, Photography, Portrait Work, Prescott, RLC Design Leave a Comment

Over the weekend I officially met “Maddy”.  Locals might know her from the Haunted Prescott Tours that she puts on each week.  If you’re not local…..well, next time you come to town you can meet her on a tour!  Hey, ghost towns are a favorite of mine, so why not haunted tours as well.

In speaking with her and my friend Amanda it struck me.  She’d be perfect for another one of the backgrounds I’d made weeks ago.  And given that she runs the Haunted Prescott tour….well, it added fuel to an idea.  🙂

So, without further typing……

Ah, in studio. I need more space

Topaz Remask rules. Great mask to be sure. I botched it on the shoes, but didn't matter, didn't need em!

Now the ethereal ghostly Maddy in studio.

Once again, Remask rocked it

The shots with the real backgrounds were done in studio.  Possibly the smallest studio in the world.  But it’s mine.  🙂  I used my Lastolite ChromaKey background with a gray trane to shoot on.  We didn’t need a big scene.  Just our model on something I could easily work with afterward to mask.  And the background worked out super for what I needed.

Both images were masked with Topaz ReMask.  Great tool.  I use it, OnOne’s Mask Pro, and the quick select tool in Photoshop often.  Today I decided just to use Topaz strictly since I had done one of their webinars just last week.  🙂  Thanks for the cool webinar guys!

So, the concept after talking with Maddy for the first time?  Simple.  I wanted her to meet her ghostly self while on tour.  And for some reason I thought they could meet up behind Bashford Court.  Don’t ask me why, it’s just the idea that popped into my head.

In talking with her today I’ve got a few more ideas, and hopefully she’ll be interested in one or two.

Okay, I’ll stop typing and show you what’s next……..

Remember this image from the other week?

 

The not so final Final Product

Of course, as always on this website, the image isn’t done.  This is my concept mock up for the moment.  I kept playing around with it.  One thought?  Maybe just have the ghostly version of her.  Maybe I should desaturate her ghostly self.  Maybe I went too far on the foggy glow.  Possibly the smokey wisps are over the top.  Yeah, there’s a lot to think about with this one.  The one thing I do know?  I love the concept, especially given what she does.  One of these days I’ve got to come along and see if I see any ghosts.

Finally, if you want to get a clue on how small of a space I work with for these shoots….check this out……

This image was shot with my IPhone.  Off to the right?  My TetherTable complete with Macbook Pro, 5D MarkII, some black foam core, one small lastolite softbox…..  you get the idea!  The fun with the TetherTable?  Yeah, the model got to see in real time what we were getting as we shot.  She was only a few feet away, so with each pop of the strobes we could look over together to see what looked good, and what hit the recycle bin!  😉  One of these days I’ve gotta get my hands on a JerkStopper from TetherTools.  Yanked the USB cord out twice while shooting, no gear was harmed!

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