LINCEY PLAYS THE GAME - A PORTRAIT

Life is full of surprises and I’ve been lucky to meet Lincey, a young woman deep into Japan culture and Ambassador for the Kimono.Obi brand a while ago. It didn’t take long for both of us to decide to plan a photo shoot.

Lincey knew quiet precisely what she wanted to do, while at the same time remained open to suggestions and recommandations. We had to find some props, mainly some Katana’s and Asian swords and weapons.
She sent me some make up ideas that I forwarded to Mélanie Etchart, the make-up artist for the shoot, and Mélanie was very enthusiast right away which helps a lot when you work for 5+ hours on a model.

The smoke machine was once again working full power !

Smoke and haze adds so much to this kind of images, it is a tool every photographer should have especially since it’s dirt cheap on Amazon.
You need a proper ventilation for your studio and remember to ask your models / MUA or any person presents on the set if they have some problem with smoke. I use some organic liquid which is supposed to be 100% free of allergens but it’s better to ask.

We started pretty slowly, time is often an enemy when shooting in studio, but the mood was perfect and the first serie has been a good start, and Lincey went from anxious to confident a few images down the line.

Costume change equal light change

When Lincey changed her outfit for a darker kimono, the complete lighting changes as well. Time to adjust position and power settings on each lights.
For this serie of portrait I used a 3 strobes light setup, a Godox SK400 with gels for the smoke lighting, The main light comes from another SK400 with a 24” softbox, and an Godox AD200 on a smaller softbox for the fill light.
All lights being controlled by the Godox X-Pro remote for Fuji System. Works great with very few miss flashing.

Quick Tip!

Even if TTL works pretty well with the FUji / godox combo, i prefer to use manual flash exposure. I can set a few test shot in ttl then I move on to manual, this gives me more consistent lighting and more control and precision.

kimono.obi

When we did the photo session, Lincey was not yet a KIMONO.OBI ambassador (the good news actually arrived 2 days after the shoot!), but we took the opportunity to get some shots from some great Kimono she brought with her that day.

The super man woman

As time goes by, usually fatigue comes into play and it’s difficult for models to keep their fresh look and dynamism… That was obviously not the case for Lincey as she was feeling more confident throughout the day. This last outfit provided some amazing images, some of my favorite from that shoot.

MUA Mélanie Etchart, did a terrific job on that set and while being very creative she also knows a how to work with lights and skins !

The shoot has been smooth, the connection between the model, the MUA and myself has been instant and the vibe remains positive and full of energy all along.
I’ve had the time, on the very last minutes of the session, to ask Lincey for some more intimate Low-Key shots, and while theses are not ready yet I look forward to show you another aspect of Lincey soon.

many thanks to all people involved.

feat. Make-Up Artist Mélanie Etchart.
Follow @Linceyk on Instagram.
Check KIMONO.OBI on instagram for their list of great asian looking outfit.