Blue Hour Night Shoot With Kodak Portra 800
In the first image, I'm looking up towards my subject. I've positioned her leaning slightly against the handrail with her left hand and knee leaning towards the camera. This gives the impression of the importance of the subject, as well as creating a little drama with the large building in the background. When coming out to shoot with Portra 800, be sure to communicate to your model or subject how you want them to dress and style themselves so they fit in with the environment perfectly. Another way you can create variety in images is by getting your subject to move.
In this case, I got the model to move towards me. And that way you can capture something a little bit more different and give you a greater range in your portfolio that you are building. When you're out on the shoot, make sure that you know your equipment really, really well. In this case, you can see the focus come out absolutely brilliantly. I think the key thing with this is knowing how to use your equipment and knowing how to use it well.
I wasn't sure how this image was going to turn out. There was very low light here and I resorted to using off-camera flash modelling lamps to get some light on the model. This image has not been edited in post and has come out quite well, despite a slight muddy texture which fits in quite well with the feel of the shoot.
There was a slight blur in the image here, as the light was rapidly reducing. The Yashica Mat 124G only goes down to F3.5, so perhaps with a tripod and shutter release cable, this could be resolved. Even with Porta 800, it would be challenging to capture everything perfectly, and particularly on model-based shoots, time is very limited. Being prepared, but also being aware that sometimes you'll have to take risks when shooting film, will help disappointment afterwards.
Twilight had set in by the time I got around to shooting the next few images. In this unedited image, there is a strong yellow cast set by the modelling lamp. I think it works quite well with the red door in the background, the blue jeans and the white top. Think carefully about your colour palette in advance. Attention to minor details can pay dividends in outcomes.
In this set of images, you may have noticed a variety of different shots, from full body through to narrow top body shots. This was my first shoot with the Yashica Mat 124G under low light conditions with a model. Through shooting different setups, I've learned how to create some cool fashion-style shots with this twin reflex camera.
What was your favourite shot from this selection? Let me know in the comments below. How have you been getting on with Porta 800? Still not sure how to nail Porta 800? Then check the video below!