A Tough Afternoon, Fashion Shoot in Papuma

Among The Rocks #4. Fashion, make up and hair do by Bubah Alfian. Model: Tiara. Photo by Kristupa Saragih

It was a sunny day in Papuma, Jember, East Java. Dry season of June 15, 2011 brought a clear blue sky. It was simply great for outdoor shoot.

Finishing a full day fashion photography workshop in Jember as speaker, there was a spare time left before sunset. It was too good to be wasted. Some fellow photographers then organized an easy additional fashion shooting session in Papuma Beach. It’s a half an hour drive away from Jember to Papuma in the south.

The beach is rocky and hard windy. The hard splash could reach as high as 2-3 meters. But the sun was too friendly and too kind for photo shooting.

The Visitor #2. Fashion, make-up and hair-do by Bubah Alfian. Model: Diana. Photo by Kristupa Saragih

A local Jember fashion designer is an award-winning of Jember Fashion Carnival, Bubah Alfian. He supported the workshop previously that day with his wardrobes, make-up and hair-do. We brought him with some models along.

In tropical country, outdoor shooting is a challenge. The light changes pretty quick. Photographer needs to adjust the exposure everytime.

The Lure. Fashion, make-up and hair-do by Bubah Alfian. Model: Thalita. Photo by Kristupa Saragih

Fortunately, Bubah is a keen person with strong motivation to collaborate in photo work. The models were cooperative and easy to direct. They did not complain about anything even tough they had to climb up and down the rocks with everything on.

The lighting situation was tough, with high contrast and changes of exposure. I decided to go strobist with one flash Canon 580 EXII mounted in PocketWizard FlexTT5. It was triggered by PocketWizard MiniTT1 which was mounted on the hot-shoe of my Canon EOS 1D Mk III armed with Canon 17-40mm f/4L lens.

E-TTL compatibility of PocketWizard MiniTT1 and FlexTT5 helped a lot. In open area the exposure was either compensated +1 stop or no compensation. The flash needed to be compensated +2 to +3 stop in open area, and -3 stop in shady area. I put circular polarizing filter on to make sure the color saturation is adjusted and blue sky is darkened.

The Visitor #3. Fashion, make-up and hair-do by Bubah Alfian. Model: Diana. Photo by Kristupa Saragih

The shooting that day did not last longer than one hour. At 5 PM the sun hit the horizon which cut the contrast right away down and even lower to dark. We called it a wrap, and directly hit the seafood restaurant a few steps away from the beach for dinner.

We checked the pictures and everyone’s happy.

Among The Rocks #1. Fashion, make-up and hair-do by Bubah Alfian. Model: Tiara. Photo by Kristupa Saragih