Cam Damage - Many Shots in Short Shoot

Often when I shoot my tattoo portraits, I am pressed for time. 4 to 5 hours is all we get. A recent shoot with Cam Damage was a good example of how to get many different photos in 5 hours. Cam was flying out from the east coast for the shoot and a few others. She brought an escort. I decided I wanted a combo shoot of environmental and studio.

3 PM - I picked her up and we did our first shot at a bike bridge. This shot was fairly simple. I had scouted it the day before at the same time of day. I had Cam’s escort hold a Lumipro LP160 speedlight with a wireless trigger, just off camera to the right. We did several shots here, but this was my favorite in pose and light. I had a better sky the day before, but you can’t have everything.

4 PM – We arrived at the warehouse where I would set up the studio shots. I always like to start off in the studio or at an indoor location with natural light. I positioned Cam next to the window and shot this with a 85mm lens at f2.0 and ISO 800.

4:45 PM - We set up a white background and shot a couple of nudes. We turned a classic 60s ball chair on its side for this nude. I used an Alien Bees B800 with a 5’ Octobox for the key light. I handheld an LP160 over the camera lens, a la Terry Richardson, for fill and to brighten the ball. I have not posted it here to respect google mature content rules. It can be viewed on my Tumbr blog.

5:40 PM - The shot with the ripped dress, was shot with the same Ocotobox. I added a bare B800 behind Cam on the right. I like the rim light on her arm and jaw and especially in the hair. The yellow background was added in post.

6:30 PM - Next, we pulled out the grey seamless. I love shooting a black dress against the grey background. Having her kneel fills the camera frame, while getting I all her legs and the shoes. This is shot with an Alien Bees Ring Flash on camera. There is the Octobox on the right. It is mostly overpowered but adds some highlight in the hair. The other B800 is behind on the left for hair highlights. There is also a LP160 thrown on the background, which I darkened on the edges in post.

7:10 PM Finally, we added the Saarinen Womb chair. We kept her in the black dress, but I wish I had done another clothing change. Still, I think this is a luscious shot. It is just lit with the Octobox in very close. The falloff is beautiful on her arms and back. We packed up and were out by 8. Cam is an amazing model with a lot of energy and ideas. I can’t wait to work with her again.