Kate McDaid in Studio

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Kate paid me a visit recently to check out the progress of my new studio and also for a quick test shoot. Its great working with Kate and it was a pleasure working with her again. This is the second time shooting with Kate, who is the current Miss Irish Sun and is signed with Andrea Roche Model Agency. You can read about our first shoot together that was also published in the Irish Sun  HERE.

Kate brought along her friend Aimee Connolly, who is a talented Make-Up artist down for the trip and to look after the make-up for the day.  Aimee done a great job in creating the look that we were after, which was a natural feeling. Check out her FaceBook page in the link above.

The aim for this shoot was to get some nice simple, natural looks. Styling was kept minimal, make up was toned down and the lighting was not too fancy or dramatic (while trying out some new things). The ultimate aim being to put the emphasise on the model, Kate in this case. As Matthew Jordan Smith says, Kate’s natural beauty is the hero of the shoot, not the cloths or the make-up.

The shot on the right is my favourite from the day. I am happy once I get one great shoot from every shoot, thats what I aim for. if I get more than that, then its a bonus. I like this shot because it’s all about the expression in Kate’s face.  The expression, the moment is key. As I grow and develop my photography, I realise more that although you need to know the technical aspects of photography, you also needs to know what actually makes a good image. You could have the best lighting in the world, but if the model does not work well for you, then the image will suffer. Conversely, you may know nothing about lighting but you may take great photos of people because you can capture them at their best.

We had a pre-shoot meeting a few days before the shoot to go over ideas and to put together a shoot plan. We had a rough idea as to the looks that we wanted. Inspiration for this shoot came heavily from the work of Gilles-Marie Zimmerman and his Simply | Project. Being able to create such great images while giving the impression that the work & effort was minimal is fascinating.

Although we had inspiration, the aim was never to copy another photographers work intentionally. The idea is to use others work as a canvas and then make it your own, put your spin on it etc. It is healthy from an educational point of view to try to copy other people’s work, in order to learn new things.  You don’t necessarily have to show this “copied work” to anybody. Once you know how you created the look using the lights a certain way etc, you can then go onto creating your own images using those techniques while putting your own twist on it.

The next shot is another favourite of mine from the shoot. Again, it’s all nice and simple, but for me its the expression that make the shot.

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Thats all now for now. The studio is coming along nicely. Once its all done I will post up about it and give details on its availability for renting etc.

Kate McDaid – Miss Irish Sun 2011

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Kate McDaid is Miss Irish Sun 2011 and a model with Andrea Roche Agency. She seen my work and got in touch on FaceBook to organise a shoot. We exchange some ideas over email, met up for a coffee to finalise the details and the rest as they say is history. It was a great opportunity to work with Kate as she is the current Miss Irish Sun, there would have been a great chance to get some work published. The guys at the Sun loved the shots and they got published today (Aug 2nd 2011). This was first time getting work published, nor will it be the last. I have few bits and pieces coming out over the next week or so.

The shoot team was the same as the last few shoots. Gill Keogh was on the styling end. She knows the area around Howth and found this cool little location that we used. Tassia Fitzimons was on hair duties again. Lastly, the lovely Ann-Jean Fitzsimons was on make-up duties.

Photoshoot by Richie Buttle

With the human team members assembled, I have some new members to my camera team. These being my new Canon 1D mkIVand Pocket Wizzards. No longer will I be bloging about poverty wizards or Nikon gear, its it onwards and upwards from here on.

Testament to Canon and Pocket Wizards, I literally picked up the new camera and all the gear, drove to the shoot, put the card and batteries in and started shooting. Coming from using 1D mkIII’s from my weekend Sports & Events work with DE Photo, I was familiar with the Canon. I set it to RAW, Flash WB and set the exposure in manual mode and started shooting. For the pocket wizards (Mini TT1 & Flex5’s) I just put in the batteries, attached the appropriate PW’s and turned them on.  On the whole the PW’s worked great, but there is some little nags that I will sort out once I read the manual and master them.

Back to Kate though. Between the rain and the lack of light, we didn’t get to finish the shoot in the second location. Which was a pity because the last two looks were going to be even sexier. Keep it here though as we will be finishing off the shoot soon.

Photoshoot by Richie Buttle