Saturday I met with my daughter Emily – aka “Suzi Uzi” of the Red Dirt Rebellion banked track roller derby team – to photograph one of their skaters for their upcoming event flyer. We normally like to do a new photo for each event. We met at Java Dave’s coffee shop in downtown Oklahoma City with Audra Laughlin, who has been a roller girl since October 2009. Because of the nice weather rode my BMW R1200GSA motorcycle for the shoot. I have figured out a photo kit consisting of cameras, lenses and lighting equipment that I can carry on my bike and normally come away with a pretty decent photo whever we go. I had 4 speedlights, umbrellas, two mini light stands, some light clamps, my D3, a few prime lenses, an SU-800 to trigger my lights, plus a small video camera and audio equipment. (Hopefully soon I can upgrade to a D3S and leave the video camera at home.)
While Emily and Audra prepared for the shoot, I jumped on my bike and rode around downtown OKC looking for a suitable venue. I am quite familiar with the back alleys of downtown OKC and wanted to find something a bit different, gritty and new where I had not shot before. I came across a tiny cubbyhole just a couple of blocks from Java Dave’s. We had to pass single file through a tight corridor and had no room for extensive lighting equipment. I just mounted an SB-900 to a lightstand and bungy-corded it to an electrical conduit. We shot bare head since I wanted a hard edged feel to the picture and besides, an umbrella wouldn’t even fit. Our cubbyhole was only about 4 feet wide by 25′ deep. Emily stood behind me and gave some posing ideas to Audra, who had never modeled before. Emily wanted a tough, gritty look for the flyer, which I think Audra pulled of quite well.
Later Emily and Audra came to my studio to process the pictures and for Emily to create the event poster. While waiting on Emily, I asked Audra if she wanted to snap a few pictures on white seemless. She jumped at the chance. I took a few minutes to switch things around from shooting motorcycles to shooting a pretty girl, and in about 30 minutes we had a dozen fun shots on white. Audra was just a load of fun and had a great look even though she had never modeled before. I love her red hair. It really stands out and adds a new dimension to the photos. Audra said she had a great time, Emily created a cool poster and I found a new model I can use for future shoots. I am already thinking of some new pictures we can do with that lovely red hair!
Below is the event poster. Emily did a little different processing on the image than I normally do. I love her work however!
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