July 2014 - Zhi Lee Photography

Vulnerable Angel – Katrina McCloy

July 25, 2014July 25, 2014
by Zhi Lee

After our main dark angel shoot, we took to a darker more shaded part of the forest and did some magic with just 1 large 80cm x 120cm softbox. To get a nice reflection on the angel wings, we bright the softbox right in close. A few branches and twigs were cloned out to declutter the image but as much was left in as needed to set the forest scene.

In this image I asked Katrina to get into character and portray a sense of vulnerability, gently holding her wings so she would be elegantly covered. Katrina was a great sport – it was probably about 10 degrees at that time of day. I wouldn’t want to be out in the open unclothed in those conditions!

Model: Katrina McCloy Makeup and Hair: Lisa Robb Photographer: Zhi Lee — Model: Katrina McCloy
Makeup and Hair: Lisa Robb
Photographer: Zhi Lee
Canon 6D, 24-105mm f/4 L, f/8 @ 1/125s, 80mm

Aperture: ƒ/8
Camera: Canon EOS 6D
Focal length: 80mm
ISO: 100
Shutter speed: 1/125s

Related Images:

Creative

Hot Angel Photo Shoot – Lighting setups explained

July 22, 2014
by Zhi Lee

A little behind the scenes and explanation of our lighting setup for those wondering how it came together!

A 80cm x 120cm strobe with blue cellophane in front of the outer baffle, prepped cautiously on a ladder on top of the pergola. This gives off a blueish light, perfect for the night lighting we wanted to create. We wanted to create a rim light coming from high above slightly from the back. This would create an angelic effect around the model as if the light were from the heavens.

Testing the top lighting — Here’s the effect of the blue rim light from above the pergola. And our very charming and talented pyrotechnics man Vijay, without whom none of this would have been possible.

Setting up the source of fire — We ripped the top off a garden citronella oil burner which you can get from your local hardware store for about $5. It was perched on top of a ceramic pot. A funnel filled with fine cornflour (the cornflour was passed through a sieve to make it very fine) was placed against the base of the fire pointing upwards.

Dark Angel Photo Shoot - Lighting Setup Take 1 — This was one of our first takes with the lighting and photo setup. Looking good, Sean.

Dark Angel Lighting Setup — Now we decided, we wanted a bit of red in the flames to add a bit of heat and interest. This would also mask the parts of the cornflour dust cloud that hadn’t burned (shutter pressed too early) or had already burned (shutter pressed too late). The WHITE cornflour would be given a RED tint. A speedlight with a red gel was placed at the base of the flame pointing upwards.

Dark angel photo shoot - Behind the scenes with model Katrina McCloy — Shooting through the flames, we managed to create the effect that the angels were actually burning. Model: Katrina McCloy

Dark angel BTS with Katrina McCloy — An outdoor shoot doesn’t come without challenges. Not only was our gear splattered with mud, so were our models feet! Model Katrina McCloy being a great sport!

The Final Images

Model: Alisha Fitzpatrick Makeup and Hair: Lisa Robb Photographer: Zhi Lee — Model: Alisha Fitzpatrick
Makeup and Hair: Lisa Robb
Photographer: Zhi Lee

Creative Portrait lit with Fire and Red Flash Against a Black Backdrop. By Zhi Lee — Yours Truly, Your Creative Man Zhi Lee

Aperture: ƒ/5.6
Camera: Canon EOS 6D
Focal length: 32mm
ISO: 100
Shutter speed: 1/100s

Creative

Angel Fallen From the Heavens

July 14, 2014July 14, 2014
by Zhi Lee

Forsaken, banished, forlorn, the dark angel gazes into the heavens, angry but repentant.

This image was lit with a blue softbox above and behind the model, making it seem like lighting from the heavens. A red gel was added for slight accents to add to the surrealness in working with the fantasy theme.

The fire is real, created by dousing rags in alcohol and setting them alight on a wet leaf litter.

Canon 6D, 24-105mm @ f 4.5, 1/125s/ 45mm. Model: Alisha Fitzpatrick Makeup: Lisa Robb Photographer: Zhi Lee Pyrotechnics: Vijay Prema

Aperture: ƒ/4.5
Camera: Canon EOS 6D
Focal length: 45mm
ISO: 100
Shutter speed: 1/125s

Creative

Fallen Dark Angel in Forest Creative Shoot – Katrina…

July 9, 2014July 10, 2014
by Zhi Lee

Katrina and I have worked together a few times, once on a body painting project and another in a life art workshop. You might recognize her from these other creative portraits!

Lisa Robb and I tossed around ideas for the makeup and this is what she came up with. Sequins were used to add elegance to that dark theme we were working with.

This is the first image we’re releasing from our Dark Angel shoot.

In order to block out as much of the forest background as possible, we lit Katrina with a 300W Visico strobe + 120cm x 80cm softbox from the left with a small reflector on the right for fill, in a shaded area of the forest during the day. As we were working in a very tight space in the forest, we used a wide focal length of 28mm, which allowed us to get in close to the branches. There were actually so many branches in the way and what you don’t see in the picture is Lisa holding back a bunch of branches in one hand, with a reflector in the other.

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Creative

Fallen Dark Angel Fantasy Shoot with Fire – Behind-the-Scenes…

July 7, 2014
by Zhi Lee

A Creative Collaboration with:

Models Katrina McCloy Alisha Fitzpatrick Vijay Prema
Makeup by Lisa
Hosted by Evoke Studio

Pyrotechnics by Vijay Prema
BTS Videography by Vijay Prema and Vincent Chik
BTS Stills and logistics by Don Chin and Vincent Chik

Model: Katrina McCloy Makeup: Lisa Robb Photographer: Zhi Lee Photography @__zhi — Model: Katrina McCloy
Makeup: Lisa Robb
Photographer: Zhi Lee Photography @__zhi BTS Image: Sean Dick

One day I was sick at home and watching BTS videos of other photographers. Then I came across Benjamin Von Wong’s fire shoot. For awhile now I have been wanting to do something collaborative with a few like minded people. I started thinking of a dark theme that would complement fire in the foreground or background. One thing led to another and I settled on a fallen dark angel theme in a forest location.

BTS Videographer: Vijay Prema Photographer: Zhi Lee Photography @__zhi — BTS Videographer: Vijay Prema
Photographer: Zhi Lee Photography @__zhi

The shoot required a lot of planning, reaching out to models and a makeup artist who understood the theme, illustrating the ideas by posting similar samples of other people’s work, searching for the right angel wings to buy, seeking out a suitable forest location that was secluded enough for privacy yet easily accessible, and practising generating and shooting fire. Vijay and I completely thrashed my garage with cornflour and for days it smelt like a bakery from the residue of firestarters and cornflour dust.

Model: Alisha Fitzpatrick Makeup: Lisa Robb Photographer: Zhi Lee Photography @__zhi — Model: Alisha Fitzpatrick
Makeup: Lisa Robb
Photographer: Zhi Lee Photography @__zhi

We experimented with different setups and came to the conclusion that a long lens had to be used to compress the background and make the fire seem bigger as we couldn’t really generate a huge fire.

Creating the fire effects required for the levitation scene.

We’ll be posting more images as our edits come through. But for now it’s time to get the gear thoroughly cleaned out. I learned that softboxes don’t travel well through bush.

Aperture: ƒ/4
Camera: Canon EOS 6D
Focal length: 105mm
ISO: 400
Shutter speed: 1/125s