Sami Milan Fox by @autobabesiMagazine – Series 1
Sami Milan Fox is our cover girl for two covers more recently, and one feature set when she was first discovered in November 2017 for Edition 72 – The Natural Sexy Edition.
Her two covers are Edition 74 – The Sexy Beach Model Edition, and Edition 78 – The Sexy Glamour Edition.
In this series of pics, some of which were part of the set for Sami’s 2019 Swimsuit Calendar, we see various moods set by lighting and exposure, plus body line direction and of course post production.
Below is a brief of how these were produced;
All shots were photographed on a Canon EOS-1DS Mark III with a 70 – 200mm lense.
Sami did her own hair and makeup and provided some swimwear. The rainbow coloured, the black and the white two piece bikini’s were supplied by Seafolly Australia which were then gifted to Sami.
Location was Sami’s choice of a Sydney North Shore Beach in the late afternoon.
Rainbow Swimsuit
In these shots, Sami was photographed away from the late afternoon sun which was still quite harsh. In the shadows, although plenty of natural light was present, both shots called for a blend of ambient and artificial light. A full sized portable studio head was used to provide artificial light with camera settings at an ISO of 100, f4 1/125s and a 70 – 200m Canon lense @ 135mm zoom level.
Blue Swimsuit
In these shots, the different moods are set by lighting defined on location, as well as in post production where the highlights were drawn out a little further than were naturally available at the time of shooting. Sami was directed and coached for body line with the background also in consideration. Artificial light was blended for highlight only. To blend the artificial and ambient light, a setting of ISO 800 was initially used as it was much darker in this location, as well f6.7 1/125s and 93mm zoom on the 70 – 200mm Canon lens. ISO later dropped to 320 as the sun shifted.
Swimsuit supplied by Sami.
Black Swimsuit 1
With lighting quite dark further behind the cliff rock, the light head needed to be a little stronger to provide highlight and slightly un-natural fill lighting. A soft sea mist was an added feature that was good to capture for effect and a touch of natural softening to the photo. The ISO was set to a standard 100, however the artistic shadow and effect was produced by setting an f-stop of 5.6. Aperture speed remains 1/125 seconds and the Zoom level is at 100mm.
Black Swimsuit 2
A slight position change didn’t make any natural lighting difference as the location was still behind the dark cliff rock edge, however it did provide a different hue of light being more in the open. ISO remains 100, f5.6 and 1/125s with 100mm Zoom.
Bikini was provided by Seafolly which was gifted to Sami after the shoot.
White Bikini
Here we saw a light shift from a darker spot behind the cliff edge, to direct sun light closer to the beach. The variance was easily managed by ISO moving from ISO 160 to 240 in the brighter shots. Bodyline was left to Sami however consideration was still the background fadeout to capture the northern heads of the beach. When the open ocean was in background, the frame was cropped tight around Sami to compensate for lack of background interest. Camera settings were f6.7 1/180s and 144mm Zoom on the 70-200mm lense.
Swimsuit is by Seafolly which was gifted to Sami after the shoot.
Orange Swimsuit
The sun was still quite high and harsh on the western side of the cliff edge even an hour later. However the slight setting angle did produce some nice hues in the shallow cliff cave. Sami was asked to move into the cave however a spider’s web and slight water drips from the rocks did provide a challenge. With some coaching, relocating the spider and changing position to avoid most of the drips, the problem was resolved and comfort returned. The light head was set a little higher but further back to allow more ambient light to enter the photo. The idea was to create shadow so that the photo appeared more natural and less processed. Highlights and Tone were adjusted in post production later. ISO remains at 160, with f6.7 speed at a comfortable 1/125s and Zoom at the bottom threshold of 70mm.
Swimsuit provided by Sami.
Tiger Print Swimsuit in Cave
Whilst still in the cave and navigating spider webs and underground water drips, the light shifted with a further set of the sun and became a little darker. In order to maintain the mood, a setting of f4.5 was used rather than 5.6. This produced a softer blur behind Sami and allowed more light to enter. Speed remains 1/125s with a Zoom of 100 mm.
Body line directing also made these slightly different to previous set and added to a change in mood.
Swimsuit was provided by Sami who wore this for a later set in the park.
Tiger Print in Sun
By now the sun had set a little further and although still harsh, it was possible to get shots in direct sunlight. The light head was retired for an onboard flash at this point, as only a fill in was required to cover some unwanted shadow and set consistency. With the sun so bright, artificial light could never over power the shot, but the onboard did provide the assistance required. ISO is at the lowest setting of 100, f6.7 and speed 1/180s to limit light entering the aperture a little more. Zoom is 81mm
Tiger Print in Park
Starting at the steps, moving to the palm tree and finally at the tree on cliff edge, the idea was to maintain as natural an ambient light as possible. Some highlights were added later for artistic effect, however a low set onboard flash provided fill-in only where the natural light cast a shadow or didn’t reach. At the darkest spot, surrounded by trees, the ISO was at 320, f4, 1/125s & 135 mm.
If you’re an aspiring photographer or a model, wanting to move to next level and requires coaching and mentoring, or if you would like to know more about how the photos were produced and directed, pls send email to mentor@autobabes.com.au
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