Say Hello to ... Yulia

[Colin Southern]

I had the privilage of international singing star Yulia MacLean with me in the studio most of the day. We shot a LOT of frames, and I quickly discovered that she's a real "chimper" (one who likes to look at the TV/Monitor to see what the last shot looks like) - so here's a shot of her looking at a shot of her

She's a real trooper - despite feeling exhaused from here concert here the previous night - missing a few hours sleep - and looking after her 3 month old son, she still gave the shoot everything she had. She really is as nice a person on the inside as she looks on the outside -- and we both had a lot of fun shooting throughout the day.



PS: Shameless plug -> www.yulia.co.nz

[rob marshall]

Nice structural composition, Colin. Some very solid triangle shapes that give it a nice balanced feel. Hope you don't mind me drawing all over her. The colours are good, too. The whole thing looks very fresh and alert with lots of verve. I love verve.

So, she can sing better than me. That can't be right, surely?

[Colin Southern]

Hi Rob,

Thanks for the kind words

Oh yes -- the girl can sing! She won a European song contest this year, and early next year is recording at Abby Road and doing a show for PBS. Not sure what your singing is like, but generally speaking, mine can clear a room faster than a fire alarm ...

[Squidgy]

Beautiful!!! What a wonderful photograph Colin.

[wilgk]

Ok let's dispense with the wonderful singing, the stellar photography & talk about the dress! It looks stunning - may we see any full length of it?

P.s Guess who really is speaking to you here? - yes indeed miss Fashionista ... Again

[rob marshall]

Ok let's dispense with the wonderful singing, the stellar photography & talk about the dress! It looks stunning - may we see any full length of it?

You forgot to mention the shoes!

[speedneeder]

Wow, she is really nice looking
Rob, I LOL'd at your comments on structure
Colin, I've seen that white table before - is that just an upside down fluorescent light fixture, or .... what?

[Colin Southern]

Beautiful!!! What a wonderful photograph Colin.

Thanks Nigel - can't take all the credit though ... having a stunning celebrity as a model helps a little too!

[Colin Southern]

Ok let's dispense with the wonderful singing, the stellar photography & talk about the dress! It looks stunning - may we see any full length of it?

P.s Guess who really is speaking to you here? - yes indeed miss Fashionista ... Again

Hi Fashionista,

Your Mum asked me to eMail her photos of all the dresses, and she's going to buy them all for you for Christmas (but it's a secret, so don't tell!).

Here's a full-length photo for you (sorry Rob, no shoes!)



PS: Not sure specifically how much they cost, but they were all in the $150 -> $275 range (I think this one was at the high end of that).

[Colin Southern]

Colin, I've seen that white table before - is that just an upside down fluorescent light fixture, or .... what?

Hi Brian,

It's a light table that I designed and built. Basically a wooden frame with 10mm translucent acrylic on top, and I whack a large softbox on a studio head - whack the head on a boom arm - and then position it pointing upwards underneath. It gives a beautiful under-lighting, which is then balanced with a fill light and a hair light (and in this case 2 more back lights) - so 5x 1200WS lights used on that shot (shot at F20 off memory -- as you can see, the diffraction totally ruined the shot ()

Biggest problem with it is that the light coming through is very bright (at minimum setting) (about F18) - and you have to balance it with a very bright fill light. At least DoF isn't an issue!

[speedneeder]

I can honestly say, I have neve tried to shoot a person at f20!
Now I see why!

[Colin Southern]

I can honestly say, I have neve tried to shoot a person at f20!
Now I see why!

You won't need F20 with speedlights

Seriously, many don't think of this, but unless you start applying ND gels to selected strobes, then often the basic setup is oriented around the minimum power output that the strobes will do, because everythig else is relative to that (sometimes you can move a light away, but that can create problems with light contamination).

[rob marshall]

It's a light table that I designed and built. Basically a wooden frame with 10mm translucent acrylic on top... biggest problem with it is that the light coming through is very bright (at minimum setting) (about F18) - and you have to balance it with a very bright fill light. At least DoF isn't an issue!

I use that stuff. It's very good. Mine is too bright as well, but I find using two pieces sandwiched together does the trick. You can also get different thickness material.

[Sahil]

She has a 3 months old son!!!!
She is a stunning lady & you have taken great images, as always, Colin. Thanks for the information about the table. But it kinda went over my head. I haven't tried strobes etc as yet, so don't know how they behave, practically.
Also, I like he seamless background in her full length picture.

[wilgk]

Hi Fashionista,

Your Mum asked me to eMail her photos of all the dresses, and she's going to buy them all for you for Christmas (but it's a secret, so don't tell!).

Here's a full-length photo for you (sorry Rob, no shoes!)



PS: Not sure specifically how much they cost, but they were all in the $150 -> $275 range (I think this one was at the high end of that).

Thankyou - I'll buy her 2 if it stops the Tattoo or 2!

[Colin Southern]

I use that stuff. It's very good. Mine is too bright as well, but I find using two pieces sandwiched together does the trick. You can also get different thickness material.

Thanks Rob,

I ran with 10mm because we felt that was the best strength without going overboard (having babies fall through - getting lacerations, burns, and then electrocuted can cause a LOT of damage to the equipment.

Anything thicker would just have been more expensive (I think is was about $200 as it was). I've got some ND gel that I could try, but to be honest, it's not a big deal as the lights can handle it quite easily.

[Colin Southern]

She has a 3 months old son!!!!
She is a stunning lady & you have taken great images, as always, Colin. Thanks for the information about the table. But it kinda went over my head. I haven't tried strobes etc as yet, so don't know how they behave, practically.
Also, I like he seamless background in her full length picture.

Thanks Sahil,

Yeah - the baby is the real star of the show

Yes, she's a stunning lady, inside and out - and absolutely insanely talented.

[Colin Southern]

Thankyou - I'll buy her 2 if it stops the Tattoo or 2!

I've told my daughter that if she gets tats or additional piercings then I'm writing her out of my will!

[Melkus]

Had to do a Google search to see who she was and now I know. Great job on the photos

[Colin Southern]

Had to do a Google search to see who she was and now I know. Great job on the photos

Thanks Paul

Some of her albums are available on iTunes if you want to treat yourself to a power-house vocal performance.