Test Shoot – Kailyka in the Studio – part 1

People in the photography industry sometimes have to think like the people in the fashion industry: in the winter we have to think about summer and vice-versa. We had some pretty good weather here in Belgium lately but you can never count on it. Now that I have the studio I always have an alternative location available if I can’t shoot outside, so I might as well get used to shooting there.

I’m pretty much at ease on any location. I always find some nice light or an interesting background and I go from there. I have to admit that I’m finding it harder to create something in the studio. It’s not that I can’t light something or don’t know how to handle studio lights, I even think I can make an acceptable image. But I struggle to make a “Bert Stephani picture” in the studio. That’s why I decided to start doing a series of test shoots to try out new stuff. Kailyka was so kind to pose for me on this one.

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I’m not afraid of using many lights but at the same time I know I will be moving my lights a lot in function of the story, the mood and the features of the model. That’s why I decided to keep it very simple. For all these pictures I used one Elinchrom Ranger head with a medium Chimera softbox as the main light. For some of the first pictures I added a Lumopro LP 120 speedlight on low power to get some light in the background. For one picture I just putted a silver Sunbounce Mini on the floor (in the frame) to reflect some light from the main light and get me some separation between the model and the background.

More pics of this shoot soon.

Comment »


7 Responses


  1. Bertrand says:
    August 22, 2009 at 08:34 AM

    Waouw! respect! D’autant plus que la lumière doit êttre très difficile à gérer avec ce genre de modèle! MErveilleux!


  2. Antonis says:
    August 22, 2009 at 12:44 PM

    you “struggle” to make a “bert stephani” photo?! these ARE “bert stephani” photos! nice DOF and shadow blending… you inspire a lot of people, i just thought i’d mention it…


  3. Chandler says:
    August 23, 2009 at 09:27 AM

    Thanks so much for the great photographs! Have a good day!


  4. jt says:
    August 23, 2009 at 10:08 AM

    i’ve been following your work for just over a year now i guess and i agree, these don’t look like “bert stephani pictures”. but that doesn’t mean they’re not extremely well done. most notable are the first two color pics with the white top. i’m reluctant to say that it’s an improvement because i feel like that would discredit previous work. but these are quite nice. at the very least, they are just a new “style” you are capable of to access as needed.

    well done my friend. your work never ceases to please the eye.


  5. August 24, 2009 at 08:59 AM

    Thx a lot, I’m happy you like the pics.


  6. August 25, 2009 at 01:34 PM

    [...] are some more pictures about my testshoot with Kailyka (here’s part 1). For the next two pictures we moved on to what’s often referred to as “clamshell [...]


  7. dipfico says:
    August 25, 2009 at 01:50 PM

    Excellent shots!


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