Studio Shooting with Nikon D4 , 85mm 1.4G and a two strobe setup with 7' umbrella

Was in the studio on Sunday to shoot a couple of models, one more boudoir and the other more catalog fashion style. These were with the Nikon D4, 85mm 1.4G or 50mm 1.4G, and two Calumet strobes, one with a 4' umbrella and the other with a 7' umbrella, so a two light setup.

First the catalog style....











And the boudoir style...

Just out of interest why did you use the D4 over your D800 or D7000? I own the 7000 but never used a D4 or D800 so not really sure what benefits it might offer.

I really hope you take this as constructive and not offensive, but have you done any PP on the catalog style shots? The reason I ask is that it looks like the metering/flash was not set up to bring out the details in her clothing, which I'm assuming would be the product in this catalog style shoot (after all, you're not selling the girl right?....) The top looks black above, but put it in an image editor and crank up the exposure around the top and it turns navy blue with an interesting weave/texture to it that really adds nicely to the picture you've created. Then take off the red colour-cast with a curves change on the red channel to turn the pinkish walls white or even 'cold' (slight blue) to match her clothes of a big warm blue jumper that she wears.

I won't post a pic as I can see you've choosen to not let people edit your pictures, but the details I describe above are certainly there, even taking a screenshot and editing them reveals this amazing amount of details in her black clothes that it makes you want to hug her warm cozzy top.

Your choice in location is amazing, I hope you have good access to that place as it could provide you with so many options for shooting different styles, the windows look interesting and could be used at various times of day to add different styles and techniques. You could maybe adding a white sheet over some to defuse light if you wanted software ambient light.

No worries, I know what you mean. These were raw files and yes there is a ton more detail than what is being seen. I could bump up the shadow detail a bit more yes, and part of it is how this website transforms the images after being uploaded. But I'll post a couple of the shots with the suggestions you mention, thanks!

Yes the space is accessible by a pro photographer friend of mine 24/7, and yes it is actually a huge interior conference space adjoining a studio rented by my friend. The light from outside was actually a lot brighter than it looks, which is why I was shooting faster shutter speeds to get more contribution from the two strobes.

So, why the D4? Well I've used the D800 previously on my other shoots and love it, and just wanted to see how the D4 performs in that studio setting and I was pleasantly pleased with the files and the resolution at 100 ISO. I'm so used to the D800 images being "more than perfect" insofar as resolution and detail in shadow areas. But after I got the D4, I noticed right away on the back LCD screen the images had a different quality to them that is hard to describe. It is almost like looking at an image taken with film. It isn't perfectly super resolved, but it has a nice tonal quality to it that is different from the D800. Also, if I tested the D4 and D800 side-by-side, the D4 always had significantly brighter images at the same settings (ISO, aperture, shutter speed, same lens) so I could get away with faster shutter speeds or smaller apertures, and with that, I can better overpower ambient light with the strobes. So it was basically a test of how well could the D4 manage in a setting that really belongs to the D800?

Other than the details of the clothing already mentioned, I'm loving the first set of shots! Very cool my friend!

Here are samples keeping in mind Dukatum's comments using different Lightroom adjustments.