First Time Model Shoot In Woodlands

I'm doing my first model portrait shoot in the woods in a week or two time during the evening (an hour or two before sunset we planned) I was wondering if people could give me some tips? I've never shot a model before, she knows I am inexperienced and no money will be exchanged. I'd like help on lighting the most. I could use off-camera flash with an umbrella as an option. How would you personally shoot this? My gear is:

Camera Bodies

Nikon D7100
Nikon D5100

Lenses

Nikon 16-85mm f/3.5-5.6G AF-S DX ED VR
Nikon AF-S 50mm f/1.8 G
Tamron SP AF 70-300 F/4-5.6 Di VC

Lighting & Lighting Accessories

Nikon SB-700 Speedlight
Lumiquest Softbox III
Aokatec A-N1 IR Panel (Allows only Infra-Red Light through from pop-up flash)
2x Lightstand with Interfit STR117 Umbrella & Hotshoe Adapter
Westcott 43-inch Umbrella (with removeable black cover)
5-in-1 42" Light Reflector

Thanks all

First you have to plan what you want to do. Then plan again. It all depends on how you want to shoot and which light you want to use. Do you want to use flash just to fill-in or as a main light? Did you visit the place where you will be shooting to find out what can be done with angles and backgrounds? The best help you'll get is the one you'll find out when you shoot. Experience can not be bought, it has to be acquired. And for that, you're in the right track.

Do a session, show us the shots and then maybe we can help for the next one.

​Best of shooting!

Yes please show us how it turned out ! I am getting the 50mm 1.8g tomorrow for my D5100

I will show you how it went. I have several options, all which I have an idea how they are achieved but never really attempted them before in this sort of situation.

- Use ambient light and have the flash for fill
- Use a reflective umbrella flash as my main and underexpose my ambient by a stop or two.
- Same as above but with a shoot-through umbrella

In all cases, having the sun behind the model would give a rim/hair light in some areas of the woods. I'd just like to know how people here would do it and why if they had my gear. Like what lens out of the 3 I own would you use and why? I am a fan of atmospheric lighting, so underexposing my background and using the flash as my main light would likely be what I do.

gohan2091 said:

I will show you how it went. I have several options, all which I have an idea how they are achieved but never really attempted them before in this sort of situation.

- Use ambient light and have the flash for fill
- Use a reflective umbrella flash as my main and underexpose my ambient by a stop or two.
- Same as above but with a shoot-through umbrella

In all cases, having the sun behind the model would give a rim/hair light in some areas of the woods. I'd just like to know how people here would do it and why if they had my gear. Like what lens out of the 3 I own would you use and why? I am a fan of atmospheric lighting, so underexposing my background and using the flash as my main light would likely be what I do.

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Well, do bring the umbrella and give it a few different settings. You should be able to find out pretty quick what works best for your taste. Just make sure you use a large enough aperture to leave the background leaves out of focus so they don't distract too much from the model. You've got to try and isolate the model and get her to be the centre of attention.

​Good luck!

So I think from what you say about the background leaves being out of focus, that rules out the 16-85mm lens and leaves me either with an open aperture 50mm 1.8 lens or the Tamron 70-300, being telephoto, it can help blur the background.

So how did the shoot go ?

The model said she is having family problems and wants to reschedule but it's been weeks and have not heard from her.

gohan2091 said:

The model said she is having family problems and wants to reschedule but it's been weeks and have not heard from her.

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Hmm time for a new model me thinks

We're rescheduling when my faulty D7100 is back from China. It had a very strange problem . I'm curious to know what went wrong with it.

Asking questions and doing research is a good thing to do. In my opinion all the information you are getting is a good but I would think the best thing you could do is just go down as soon as possible with someone and give it a dry run and see what actually works or what you might want to change to get the look you want. As already mentioned, there is no replacement for experience and getting some experience before the actual shoot could prove priceless.