June 2020 Featured Photographer

Meet Hannah

Hannah is a WM 157B with a 188 head, but I don't like to think of her in terms of model and part numbers. To me she's just Hannah, an amazing companion and muse. She has light tan skin, which is pretty damn dark for an English Rose, but it's a great skin tone for photography. Working with her is a joy as she seems to come up with her own poses and has expressions and an attitude all of her own.

Equipment

The photos were all shot on my Canon 5D MkII, using either the 24-105mm kit lens, or a 50mm prime. I don't have any lighting equipment as such, so mostly just make use of natural light or improvise with whatever domestic light sources I have to hand.

I chose to do the kitchen and bathroom sets because these were rooms I had not shot Hannah in before and I wanted to do something a little different for CoverDoll. The rooms suggested the themes for these shoots and it was nice to have breakfast made for me for once. I was a little worried about the water and slippery surfaces for the bathroom shoot, but it went without any problems and Hannah impressed me by standing unaided for the shot where she is drying herself with the towel. Both these shoots were entirely with natural light and I made more use of the 50mm lens in these shoots to soften the backgrounds more.

The night time set was shot with a narrow aperture (f/11 or so) for sharpness and so that I could do longer exposures. The "spotlights" were created by moving a torch light around during the exposures. Luckily Hannah is great at holding her breath and her pose so we can work like this and I love the soft and ethereal shadows you can get using this technique.

Hannah & MattUK