About the Images

These advertising fashion photographs were shot in Milan, Italy in front of the Milan Duomo (Cathedral) at night. This part of the shoot turned out to be an experiment.

I wanted the light to be a LOT closer to Ivana but there was not an easy way to do this as I wanted to be able to see some level of details of the Cathedral in the background. As it was, I'm using a "Short" telephoto lens (85mm) but even that was not enough to get what I was looking for.

I decided for Ivana to hold a collapsed light stand, the flash head, with a 30° grid attached to the reflector, aimed to her face. Carmelo, my assistant, was holding the battery and power pack out of the frame.

She took the light stand, and Ivana being Ivana, moved with this apparatus in her hands as if she had done this dozens of times before, with her personal flair included. Having a great model that knows not only to move, but HOW to move and does so with aplomb and grace, is truly a gift to any fashion photographer.

I shot about 60 or 70 photos before changing ideas. In post production (Retouching) I retouched the stand, the flash head and cable out of the images.

See the BTS (behind the scenes) photos below.

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For Photographers

The Gear: Canon digital camera set to 1/6 of a second shutter speed, 200 ISO and a Canon 85mm lens set to f5.6. This was shot handheld, greatly increasing the chance of my moving the camera with a long shutter speed. Under “Normal” circumstances I would have used a tripod.

But in this situation, in front of and on the Piazza Duomo (Cathedral Square) tripods are not permitted by law. It is really a safety thing. On any given day you can have upwards of 500+ people on the Piazza. People trip over tripods so I understand the reasoning.

The Light: Lumedyne 200ws battery powered pack with a Lumedyne head with a 30° grid mounted onto a Sunbounce Boomstick. The pack was held by an assistant with a long head cable to allow Ivana move anywhere unrestricted.

Additionally, we also had a wide open piazza in front of Milan's cathedral using high pressure sodium lights, meaning a yellow/green light, making the post production a real challenge color wise.  

Original image:

Original image:

We are based in Los Angeles, California, Atlanta, Georgia, both in the USA, & Milan, Italy, and serve the nation and travel worldwide for projects, both video and stills. On average we travel 175 days a year from all over the USA, 48 out of 50 states, to Singapore to Japan, Europe and the Middle East. We are normally in Europe 2 or 3 times a year, mostly Italy and Germany, shooting for clients there.

If you would like to use this image, or any of my images for mock or comp use, please just ask. There is never a charge for this service. Educational use is permitted without charge, unless published, but please ask first. All commercial use is available only with a limited copyright release prior to use from the copyright holder, Steve Thornton. Thanks for looking!