Model Photoshoot: The Rainforest Nymph
A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to do a photoshoot with a real live Rainforest Nymph for one of my clients. It isn’t very often that you get these kinds of opportunities considering the amount of luck that you must have to actually meet a nymph in person. We were talking about ideas for an ad we were working on for the next edition of Moksi Magazine (a magazine in Suriname) when we started talking about the idea of including a rainforest nymph. With no material available, it meant that we would have to go out and shoot one. The problem was that we had a deadline that was only a week away. And you don’t just go out and find yourself a rainforest nymph and ask to take pictures of her. It doesn’t work like that. They don’t show themselves very often and so it takes time, patience and a lot of luck.
So we started preparing for the photoshoot with very little time available, talking about the location, wardrobe, makeup, etc. I gave my ideas and told the client what I needed and they basically took care of it. I love working with such clients. The photoshoot took place at Zanderij I, which is some sort of outdoor recreational resort here in Suriname. We decided that we had to arrive there very early in the morning to be able to work with the early morning light. Sadly, this meant that I had to get up at 3am in the morning to get prepared, something that I really hate doing. Somehow I actually managed to wake up at that time. Not only that, I seemed to have managed to step out of bed too, which, quite frankly, is incredible.
We arrived at the location around 7am. I had the opportunity to work with Euvie Karijoredjo again, who did the makeup, hair and styling. Euvie did a wonderful job once again, and having someone like her on the team really makes a difference. While she was busy preparing the model, I went for a stroll in the area to find some nice locations for making pictures. The view was incredible when we first arrived. The early morning sunlight and the fog created a very nice mood in the forest. I don’t have pictures of when we first arrived, but I do have some taken a bit later. Here are some snaps of the location:
Notice the fog in the air top left
If this was the view outside of my house, I'd probably enjoy waking up early
Tell me you don't feel like walking down this path?
Euvie very busy with the model
Dressing the nymph
For this shoot I used a Canon EOS 40D body (the only good DSLR Canon makes at the moment – 50D has too much noise and banding, 5D2 can’t autofocus reliably, 1D3 has various issues) with the Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM lens (which is outstanding). I also used a couple of Canon 580 EX II flashes with Canon’s wireless flash functionality using one 580 EX II on the 40D as the master. The wireless flash functionality worked surprisingly well outdoors, but I had to maintain line of sight between the master and the slaves all the time which is a bit limiting at times. Here are some test shots I took to test the lighting where you can see the position of the flashes during certain shots:
A test shot where you can see the positioning of the lighting
Another test shot with slightly different positions for the lights
"Don't mind the lights, I'm just testing something..."
Time flew during the photoshoot. We started working at around 8am and when I asked later what time it was, it was already 12 ‘o clock. We took a short break and wrapped up at around 1:30pm. I believe I took close to 1000 pictures. Not all are usable ofcourse since there was a lot of experimenting during the photoshoot and many things we tried didn’t work out as well as we thought it would. But we got what we went for and the client is very satisfied, fortunately. Here are some of the results:
Um..yeah.. the butterfly was really there... (click for larger view)
Rainforest Nymph (click for larger view)
Taking a bath (click for larger view)
And a final note: The model was incredible. Very pleasant to work with, and she was constantly posing from 7am to 12pm apparently without getting tired.
This entry was posted
on Monday, June 15th, 2009 at 10:43 pm by Karel Donk
and is filed under 
June 15th, 2009 at 11:38 pm
Great job!just wwonderfull!
June 16th, 2009 at 5:18 am
prachtig
June 16th, 2009 at 5:20 am
heel goed gedaan!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
alles was wel aanwezig om het echter te maken.
als je haar nu eens met echt mos had bedekt of zo.
June 16th, 2009 at 5:32 am
nice!
June 16th, 2009 at 6:11 am
Very good work Karel, watching the pictures it felt like i was actually out there
June 16th, 2009 at 6:19 am
Genius, excellent.
What about a photo exibition. Think about it.
June 16th, 2009 at 7:30 am
The rainforest nymph had a “great” day …. !
She was excited from the beginning of the photoshoot until the last picture was taken of her in the rainforest.
Great Work, Karel & Euvie
June 16th, 2009 at 9:38 am
‘Nature” is beautiful.
Thank you for doing this.
June 16th, 2009 at 10:31 am
Hey Karel,” My Genie”
Wow Heel prachtig ik kan constant ernaar kijken het is heel erg prachtig en adem benemend
I LUV IT
June 16th, 2009 at 11:15 am
gefeliciteerd, we zijn trots op je!
June 16th, 2009 at 12:15 pm
Thank you om mij de link te sturen..!!
Prachtige foto’s Karel… Beautiful model en fantastische foto’s. Love outdoor pictures alot. En deze zijn echt super..!!
And Euvie… great make-up like always…
)
June 16th, 2009 at 1:49 pm
Karel,
je hebt mij verrast met deze foto’s
beautiful is ons land evenals het model
June 16th, 2009 at 8:19 pm
I can hear the wind, animals….
June 17th, 2009 at 7:27 pm
Heel mooi!
Probeer de volgende keer wel een model dat uit de kleren durft te gaan, is immers veel natuurlijker en je bent met natuur toch bezig hier…
Nevertheless, keep up the good work
June 19th, 2009 at 12:16 pm
My dear photographer, I am very speechless. Fairy tales do exist ! And come true also.
The make-up artist had a very nice and pleasant day doing this shoot. The pleasure of the present. Nice work guys !!!
P.S. to Gloria , thanks for your compliment
June 20th, 2009 at 10:23 am
wow
dit is echt mooi echt natuurlijk
en je model die is ook zoo mooi gemaakt
great job ik like het echt
June 22nd, 2009 at 12:47 am
Superb!
xx
June 26th, 2009 at 6:54 am
onely the best wins. Your father
November 17th, 2009 at 10:27 am
ECHT PRACHTIG& UITSTEKEND VOORAL DIE FOTO VAN DIE MODEL EN DIE WATERLELIE. JE HEBT JE BEST ECHT GEDAAN MAN , EN HET OOK MOOIE BEWERKT!!!!!!!
February 26th, 2010 at 5:46 am
Sjonge jonge, once again…outstanding work. La mariposa en el pictura es perfecto! Echt een hele aangename toeval dat die blauwe vlinder even bij kwam kijken!
LUV IT