Mwala.

The camera club had a studio session tonight with a professional fashion photographer in attendance. It was interesting, though I didn't believe everything he said. With him setting up the lights and providing a professional model it was going to be difficult to produce a bad picture. He kept repeating that you needed to go in close and that you shouldn't be below the model, you won't win any prizes for looking up her nose; and he really did need to keep repeating it. You also get a more flattering shape to her face by looking down.

There were those that said, afterwards, that it was intimidating having all that expensive and complicated lighting gear; I found that it was the model that was intimidating, the shutter clunked, she changed pose, the shutter clunked again, the pose changed again, and so it went on; I might not have known what I was doing but she knew here job alright. I found that the lighting was too bright, minimum ISO and aperture needed (I would have narrower depth of focus), but the modelling lights in the flash units were very dim so I couldn't predict what result I was going to achieve and the auto focus was struggling as well, I had to switch it off and go manual.

By the time it was my turn there was, what I considered to be a very harsh set-up, a single spot light; I don't think it did Mwala any favours. However, I expect to see a lot of this young lady at the first competition of the season in a few weeks time; my entry will be something different, I don't believe in following the herd