Forest photoshoot

This was one fun shoot. There's much to say about the gorgeous Einav, but you'll see enough of her after the break. What I've really learned from this session is how much fun and value you can get from doing a "model test".

This isn't what you're thinking of: a studio session in black and white where the model is wearing jeans and a tank top. It could be... but there's much more to the "test" than that. Somewhere between the fashion shoot, the portrait session and the editorial style shoot there's this weird encounter where model and photographer have sort of a job interview.

The photographer gets to see what this new model knows, what her good sides are, what expressions she can pull off and what poses she can handle. The model gets to know the photographer, too. What he can do, if she can count on him to be professional, and to supply the final image. Most of all, the shoot isn't bound by the need to get all the sets done, or by wanting to get all angles of a location or concept.

Arachnophobia

It is spider season in Weizmann institute. All the shrubs on the side of the roads are spotted with patches of spiderwebs.

Naturally I got a tripod and a macro lens one day.

This shot of one not-so-shy spider (most of them ran away when I got this close - making me think how important working distance is for macro work) is actually a composite of two images with slightly different focus plane. At these distances it was impossible to get everything in focus without compromising sharpness.

So instead of compromising, I prefer compositing.

Below are some more shots of different spiders along the way.