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An athlete’s outdoor portrait photoshoot

behind the scenes feat. Antoinette Djimou

We are in Montpellier, wishing we could shoot really early in the morning with beautiful soft light. But no, this would be too easy. Past 10 am the light becomes gradually harsher, harder to work with and I won't even talk about the direction of the light because as we get closer to 12 o'clock the sun is basically too high.

But life ain't fun when it's too easy. We didn't have much time, I was working all alone without any strobes this time and a few outfits to shoot. For this new behind-the-scenes video, I decided to apply all the things (almost) I shared in my latest video.



These simple basic tips will give you a solid base to work on, an efficient way to quickly pose your models and stage your shots. It is basically the type of situation I handle on a regular basis. Tight budgets, shooting during the day, little to no time to set up my shots, and yet you've got to produce a dozen + pictures ranging from action shots to portraits.

For an editorial, a portrait, an interview in a magazine I almost never have a comfortable budget and assistants with me... hope this situation will change someday or is this where this business is heading? is this the end? I hope not!



Let's not waste your time, here are a selection of images from this fun session with Double European champion Athlete Antoinette Djimou (Heptathlon and Pentathlon):

Antoinette Djimou (Montpellier - France) Fujifilm GFX50s GF 32-64mm f4 R LM WR 1/1000s f4 ISO100 at 64mm


Antoinette Djimou (Montpellier - France) Fujifilm GFX50s GF 110mm F2 R WR 1/3200s f2 ISO100 at 110mm


Antoinette Djimou (Montpellier - France) Fujifilm GFX50s GF 32-64mm f4 R LM WR 1/1250s f4 ISO100 at 64mm


Antoinette Djimou (Montpellier - France) Fujifilm GFX50s GF 32-64mm f4 R LM WR 1/1250s f4 ISO100 at 55mm



Antoinette Djimou (Montpellier - France) Fujifilm GFX50s GF 32-64mm f4 R LM WR 1/640s f9 ISO200 at 55mm



Antoinette Djimou (Montpellier - France) Fujifilm GFX50s GF 32-64mm f4 R LM WR 1/1250s f7.1 ISO200 at 36mm


I gave my thoughts on this camera a few weeks back, and although it has a few flaws, it suits my style and workflow. Plus, 50 megapixels is not a luxury when clients sometimes ask you to crop your images!


I know some of you have been missing my flash/ strobes tutorial/ behind the scenes, and I've received your requests on more Photoshop videos. Do not worry, it's coming!

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