I hope for your sake it isn't windy.

Imo a soft box is a very primitive thing, just get the cheapest you can.

Ended up getting a cheap softbox umbrella off ebay (from a recommendation of a guy off ocuk, who has some great shots), seems to work well and was relatively inexpensive, all im thinking now is maybe popping over llandudno tomorrow morning and getting a 5 in 1 reflector, as mat made a good comment about fill light and im really trying to concentrate on correct lighting with these shots.....now this 5 in 1 reflector has a gold layer, but if I cannot make it, a large piece of white cardboard from whsmith would reflect soft light in the same way I assume? (well to a white reflector obviously), I know gold is ideal on a beach but id obviously need to get a proper reflector for that.

what think ? large white card if I don't make it in time to llandudno ?

Yup white card would be fine. The model may be able to hold it it you go for head shots

well just got back, went ok, off cam flash stopped workin after 2 shots so made do with a reflector and on cam 550ex flash, tried lots of different lighting and style approaches, will post up a couple in abit. Really difficullt lighting, glaring annoyingly positioned sun mostly, Steph was brave though, fookin freezing cold in lingerie! berlimey

Conditions sound really harsh, is there some sort of urgency for her to get those shots done or something?

Not urgent, we made do with what we had, and plan to go back when its warmer ! lol

Did seem a bit of a crazy plan!

As long as you made the best of the time you had, thats the main thing. thinking on your feet when you have a problem is a good sign. Good thing you took a reflector with you

Look forward to seeing them. Do you want good and bad comments? I sometime get carried away with neagtives in photos these days, just giving my thoughts on them. Just warning you!

Haha well here are some, the 1st one ironically is the end of the shoot, but thought it would make a pleasing landscape shot, still pondering what to do with the full body lingerie shots. There mostly playing with the light to try and do different things/understand it better. And don't worry waddy just say the good and the bad points ill remember them both and improve the bad and continue the good parts

Nice dude, really nice. I'd love to do that sort of photography myself (as you no doubt know).

Nice look to all of those photo's, the first and second seem the most successful to me, I like them a lot. It's a shame the lighting busted so soon as it'd have been interesting to see where you went with it.

What lets the third shot down for me is the light on her face - too harsh on one side and too little on the other, with a nasty transition.

Kudos to Steph for getting down to lingere in this weather (been out today myself and turned back for an extra jacket: I shit you not). However, that shot is by far the weakest for me; it's the pose and facial expression that kills it. Like I say though, had it been me my face would look like I was about to murder you and my pose would have been "the finger".

PS - I'm utterly ignoring the landscape shot in my numbering there.

Will give you some feedback tomorrow now.

PS, as a thought, because this is something I've noticed with every shot I've seen that Steph models for - can you try getting a bit of sass out of her? Her face is almost always disengaged; which is certainly the sort of expression you get in a lot of runway models, but for photography it doesn't work so well. Take the last shot - would have been SO good if she was being playful, or sassy, or in any way emotional. You know, bent over toward the camera, you could play it any number of ways: lusty, "caught out", playful, cheeky, just having fun. She's in her undies on a beach for chrissake - deadpan doesn't cut it.

I'm the same with photos and anything User Interface or Web related. On the photography side, it's often easier to spot what's "wrong" than to figure it out at the time or know how to fix it. Which is why I can crit my own stuff, know it's crap, and yet still go out and produce more crap instead of the masterpeices I'd like.

On the web side, I'm just too far up my own arse.

Landscape shot is ace.

Rest just seem to be some miserable bird walking around in the woods. They all seem a bit blurry in places too?

Cheers for comments jimy, yeah stephs a more 'serious' model, she does more serious non smily looks, it works well for shot number 2 type of shots, but not so much for lingerie type shots, fair play though for her getting down to lingerie as you say, I was in my ski jacket and woke up this morning seriously sick, barffing up lungs and dizzy as hell, no photosoc for me later and had phone in work sick

yeah some of the model shots were abit blurry in places, ill revisit the raw files and find some other shots, see what I can do, as said one day ill get good lighting, good pose, and non blurry shots Just have keep at it.