Shoot Breakdown - Xanetia Sunset Shoot 2 (Patreon)

My third shoot of the year and second with Xanetia. I returned to Brighton Beach which I'd used at the end of March 2022 on a shoot with Maddy but I had messed up the sunset time and got there just as the sun was hitting the water so it was all a bit rushed.

I really like the location though and wanted to return. As I mentioned in the previous breakdown most Adelaide jetties are very similar, it's just the seating designs that vary, Brighton has the best seating with benches which allow for the best seated posing options. Brighton jetty has a unique design with the rotunda at the halfway point and the tower at the end. Additionally, the landscaping along the pathway with rocks and boulders I can actually access makes it a far more versatile location for me.

I let Xanetia pick her own wardrobe, I just said something Summery and after my previous jetty shoot where the temperature plummeted soon as the sun set I suggested bringing something warmer we could use in shots if needed and a white thinner shirt we could use earlier in the shoot. I am a big fan of shirts as you can shoot with them on, with them off, and make some interesting shapes with them.

I often used Google Maps to scope locations and was keen to check out the ramp I spotted to the right of the jetty. I got there earlier to look around and indeed the ramp was excellent I just wished it was to the left of the jetty as that would put the setting sun behind the jetty, which would have been perfect. Sunset was at 8pm and the plan was to shoot from 6.45-8.45.

While looking around I identified 4 usable spots, which are indicated in the image below.

LOCATION A - 6.45pm - For this location, I had my wheelchair next to a bench seat with Xanetia on a rock just in front of me. The first few shots are always to calibrate to the available light. Once again, we had zero cloud cover, so the sun was a bit harsh and we'd need to wait a few minutes for the sun to drop lower and lose some intensity but we set up and started shooting anyway. The sun did provide a beautiful rim light perfect for a single light shoot. Once again we were shooting with a Godox AD300 with a gridded Godox 85CM AD-S85S Deep Parabolic Softbox.

7.00pm - We changed to some standing shots just as the light started to come to us more an hour before Sunset, It is called the Golden hour for a reason.

I haven't had a Sony for very long so I don't have the wide range of lenses as I do for my Canon so for Xmas I bought myself a Sony FE 24-105mm f/4 G OSS and this was my first time trying it on a shoot. I was worried that the f4 might not give enough depth of field but it wasn't an issue especially at the full 105mm. We didn't have the wind as we had on our first shoot but every now and then we'd get a bit of movement through the hair.

This wide-angle shot includes Leighlan with the AD300 and shows our 1-light setup.

Anyone who I've shot at a con knows I am a fan of an over-the-shoulder. I asked Xanetia to put the hair over the shoulder so we could see the shoulder blades and the lace at the back of the top and as she did the wind picked up and blew the hair in her face and I got the beautiful shot with her smiling. It's these natural smiles I'd love to capture more.

Next up we gave the legs a workout and changed to some squatting poses. These work well because you can get some nice angles and shapes with the legs.

While we started with one knee on the ground we changed to this stance instead which I like way more as it adds tension through the body creating a much better more dynamic pose.

LOCATION B - 7.20pm - I then basically pivoted from where I was and had Xanetia stand against the railing of the stairs that were behind me.

LOCATION C - 7.38pm - Our third location was probably my favourite. A concrete ramp that got me almost down to ground level with rocks lining it. Most beach ramps are covered in sand and impossible to traverse in a wheelchair.  

Here is a shot showing just the ambient light we got without the flash. You can see the rim light the sun provided on our model. As mentioned in previous breakdowns Shutter Speed controls the background exposure and flash power controls the light on your model.

I did try some stretch shots but couldn't really get the shapes I wanted with the shirt but I do like the symmetry and balance in this shot with the tower in the background.

We had started sitting on top of the rock but moved to a lower position to have the rocks around Xanetia at a more relative height. I also like that we got the sail of the boat on the right side of this image I cropped to be more panoramic to extenuate the length of the jetty and horizon.

Another wide angle to show our surroundings and Leighlans position with the light. I was on the opposite side of the path so we were very aware to let beachgoers through. Something I'm very mindful of when shooting in shared spaces.

We then basically rotated Xanetia onto the rock opposite her and I got her to wrap the shirt around her and I really like these shots with the more hunched pose and the left shoulder out.

8.00pm - It wouldn't be a sunset shoot without a silhouette hair flip. I'll do another post of a video I made of all the hair flip frames but here is a couple. I wish I'd actually shot a video of it as well.

8.10pm - Just as the sun hit the water I got Xanetia to jump over the rocks and stand on the sand for this series of shots.

LOCATION D - 8.20pm - Finally we moved onto the middle part of the jetty to utilise the bench seats. At this point, you are constantly changing settings to deal with the rapidly dropping ambient light, which basically means lowering the Shutter Speed to make the background brighter and compensating by dropping the flash power to keep both in balance. We did get a nice breeze playing with the shirt and surprisingly the air temperature stayed quite warm.

With the sun falling below the horizon it kicked up an amazing orange sky that would have been just incredible if we had some clouds but we did get some beautiful silhouettes of people on the jetty.

8.37pm - Here is a shot just showing the ambient light I was getting at this point.

8.50pm - we wrap up shooting as the light is fading.

Overview

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Location: Brighton Jetty, South Australia

Date: Sunday 19th February 2023

Model: Xanetia

Assistant: Leighlan Doe

Shoot Time: 2 hours

Total Frames: 430