2nd Studio shoot research.

So for my 2nd attempt at studio photography I am going to try and replicate a Keri Hilson album cover, This was at the request of the make-up artist, for her website.

http://gnlstudios.com is the Web address of the guys who took the above shot.

And here is a short film of the shoot they did http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fxWUSZe-v9s&NR=1 , however this isn't a great deal of help,  due to it being more about the start Keri Hilson, rather than the Photographers.

The cover she showed me was the top one of these 2 photo's, I'm unsure as to whether or not she would like to keep the background in colour or not, so I will confirm this before the shoot.
After doing a bit of research, I have found that the original shoot was done by a company called, Gomillion and Leupold.

My model has dyed red hair, but fading slightly back to brown at the roots (see below picture(the lady with her back to the camera)), so unlike the above picture where the Bright Pink back ground makes Keri's blond hair stand out, I will have to find a different colour that does the same for a darker hair tone.
I would say white would make the dark hair stand out, but I would like to inject a bit of colour into the image.
After comparing colours on the Internet I think that a light Blue would be a complimentary background colour.

I used this photo to get a rough idea of  her hair colour, and then I used the website http://www.colourlovers.com/ and I found these colours that go together.

The models hair colour is close to the second red in from the right, so I think for shoot I will use a green or blue,  like the colour second in from the left, as I would like for the model to stand out, so to have an almost contrasting colour should achieve this.
And think for the shoot I will go with either a plain painted background, or a wallpaper with a slight pattern to it.

For the lighting set up I have watched a video of the photoshoot, (on youtube and also I have posted this to my blog) but due to the way the video has been edited, it doesn't really give any clues as to how the 2 guys shot it.
I think from looking at the photo, the amount of shadow under her chin/behind her hand holding the lipstick, it has been done with continuous lighting to the left and the right of Keri. but i'm not 100% sure, and I think that this will be a case of trial and error, and maybe trying both continuous and flash.


Doing some searching about I found this wallpaper which I think might go well, but not sure the blue is stand out enough.

After talking with the model about the shoot and what image she wanted from it, we decided that the above wallpaper isn't right for the shoot, and have disreguarded it as an option.

We talked about the option of using a neutral toned colour and/or patterned paper, and adjusting the colours to suit in post production using Photoshop.

But we have decided on pre painting lining paper, and hanging that on the day of the shoot, the colours that me and the model thought would go well and/or contrast with her hair colour and skin tone would be, Malibu Beach (Light Blue), Funky Fireburst (Orange), Warm Terracotta and Pink Splash.

Due to funds and time restrictions both before hand, and on the day of the shoot, (changing backgrounds) I've decided to go with the Warm Terracotta and the Funky Fireburst. I also found A silver glitter glaze, which is basically is clearcoat with glitter in, which I am going to try ontop of the Funky Fireburst.

We also found some wallpaper with pictures of Marylin Monroe on, which I would like to try.

And the last idea is to use some Checker Plate metal hung on the wall.