Liz Frandsen Workshop

It is no secret that I love the work of Liz Frandsen.  She has loads of natural talent, and her gorgeous fine art portraits leave everyone breathless.  I have been wanting to study under her for some time, and recently the opportunity arose when she offered a full day class teaching her techniques and even doing a live demonstration.  She invited participants to bring their own cameras to play along.

The thing I learned the most from working with her was that she has such a creative eye for detail and thinking outside the box.  I love how she incorporated natural elements in all her images.  It is not simply about putting her subjects in a pretty scene and snapping the picture.  She knows how to find great lighting, or if she can't find it, she creates it.  She uses natural elements such as trees, twigs, leaves, flowers, etc. as props and decoration.  Every part of the scene becomes an integral part of the story she is attempting to create.

I learned so much by watching her!  I really hope I can incorporate much of what I have learned in to my work in the future.  Here are the photos I took during the workshop.  Keep in mind, I did not pose the model or put her in any of these locations.  It was all done by Liz, and I simply found a different angle to shoot from.  And in true Liz Frandsen style, I couldn't narrow down which ones I wanted to show, so I am showing all of them!! 

Demonstration of using leading lines to bring the eye to the subject.  It also helps that the entire scene is green, and she is wearing red, so the eye goes to directly to that point of contrast.

Playing in trees is fun!

These were a little different, but I liked how they turned out.  I am not sure I would have ever thought to use the tree trunk in quite this way.

Here she was demonstrating the use of a small video light to bring light in to the right side of her face.  It looks like the sunset is hitting her just right!

Fall leaves!  Again demonstrating video light, and using the natural elements to enhance the scene.  In a final image, I might take several of the images where the leaves are falling and combine them in to one.

I love the green and gold, and here right in between.

These are my favorite!  Yes, we actually had her IN the water.  The reflections were incredible, and the whole scene came together perfectly. 

This was my all time favorite image!  I added some extra golden light to give it more of a sunset glow.

Learning to find little pockets of light.

Some different pose ideas

Using natural elements.  Liz wanted to use the bushes, but it was impossoble to have the model climb up in to them.  So instead she had her wrap in to the twigs.  Very cool results!

Using more natural elements

The light here is to DIE for!  It was created by turning the model's face in to the sun, then using a refelctor to bounce a little light back on the subject from behind.  Stunning results!  Some of my favorites from the day!

This stone wall made an interesting backdrop for the model.  I love the texture, and how she really stands out from the gray.

Demonstrating how natural elements can work to focus attention on the subjects.  In this case, the subject is framed beautifully by the arching trees.

The tall grass is wonderful to work with!  We also work a little more with the reflector on these to enhance the light.

Using sage brush as a bouquet?  It works!

Demonstrating shooting in to full sun.  The light is much harsher, but can work if you have the skills to do so.

More full sun.  And yet the images are still beauitful!

Just for fun, here is Liz!  Super cute!