About the image

The set was inspired by the dress, and I wanted the final image to invoke the feeling of the Renaissance. I started with a hand-painted grey canvas backdrop and then draped a blue velvet curtain and a length of crushed blue velvet fabric over it. I did this to create depth and mood. I then placed a table, slightly left of center, and covered it with grey velvet cloth. This tied the table back to the backdrop while providing contrast to the dress. I then added props such as books, candles, a telescope, and other items to give the impression that this was an old astronomer’s workspace. For lighting, I started with my main light, a strobe with a grided rectangular softbox placed almost 90 degrees off my left side. I raised the light high and pointed it down to try to mimic moonlight coming in through a window. The goal was to ensure the light hit the model’s face and spilled onto the table. I then lined up the silver reflector to this light on the opposite side of the set. I then placed the second strobe with a grided rectangular softbox about 45 degrees off my right-hand side. This light acted as fill light. The challenge was to ensure some of the light from the electric candles showed up in the image, so it would look more natural when I enhanced the candles in post. During post processing I did basic edits, then added a medium vignette and an orange (highlight) / teal (shadow) color grade.