Hernan Rodriguez injects mystery into a fashion shoot with the new Tamron SP 35mm VC and SP 45mm VC lenses.

By Jenn Gidman
Images by Hernan Rodriguez

In Greek mythology, the Sirens were mesmerizing, ethereal creatures who lured sailors to an unfortunate fate with their gift of song. It was that hypnotic allure that Hernan Rodriguez wanted to incorporate into a fashion shoot he set up to test-drive Tamron's new SP 35mm VC and SP 45mm VC prime lenses. "I wanted that whole goddess-like feeling, with a little mystery and sensuality mixed in," he says. "A bit of a fish-out-of-water aura about them, keeping the photos simple and focused on them instead of going overboard with props."

The two new Tamron lenses helped Hernan push his creativity to the max to achieve his goal. "Usually my work is very intimate and personal, even my fashion photography," he says. "Using these lenses took me out of my comfort zone and helped me incorporate the environment into my images. I had to figure out what was around the models and behind them, as well as consider depth-of-field—the lenses blur your backgrounds and push your subjects forward—and create a composition and storyline around that."

Hernan took all of the photos for this shoot handheld, using mostly natural light. "The shoot went from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., with breaks throughout," he says. "I usually have a couple of photographers and assistants with me, but I wanted to make this session as minimalistic as possible. It was just me, the three models, the makeup artist, the person whose venue we were using, and a person who was holding the white reflector we sometimes used. In terms of additional lighting, beside the reflector I also had a Dynalite Baja portable flash, a white umbrella, and an overhead Scrim Jim for some of the evening photos.”

In terms of aperture, he tapped into the fast maximum F/1.8 on both lenses. "I took a couple of early photos at F/5.6," he says. "But I really wanted to add some depth to my images with that bokeh you can achieve with both the 35mm and the 45mm. Most of the images you see here were taken at either F/1.8 or F/2.0 in Aperture Priority mode. I was able to go as low as 1/10th of a second at F/2.0 in the evening, and the images still came out just the way I wanted them to."

For each individual image, Hernan wanted the model's face to be the focus and everything else to blend into the environment. "The subject's eyes and lips, plus a bit of her garment—like the woman in the green netted shawl—were all I wanted the viewer to concentrate on," he says. "I've painted before, and doing this shoot reminded me of painting with my brushes on a canvas. I'd focus in on her face, while everything else below the shoulders would fall out of focus."

Using those 35mm and 45mm lenses allowed Hernan to do exactly that: put the focus on his subjects, not on what they were wearing. "If you're doing a high-end fashion shoot where the models have on $3,000 dresses, of course you'll want to capture the details of what they're wearing," he explains. "But again, that's not what I was going for here—I wanted to create a mood and tell a story by concentrating on the models' expressions. In the image of the dark-haired model wearing that gorgeous couture gown, the dress had amazing beading and gold sparkles, but I focused on her face. From her chin downward, everything falls softly out of focus."

For the group shots, Hernan let each model have her moment in the spotlight. "I had them take turns being the goddess who was front and center, while the other two would act as supporting players," he says. "While the main model would hold court, the other two would interact while I played around with different layers of depth. I discovered that the photos where the girls in the back weren't looking directly at the camera—when they were either looking into the distance or off to the side—worked much better. When they looked toward the camera, it took away from the model in front."

The fast maximum aperture of both lenses gave Hernan the capability to not only shoot handheld at the end of the day, but also in the middle of it. "Most photographers think F/1.8 is great for churches and low light, but that aperture also works wonderfully during the brightest part of the day—it's just knowing what to do with it," he says. "For a series of images I took of the blonde model, we were photographing at high noon under the California sun. It must've been 105 degrees!"

In the upper-right corner of the photo where the model is reaching for her toes, viewers can see those hot spots. "If we had taken the photo in full sun, it would have obviously been a blown-out, high-contrast image," Hernan says. "But by placing her underneath the trees instead and kicking back a little natural light with a reflector on the right side, I was able to shoot at F/2.0 and balance it all out."

In his early-evening images, Hernan worked contrasting hues into the frame as the sun started to fade. "I think about color a lot in my photography and often work with complementary colors," he says. "When I go over wardrobe before a shoot, I'm specific about what I want to photograph and where. For instance, with the redheaded girl in front of the street lamp, the green in the background played nicely off her dress and hair. Plus the cool color temperature of most of the image worked beautifully with the warmth of the light."

For one of the final shots of the evening, Hernan had the same model submerge herself in the venue's pool, once more tapping into the complementing colors for an alluring photo. "The teal-blue of the water contrasting with the coral dress draws the viewer in," he says. "If she had been in a yellow or green dress, the impact would not have been the same. And normally at that time of day, I'd have to have someone holding a reflector and checking white balance. The beauty of the 35mm and 45mm lenses is that I was able to capture whatever fading light was left by shooting wide open. I was stoked to be able to just jump into the pool and start taking photos as the day was coming to a close."

To see more of Hernan Rodriguez's work, go to www.hernanphotography.com.