Test shoot with Maria
Maria flew in from Los Angeles to visit her family and called me to do a shoot while she was here. I’m glad she did! After a few hours in the studio, we got some shots that we’re both excited about.




Maria flew in from Los Angeles to visit her family and called me to do a shoot while she was here. I’m glad she did! After a few hours in the studio, we got some shots that we’re both excited about.




Here’s another photo I did recently with a lighting setup that I’m currently obsessed with. She’s not technically a model, but she’s a former Miss Minnesota. That’s good enough in my book and I’m pretty happy with the results.

© Craig VanDerSchaegen
For you photographers, the lighting setup was really simple: Two fluorescent work lights in front and one strobe behind her, camera right. I also used a couple of foamcore boards to keep light from hitting the background, but that was about it.

Over the last couple of weeks I started shooting with some models to build up a new portfolio. While my website represents me fairly well, I want to expand it to show that my studio work consists of more than simple headshots.
This shot came from a session I did with a model named Kari. She was great and I hope to work with her again.
The lighting was simple: An Elinchrom 600RX with a 17″ reflector/”beauty dish” and a couple of 8′ x 4′ pieces of black foam core to keep light from spilling onto the background.
Stay tuned for more model photos. I’ve got a few in the retouching queue and have more shoots lined up over the next couple of weeks.