In november I went to Egypt to photograph the 32 Miss Belgium finalists at Baron Hotels in Sharm El Sheikh.

I also did a shoot with Miss Belgium 2022, Chayenne van Aarle very early in the morning.

It makes it totally worth it to get up at 04:45 a.m. to get the shot when the sun is rising.

And it rises fast! You only have about 15 minutes and every minute more light captures your sensor so you need to adjust your camera settings according to the available light.

In this video I show you how dark it was at 05:49. Using flash you can create a stunning image.

Because very little ambient light falls on the model shutter speed is less relevant but flash duration (t0.1) takes over to prevent motion blur.

This shot was done using only 1/50 of a second at 129mm, f/2.8 and ISO 800.

The image is razor sharp even if she was moving constantly. (at 1/50)

On October 22, 2023 I did the photoshoot for the official “portrait” photos for Miss Universe. I am writing “I” but it is always teamwork. The guideline by Miss Universe is to shoot on a flat grey or black background.

Most of the time I use a flash on the background to create a gradient (vignet) to separate the model from the background but this was not allowed. A way to separate a model from the background is to use back light and that is what I did.

My main light was the Godox Parabolic 128 with a D2 diffuser to soften the light even more powered by a Godox AD1200 pro mainly aimed downwards. By positioning the light this way the light does not reach the background. To brighten the shadows I used a tri reflector by Lasolite. To be honest I use this reflection screen not enough. It creates beautiful light and a nice catch light in the eyes.

As backlight I used 2 small jinbei (they are actually very good) 80cm stripbox double diffused with honeycomb grid to make sure the light does not spil in all directions. Both powered by 2 Godox AD200’s in a dual head.

As back hair light I used another AD200 and a Godox AD-S7 as soft box.

Chayenne was positioned about 2,60 meters from the background. I added a white vinyl marker on the ground to make sure photos were consistent. (check photo)

All lights were measured using a Sekonic L-858D.

Settings used:

Sony A1 with Sony G 90mm macro f/2.8

1/200

ISO 100

f/9

The result with this setup. Post processing was done in Capture One Pro & Photoshop. Mainly just dodging and burning and some color grading.

Miss Belgium 2023 shoot for cover of Miss Belgium Showmagazine.

Shoot with Miss Belgium 2022 Chayenne Van Aarle