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Why I photographed it this way

enlarged photo from website

Most of the portraits I make are done on location.  An interesting challenge is converting a corporate setting into a photographic "set".  The trick is trying to find that setting.  

I realized we had found our location when I noticed the rich warm glow of the room's wood panels.  The walls were being lit by tungsten lights which I knew would complement our subject's own skin tones.

But where should our subject be placed?  I used my assistant as a stand-in and had her sit on the back ledge.  We tried various poses, but nothing seemed to work.  We then discovered a bunch of chairs nearby.  They had good color tones with a not-too-bad pattern.  After playing with them for a little while, we had our answer.  The chairs could be arranged in a way that would allow for a variety of subject poses.

The next step was to place the lights.  Many times I use one main light, not too far from the camera, to illuminate about three-quarters of the face.  However, this time I wanted a somewhat different look.  I thought it might be interesting using two lights set at more extreme angles, but whose combined output would produce an interesting and flattering look.  So, I placed one strobe slightly behind her left shoulder and another slightly behind her right shoulder.  Both were aimed to illuminate a side of her head and to provide enough fill for the rest of her face.  An added bonus was the pleasing rim light on her shoulders.

My last concern was the background wall.  Though its coloring was quite delightful, it seemed somewhat barren now.  It needed a prop.  We walked from office to office, searching for just the right something.  When I saw the jar of flowers, I was thrilled.  I thought it had a beautiful line to it, and the angle of its branch seemed to frame our subject almost perfectly. 

Details from a recent photo shoot

The woman in this photo, Anna, is an Olympic-level hammer thrower. The hammer consists of a ten pound ball attached to a metal cable, with a handle at its end.  The athlete grasps the handle, twirls it and her body a few times, then lets the ball fly (by the way, this is quite an awesome experience to watch.)

This sport is very physically demanding.  Anna spent a good twenty minutes warming up before ever touching the hammer.  Then we ran through several ideas about how to shoot this.  Her suggestion was that I stand directly in front of her, though about thirty feet back.  My immediate thought was "Yah, right, I really want my face flattened by a flying ten pound ball!!".  But I did as she suggested and was relieved to see the hammer sailing a few dozen feet above my head.  However, the angle and distance were wrong for what I wanted to capture.  I needed, somehow, to shoot from a lot closer.

After some experimenting, I realized the shot I wanted would involve me lying on the ground rather close to Anna, wide-angle lens on the camera, shooting up.  She would be spinning the hammer for as long as possible, but not releasing it.  The scary part for me would be her winding down the spin, with the ball dropping lower and lower, getting closer and closer to me.

Everything worked out well.  When it seemed the ball was about to whack my face, I merely rolled to my left and out of its path.  I got the shots I wanted, and my client was happy with the results.

A tip for the weekend photographer

Let us assume you and a friend are at the park.  It is a warm Spring day, and you have the urge to take her picture.  So, you find a background you like, tell her to say "cheese", and then click the shutter.

This is probably a fairly typical scenario.  However, you should check out a few things first.  Are her clothes and hair arranged the way she wants; Are any bits of food caught between her teeth; Are the settings on the camera correct; Is the lens clean.

But, it is not yet picture-taking time.  Now you need to spend a few moments looking through the viewfinder at the entire picture, even the very edges and corners of the frame.  Are all the elements you see going to combine together into a dynamic photograph?  Ask yourself these questions: Should the subject be closer to or farther away from the camera; Are the subject and background complementing each other; Is the subject in a pleasing pose; Are there any people or objects in the background that will take away from the subject; Is there trash on the ground that might be seen in the picture; Is there good lighting on the subject; Is the camera being held level and still.

As you spend more time photographing, you will realize that these are mostly common sense questions.  But answering them and fixing the problems before shooting will result in much better photos.

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