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Greetings from the studio!
Hope you and your business are doing well.
Moments after walking into our subject's office, I knew exactly where I wanted to shoot his portrait. I asked him if a portion of his "clipboard wall" could act as the backdrop. He said "OK" and even gave me permission to reorganize the clipboards if I wanted. The arrangement of them, I felt, did not have to be perfect. I liked the unevenness of their spacing. My only requirements were that the top sheets on the clipboards be clean, undamaged, and of assorted lengths. I thought a rather simple lighting design would best show off his solid physical features as well as whatever poses he tried. Though I adjusted the lights for a bit of contrast, the placement of each was very straightforward. The main light was to the camera's right and the fill light to the camera's left. To make the clipboards a tad more interesting, I aimed a spotlight onto the wall behind his head, resulting in a small bright area with falling off illumination. The subject and I collaborated on the various poses. We especially worked on how his hands would be positioned, since that can have an enormous effect on a portrait's appeal. And because I liked his body placement in relation to the background, I asked that he not make any large movements as he changed poses. The shoot went quite well, and we finished with some interesting results. One
last point. While doing Polaroid tests with a stand-in, I realized there would be two
minor problems during shooting: light reflections on the metal clips and
small parts of those clips oddly sticking out from behind our
subject. A fix for the former problem, with this sort of
setup, would be almost impossible. Constantly trying to manage
the latter dilemma would hinder the subject's spontaneity.
Happily, I knew both
problems were easily fixable using Adobe Photoshop and that I could proceed with the photo shoot. Details from a recent photo shoot
These first graders have an interesting assignment this summer. Their teacher, pictured here, is requiring each one to write and then mail her a letter. It can be about a vacation or a pet or whatever they want. The idea is to give the kids a chance to try out their newly learned writing skills. A magazine had hired me to photograph the teacher and her students. My client and I talked about a photo that would suggest "mailing". We discussed using an actual mailbox but, for logistical reasons, that was not possible. So, I ended up trying a couple of other ideas. This photo is from the second setup. The first setup required the kids to take some specific directions from me and then hold a pose. They had to stand on a specified spot, carefully position the envelopes they held, and look directly into the camera lens. We were shooting outside on a chilly April day. They were getting tired and cold and rambunctious, and approaching their limit. We got some excellent shots, but I wanted one more setup. I thought the second setup should be
more active and fun for the children. Giving them any more explicit directions, I figured, probably would be
futile. So, I asked the teacher to take two steps up a
freestanding ladder. I then told the kids to stand in front of
the ladder and try as hard as
they could to hand her their envelopes. I said, "reach up
as high as you can!!" They of course took that as a challenge,
and that's when the fun began. They scurried about, stretching
their little arms as high as they could. Every now and then I would shout
"try to reach even higher!!" They sincerely tried to
oblige. The teacher, as the picture reveals, was genuinely amused. A tip for the weekend photographer I began photographing shortly after leaving college. I would shoot documentary-type pictures, purely for fun, on weekends and holidays. My favorite locations were fairs, parks, swimming pools, zoos... any public areas with lots of kids and adults. I still enjoy this type of shooting today, and you might too. A great combination for this kind of work is a 200mm lens on a 35mm camera. It is a respectable size telephoto which keeps the potential subjects large in the viewfinder while letting you remain a good distance away. And the lens and camera combination makes hand holding it quite comfortable. There are other reasons for using a telephoto
lens: Shooting this way can be loads of
fun. Think of yourself as a secret agent. Your orders
are to get great photos without being detected. You head to
your location, unpack your camera and lens, and start
observing. You keenly watch the action; left, right, and in
front of you. You try to anticipate where the next photo
opportunity will
be. You
are so primed that once you find your shot, the camera practically leaps to your eye. You quickly focus,
take the picture, then start pursuing your next photo. Try it! Feedback We would love your comments, both good and bad.
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