In
this tutorial, I'll continue my work to shoot an iconic portrait. When I
began, I wanted two distinct yet consistent styles or outcomes from
each session. In the first session,
I created a look that was intimate, yet polished. In this final
session, I wanted to have more editorial distance, and a more raw and
real feeling.
Instrument Time
You may be wondering why I decided to shoot the bassist aspect of Brad as an entire separate session.
Honestly, I have a tendency to think that musician-with-instrument
pictures tend to be a little cheesy and overdone, more along the lines
of local editorial than portraiture. As far as I'm aware, the commercial
music industry tends to think along these lines as well.
Since I'd already attempted the iconic portrait in the first session,
but wanted that same iconic feeling to permeate the entire project, I
had to determine how I was going to approach this second session to
create a consistent outcome.
Initially my plan was to do the same general idea as the first
session, but simply include the instrument this time. However, in my
head, the slick, "lit" feel of the first go round didn't necessarily
jive so much with my perception of live music. I needed something more
raw, but with a degree of professional polish, since my style really
isn't scenester polaroids.
I never saved the original, just used it during the session, but it looked something like this.
With this in mind, I decided a more editorial style of photography
would make sense. I came up with three poses that I thought I could hang
the session around. I asked Brad to bring a practice amp too. I also
asked if he could bring a stack-and-head rig, just on the off-chance,
but he'd just sold all his big heavy gear.
With the general thematic intent more or less solidified and a rough
plan outlined, I could now start to figure out how I was going to do the
lighting.
Lighting
What was different this time around? Actually, very little. The
lighting itself was technically almost the same, if you look at the
results of each session, but because I was now shooting more of Brad
than just his head and shoulders, my gear had to change accordingly. My
subject now covered a much larger area, so I need a larger light source.
In the first session, I had a 22" beauty dish a couple of feet away
from Brad's face. I was relatively close, maybe two or three feet away,
shooting mainly at around 50mm. This session, however, to get the
framing I was looking for, I had to move back to anywhere from four feet
to around maybe nine feet. If I left the beauty dish in there at a
couple feet from Brad, not only would it be in the middle of the shot,
but it would only be lighting part of the scene.
Trignometry says the light quality of a two-foot source
located two feet from the subject is the same as a five-foot source
located five feet from the subject.
To get the same lighting look, I need the same size light source
relative to Brad's position, but I need it at least five feet away from
him so I can see around it. If I used a two-foot modifier at two feet
away, then I now need five-foot light source to place it five feet away.
Handily, I have a five-foot octa that did the trick.
For the rim light, I replaced the edgy spots with something a little
softer to the left, a 1x4 strip that could be a seamless light, rim and
fill all at once. I now had a more naturalistic setup, but still with
just a hint of style.
Nice simple lighting setup with a tileboard floor to kill full-body shadows.
This was the studio setup, at least. When we ventured outside for me
to get my "garage musician" shots, I primarily used natural light,
sometimes with a bare speedlight mixed in at camera right for a little
pop.
Collaborate!
If the person you're shooting is creative, then collaborate! Even if
they aren't a visual artist, it's unlikely that they have zero sense of
aesthetic. I've usually found that any form of creativity has a tendency
to bleed into non-related media. Even if it's simply images they've
seen and liked the look of, they may have any ideas about the overall
presentation, or even particular styles of visual art that inspire them.
In other words, don't let ego waste opportunities. Harnessing your
combined abilities may lead to places neither one of you might have come
up with alone. The same goes for chaperones with children or makeup and
hair stylists on a fashion shoot. You never know who might have a good
idea.
Keeping the atmosphere positive and experimental as much as
possible has made a night and day difference on the end results every
time I've made a conscious effort to ensure it.
The Shoot
I decided to start with some basic editorial portraiture to form a
natural bridge from the second session. This was visually simple "man
and guitar" type stuff. We had some fun here, then moved on to the wider
shots that I'd been planning for this session on the same set. We
weren't really feeling it quite so much here, until Brad decided to jump
up on the amp for this fun shot:
A subject with an outgoing personality makes your job SO easy.
Next, we headed out to the garage, which I'd already brought up at
the beginning of the session that I wanted to try. After doing a fun
little "traveling man" type shot using the doorway and falling snow as a
huge softbox, a nod to his nationwide bookings, Brad just got to jam
out while I figured out my angle and lighting, which is usually
predictably beautiful in the garage.
When I felt like I'd gotten what I needed here, we headed back inside
where I had a sudden visual flash into my mind that I had to try, and
it came out perfectly! I can't explain the visual or where it came from,
it just popped into my head after the travelling themed outdoor shots.
If I had to guess, it bubbled up from my much-travelled past where a lot
of time was spent sitting against walls and pillars in bus stations,
train stations and airports.
First shot of the sequence. Definitely promising.
Then I went for the final image that I wanted of the session, which
after lots of setup and messing about with optical slave sensors, just
wasn't happening.
I think I'm happier with the shot that popped
out of nowhere than the other attempts anyway, since it's less about
cool-factor and more about telling some kind of story related to Brad's
profession. Just like you should run with a good idea even if you didn't
come up with it, you can't be afraid to kill an idea that isn't
working.
Image Shortlist
This was Brad's idea, from somewhere he'd found something similar. I killed the colour and added the wide-angle cartooniness. An unexpected squinch, which I'd been trying to pull out more in the previous session! Travellin' man. Jamming in the garage Post-RAW-adjustment version of final image
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Post-processing
Final Image
Ok, that's it for this shoot from me. I hope this has been as
interesting and enjoyable an experience for you as it has been for me.
Any questions or thoughts? Hit up the comments below!
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