One thing I’ve found a bit stressful this summer is doing lighted portraits on the fly. Whereas commercial and fashion photographers often have days to plan out shoots, often I’ll get an assignment where I have to photograph someone in an hour in a location I’m not familiar with. It’s just part of the job and while it can be stressful, it can also be extremely satisfying when you come back with a good shot. (I recommend checking out Alex Garcia’s post about photographing Zac Efron for the Chicago Tribune in 5 minutes.) Such was the case for me today. I had about 30 minutes to make a portrait of Barry Evans, the CEO of Smooth-Stone Inc. As I was walked into the building, I started scoping out areas that might make for a good backdrop. Here’s what I came up with:
Michael LaFleur says
Glad to see you are getting into this. What is your favorite run & gun setup?
James Brosher says
I usually use a Nikon SB600 speedlight shot through a 45″ umbrella using PocketWizards to trigger. On this one I added a second speedlight at a 45 degree angle behind him. Depending how much gear I want to carry, I’ll sometimes throw in a second speedlight and stand to spice things up.