60 Second Head Shot

I was shooting downtown today when my client asked if I could do a quick head shot of her.
Naturally, I agreed.

My favorite place to do head shots is outdoors in the shade. My favorite backdrop is trees, bushes, or anything nature looking. The green just really complements people's skin. The shade allows me to use my own light, which gives me much more control over how the subject is lit.

The building I was shooting in has a nice park next door and my first thought was to get her over to the park. But once I stepped out on the porch I realized I didn't have to take her more than 5 feet from her front door.

I quickly set up a light stand, used an SB-28 speedlight, and a shoot through umbrella.
I posed her with her back to the park and fired 2 quick light tests.
Fired of 10 more frames once the light was right, and we were done.
From the time the first light test was shot to the time the last frame was shot was exactly 59 seconds!
What took the longest was setting up the light stand and flash, and I decided to change lenses after seeing what it looked like. (I started with a 5omm F/1.4, but opted to go with my 70-200mm F/2.8 instead.

And here is the result of my one minute of shooting:

As Promised: Bridal Portraits!

In my last post I showed you how I photographed my friend Melissa for her bridal portraits. Unfortunately I couldn't show the images at the time, but I'm happy to say that, as of yesterday, they are happily married and I'm now free to show off the photos!

As I showed you the setup for the indoor ones, I'll go ahead and show you those.


Here is one with only one of the strip boxes firing. As you can see, the black background and white dress create a beautiful contrast, and the light makes the photos so incredibly dramatic.


Both lights firing this time. I probably should have moved them back a bit farther behind her, but the result is still very dramatic.

Finally, my favorite image from the series, which was blown up to a 16"x20" for her wedding day:


She loved them almost as much as I did! I was very happy that she let me shoot inside, as I've been trying to convince the brides-t0-be that I've shot to do it, but none of them have gone for the idea. Since she is a very good friend she was kind enough to indulge me.