The tricky part was timing the portraits with the ear splitting industrial noise in the warehouse where we were shooting. No office space was available so we set up a portable studio in the only place left in one of the cavernous warehouse rooms. Every 10 minutes or so the world’s largest air compressor would crank up reproducing the sound of 50 blacksmiths hammering horseshoes, machine gun fire and a pipeless Harley Davidson sounding off at the same time.
The portraits were just part of a 3 day product shoot for their web site and catalog. We took product photos of items ranging in size from 20 foot trade show booths to small hand sized parts and pieces. If you have ever been to a trade show or convention center, you have seen Georgia Expo’s products without knowing it. They make curtain and drape barriers that make up the different booths at events. They make huge divider curtain walls, stanchions, tables and so on. Here is a sampling…
Here are the carts for the moving all the trade show parts. Some weigh several hundred pounds.
Some candid environment photos were taken too. All those curtains are sewn by hand by fast seamstresses.
The storage area is huge and contains lots of already manufactured parts.
These tough guys only smiled after I promised lunch… just kidding. I had to pay them money.
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| The shiny wood paneling reflected everything. This looks great in person, but can be difficult to accurately photograph. |
The materials in the room ranged from dark glossy wood paneling and tile to flat white linen and shiny chrome vases. I knew that I would not be able to capture the extreme latitude of the room with a single exposure, so I planned to find the best angle and then lock the scene down on my tripod.
To complicate things, there were at least five different light sources with their own color temperature…. blue daylight, green fluorescents, yellow tungstens, white LEDs and my flashes. Each light source was affecting colors and creating pools of localized color zones.
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| There were large areas of white in this room which were easily affected by colors of the different light sources. |
Since I could not simply gel my flash to match all the light temperatures, I ended up shooting each part of the scene separately and composting them later. This allowed me to expose for highlights, midtones and shadows to create a high-dynamic range photo while controlling the color casts. This also allowed me to combine the bright scene outside the window with the relatively dark interior… impossible to do in one shot.
When lighting rooms with flash, try not to overpower ambient light sources that give the room its character. In the photo above, I shot a flash through the frosted glass shower wall which is a key feature of the room’s swanky design. You can see they spent a lot of money on custom glass walls in the restroom.
I also took photos of the room next door which was more of a standard hotel room. It’s pretty interesting to see the difference between the two. This room had the gauze-like sheer curtain that would have helped tame the other room’s extreme lighting conditions. Oh well.
The last shot looks easy, but it was difficult to hide the flashes while lighting both rooms. Again, the shiny materials revealed all light sources so I had to be sneaky where I put my lighting.
While in their office I also took photos of their new conference room which looks like it would be a great place to get business done or maybe challenge your friends to XBOX 360 on their big display screen.
As a surprise, our client also asked us to also make photos of 5 groups of workers in different departments. This had not been discussed previously, but it provides a great lesson in being prepared. Like many photographers, I tend to load up my car with backup cameras, extra lights and gear for such events. It is better to have too much and be ready than tell a client that I can’t do what they ask.
Instead of picking 7 locations and 7 different setups, we chose 1 location near the front entrance that had metallic mirror tile, mixed color lighting and a brushed aluminum logo. This presented a lighting challenge since any lights that I used would bounce back into to the lens revealing themselves as annoying hotspots. Even my largest umbrella diffusers did not tame the reflections. I decided to bounce the flashes off of the hallways walls to give a soft light. Think of this as the photographic equivalent of a bank shot.
For the top brass, we went very informal which was a refreshing change from stuffy CEO power portraits.
I know some people hate when kids make funny faces, but I like those the best.
I was contacted by Daraka who had just moved to Atlanta and needed a headshot for his company’s web site. He agreed to come to the studio and we proceeded to make several styles of headshot. I like to give clients a variety of lighting styles and or clothing options.
I can use very traditional backgrounds and lighting techniques for a conservative, timeless look. Or I can use edgy lighting and compositions to give the portrait a modern look… in this case my subject preferred no smiling.
Many times, a client will use one style for business and the other for social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, match.com, Linked-In or their email avatar.
Part of being a photographer is making lemonade out of lemons which was the case when I took family portraits on a very ugly, about-to-rain, dark-and-dreary day for a wonderful gal named Christy. I had been watching the weather with hope that the sun might pop out for a brief guest appearance, but I had no such luck. I was afraid that all my photos would not have much color like the vintage style photo.
Normally, if the client is flexible, I give them the option of picking a different day if the weather is terrible. Sometimes that is not possible, especially if the portrait is to include out of town family members or rare occasions when all family members are present. I know in my own clan how precious this time can be when we are all under one roof.
In poor lighting situations like these, I bring my own sun in the form of a Paul C. Buff Parabolic Light Modifier (PLM). What the heck is that you ask? It’s a huge 5 foot umbrella for my Einstein flashes. On set I call it my moon dish because I am pretty sure that the aliens can see that thing flash from outer space. It literally looks like a gigantic silver radar dish.
The advantage of the PLM is that it can create soft but directional light over a focused area that can look a lot like natural sunlight. I use a warming gel to enhance the effect. Many people would not know that these photos were taken on a day sans sunshine.
I took one dramatic shot where I decided to keep the storm clouds in the photo to prove it was about to rain…
UPDATED: 10/20/2012
Many months later, I found out what happened with the photos… they got turned into a big poster seen below. I think that is cool.
We have all seen actors that get picked to play Santa in holiday commercials. Some of them kind of look like famous St. Nick, but others just look like geriatric fat guys pulled out of a local BBQ joint. Not his Santa… he was impressively authentic.
I am here to tell all those other fake Santas to step aside, because I think that I finally met the real Santa. The only thing missing was the bag of toys and the reindeer which he could name in order. I could not.
This jolly old elf was not like those sidewalk Santas in their in their stuffed, poorly fitted red suits. This Santa had style and was dressed in such a way that he felt like a timeless character from a different century.
He had lace at his wrists, heavy leather boots and a twinkle in his eye letting everyone know that he was having a grand time talking to the children and adults alike. The beard was real and spectacular.
We were all put under his magical Christmas spell and there was no doubt that the real Santa had taken time off from his hectic pre-Christmas schedule to visit us. He was so good with the children, and their eyes were wide with wonder.
Everyone at the party took turns telling Santa what was on their list. I overheard everything from Legos and video games to new cars and fancy bottles of wine. How he can keep track of all of this is anybody’s guess.
I can barely remember what my wife asked me to get at the store. I hope Santa has modernized his operation with computers and a database of who is “naughty and nice”.
Some of the adults at the party were very naughty trying to get Santa to have a mixed drink. Don’t they know what would happen if Santa got a DUI? Christmas would have to be canceled!
I printed the portraits on location so that everyone got a 4×6 picture souvenir. The rest of the photos went online so that parents could print or download them.
Lisa is mom raising to kids and running a boutique cake company in Atlanta. Needless to say, she has her hands full most of the time.
We had been trying to coordinate our schedules before all the fall leaves disappeared. Yes, I am a little late blogging about this portrait session from last year, but they got their photos within a week.
We decided to meet at a duck pond in the Buckhead section of Atlanta. I took several photos of her and the kids who were getting much taller than I remembered from past sessions. We had a grand time shot up until it was almost dark.
There were some great bridges to pose near and the fall colors were very vibrant.
This is a family with good genes in the looks department with blond hair, blue eyes and killer smiles.
No bridge was left uncrossed…
… and no tree was left unclimbed…
I will definitely remember this spot for the future.
