This is definitely not the type of post or photos you’ve normally seen here. After years of shooting macros, landscapes, city skylines, events, and candids I was recently presented the opportunity to step outside my photography comfort zone. A model, let’s call her Sherri, approached me with the idea of shooting an artistic portrait set.
Of course I hesitantly said yes. My experience with off-camera lighting is minimal, mostly assisting with other photog’s shoots. The more I thought about it though I became excited with the idea. I figured if we were going to do this though that we’d do it right, not in a house but in a real studio with real lighting equipment.
I was a nervous wreck the week leading up to the shoot. Sherri remained calm and confident and helped to raise my own confidence. We spent hours on the internet researching photographs of the type we wanted and taking notes. We created a shot list of 3 outfits with 5 poses each and I printed out some photos of the poses we found. This ended up being a great idea even though we didn’t follow the shot list to the letter.
We arrived at the shoot with butterflies in both our stomachs. Luckily it was Labor Day weekend and we had the space all to ourselves. While Sherri prepped her makeup and outfits I set out to prepare the studio. We used The Studio at Dulles which maintains a good supply of props, from various couches, clothing and backdrops to all the lighting needs you’d require.
I ended up using two Alien Bee strobes, one overhead as the main and another on a stand to highlight her face. I also used a Speedlite when needed to highlight the background which is a tip I picked up from Shawn Duffy. This can be seen in the photo above where the Speedlite was providing reflection from a red backdrop.
Of course the photos looked outstanding on the camera but as soon as I got them on the computer I saw some improvements that should have been made with the lighting. Even so, I’m pretty happy with how these turned out especially for this being the first attempt at this type of photography for both of us. So much so that I cannot tell you which is my favorite though I’d like to think I saved the best for last.
A very special thanks to my lovely wife Sherri for having the trust and confidence in me to give this a try. I hope these shots help you to see what I see every time I look at you. Lets do it again real soon!
Big thanks to Chris Maxwell of The Studio at Dulles for the use of the facilities and to Shawn Duffy for turning me on to them along with the advice and constructive criticism he provided.
Tags:
artistic,
elegant,
i'm the luckiest guy in the world,
model,
off camera lighting,
portraits,
studio,
studio lighting,
taking chances,
try something new 
