Environmental Portraits

I had an opportunity today to photograph a series of portraits for a local Remodel contractor. I had to move quickly and get nine different settings for nine different people. This requires fast thinking, light weight gear and a strategy for environmental portraiture (thanks again David Tejada).

I used two Nikon SB-900's with an SU-800 commander for almost all of them. I balanced for ambient light and created the effects where I wanted them. I really like the SB-900's for their expanded versatility over the tried and true SB-800's, the fuctions for the SB-900 are very easy to change quickly and that is awesome when working without an assistant.

I wanted to capture sincerity in their expressions and give each person a distinct setting.
These kind of images can do wonders to create a sense of humanity within a corporate setting.
It's a great way to put a face (or series of faces) on a business.

Creating Sunlight for Interiors

I recently photographed a beautiful home in which I was posed with an interesting challenge. How do you convey that there is a great big window in the room when it is not in the frame? Second, how do you add romance to a small room that is really nothing more than a bed and some end tables? the answer came from a technique I saw Joe McNally use in a Nikon video.

With a single SB-900 flash and tungsten gel on a 13' stand. I was able to mimic the golden glow of the sun through the big arched window. Adding some interest to the shot and giving the viewer that sense of romance that makes an image so inviting. I used pocket wizards to trigger the flash at full power for the effect.

Lastly, I just experienced a lighting workshop with David Tejada called Small Strobes Big Results in Orange County. It was dynamite! A great class and really cool people. I strongly recommend it to anyone pursuing this kind of photography. I can't wait to put some of these new techniques to use.

Thanks to all who were in the class.