ExcelleRx
CASE STUDY #47
CAMERA:
LENS:
Canon D30
24–105mm zoom at 100mm EXPOSURE:
f/11 at 1/125 second
LIGHTING: Profoto 800ws head with medium Plume softbox as main light; Profoto 800ws head with 30-degree grid behind the subject pointed at the ceiling; 1600ws pack with two white umbrellas on the white background; black gobos for umbrellas; white reflector for fill
Assignment
Monica was great to work with and looked great in
I was assigned to photograph employees of ExcelleRx
the camera, but she kept saying she didn’t photograph
for a web-based advertising campaign.
well so I decided to play off that insecurity. I joked with her that she needed dental work and to curl her
Visual Objective
hair if she wanted to become a top fashion model. She
The goal was to create very warm, happy portraits
turned her head and laughed and that was the shot.
using clean and “commercial looking” lighting. Tips Pose
It is always a challenge to photograph “real people”
These were very tight images so my main objective
in the corporate environment, but it helps to warm
was to capture happy facial expressions. I asked Mon-
them up by greeting them cheerfully and engaging
ica to close her eyes and open them at the count of
them in conversation about their lives. Don’t spend
three while she threw her head back. We did that many
the session looking at your LCD screen; this is the
times to capture this image.
fastest way to disengage from your subject and remind them that they are being photographed.
The Story
I received a call about this assignment from a Philadelphia client—three months after I had moved to Montana. Fortunately, I decided to ask about the project and the budget; I realized that I could fly round trip,
umbrella on background
rent equipment, hire an assistant, stay within their budget, and still make a good profit.
black gobo
umbrella on background 30-degree grid pointed at ceiling
For the shoot, I chose the largest conference room black gobo
they had and asked them to clear out all the furniture before I arrived the following morning to set up a
white reflector
commercial studio. The biggest challenge here was to contain the light; all the walls were white and the ceil-
medium softbox for main light
ing was at about eight feet. To do this, we used black cards to gobo and model the lights. LIGHTING CASE STUDIES
117
