The Beach Umbrella

CASE STUDY #24 The Beach Umbrella

CAMERA: Hasselblad 503c LENS: 50mm

FILM: 120 Fuji RDP

EXPOSURE: f/8 at 1 / 125 second

LIGHTING: Norman 200B with white umbrella

Assignment Another image I created in the course of my “Fathers and Sons” project was of Tom Midgley and his son.

Visual Objective My objective was to create an image that would reflect a sense of openness and security.

Posing I wanted to portray security in this relationship, but Tom’s son was a bit too big to put in his lap. I decided it would reveal more about growing up if his son was sitting on the arm of the chair.

Tips Working on sandy beaches with strobe lights can become a nightmare if you are not properly equipped. I always bring a weight—either an empty sandbag that you can fill at the beach, a gallon jug (with a hook) that you fill with ocean water, or a Bogen super clamp with a U-hook you can hang the power pack on. In addition, I bring large plastic garbage bags to place over my camera bag, strobe pack, and any other equipment I need to keep sand off. Finally, be sure to pack a can of compressed air and a digital sensor cleaner.

The Story It is difficult to stay away from the beach when I am in Los Angeles—and yet, up to this point in my “Fathers and Sons” project, I had not photographed any of the Los Angeles fathers and sons on the beach. When I got this opportunity to photograph Tom Midgley and his son on the beach, I was excited.

My assistant Martin Semjen (a friend, not a photographer) and I dragged the gear, chair, and umbrella across the beach to the perfect spot. We had about a half hour to set up before the sun would be setting, which left me about fifteen minutes of good twilight to shoot. Tom and his son arrived as the sun was setting behind the bluff and I started shooting. About five minutes after the sun had dropped I got my shot.

70 50 LIGHTING SETUPS FOR PORTRAIT PHOTOGRAPHERS

shoot-through white umbrella