A Simple Portrait

On the previous post, I mentioned that I was headed up to Scottsbluff, NE on assignment.  Well, in this short post I will share with you one of the portraits I shot while in Scottsbluff.  I shot over 2700 images for this client, a huge amount in my mind.  I've spent the last several days editing and burning images to disk for the client.

This is one of the portraits I shot for a campaign they are starting call "Call Me"  not really certain that's the name or not.  The purpose of the campaign is to recruitment new physicians to the hospital.  The headline "Call Me" adds a personal touch. In the ad, the pictured physician would provide a personal phone number so the prospective recruitment could call with questions about the hospital and life style of Scottsbluff.  It's often hard for smaller communities to recruit new doctors to the area.

The lighting for this portrait could not have been more simple.  One SB-800 on a stand and shot through a light panel.  I have several collapsible panels from Calumet that I use for this type of work.  I fired the flash using the build-in flash or (commander) on my Nikon D300.  The photo below show you the total setup.  I used a lower angle to include the glass windows as a design element to the photo.  I place the subject to the far right of the frame, allowing the copy to be placed on the left for the ad.

The way I hold the panel in position is one of two way that I use.  In this case, I place a Bogen Super Clamp on the top of a stand, and than clamp the frame of the panel to the clamp.  Another method would be to simply place an A clamp on the top of the stand and place the frame in between the two squeeze handles of the clamp.

I may as well show you another portrait while I'm at it!  This portrait was shot with available light plus the use of a reflector for the right side of the face.  There way a building just outside the windows on the left being struck with direct sunlight which filled the hallway with this beautiful light.  I shot this wide open using my newly purchased $109.00 Nikon 50mm f 1.8 lens,  WOW.  I just love this lens.  It's small, light and very sharp and for a little more than a hundred dollars, you can't go wrong. 

I might also mention that I still have space for the August 2 and 23rd lighting workshop "Small Strobes, Big Results".  If your interested in learning more about location lighting, light and compact check it out.