Posts Tagged ‘Portraits’

A portrait shoot from last month for Virgin Green Fund, photographing the London team for their website and literature. Shooting in a small meeting room, I was looking for a bright, clean look, mixing natural daylight and the ‘poor man’s’ HMI, the Interfit Monstar 3 light ( about £375 with an octobox, lightstand and case ). A continous source, daylight balanced ( about 5000 K ) powered by three massive 150 watt lightbulbs – see the photos below of the light with the bulbs attached next to my 1DS MKIII camera for scale. Output from these is said to be the equivalent of 1800 watts of tungsten lighting!

Shooting with the octobox reflector that comes with the light, without the front diffuser panel, it does give enough output to lift the light levels with a nice bright, flat light, even when shooting against the light. Combined with the high ISO capabilties of camera such as the Canon 5D MKII or the Nikon D3S, allows you to light a room and shoot with, seemingly, more freedom than a strobe system. Letting the background bleach out a bit helps give that “high-key-Ikea -catalogue-lifestyle-bright-aired-look”. A more modern, contemporary business look away from the wood panelled boardroom shots of yesteryear. The only downside of this light is the sheer size of the bulbs, with need to be handled carefully as they would be easy to smash. The upside, pulling a roller along the street with this kit in it is considerably easier on your back than a Profoto 7b pack! It doesn’t replace the Profotos, useless outdoors, but in the right situation it is a great light to work with – but then if the budget stretches to real HMI’s!

Some shots can be see on a slideshow by clicking on the image below.

A corporate shoot in The City for Schroders from last week. The latest in a series of shoots for them over the past few years, photographing various key personnel for their image library with intended use in both company literature and for external editorial – to accompany interviews in business titles for example. With a fifteen minute window for each subject, which is rarely actually the full fifteen minutes, the idea is to get a variety of shots. What sets these shoots apart from many other such assignments is the ability to use their boardroom as a location.

Unlike many, this not only has a view  and plenty of space but also has a reasonable amount of natural light, as the sun arcs across the London skyline. Previously for these shoots I had shot one setup with my Profoto 7b’s and a very large Chimera softbox, grids, etc, as well as shots by the window with a reflector and more natural looking shots using the window light – shooting into the boardroom with the windows behind as a large ‘softbox’. Sticking with the last two setups, this time rather than using strobes I enhanced the natural light with a my Interfit Monstar 3 light with it’s Octobox attached. A daylight balanced continous light source – I hope to discuss this light soon in a forthcoming post when it was used in another slightly different corporate shoot last week . I have usually used this light to “lift” the light in a room when shooting the sort of “reportage” meeting shots of executives beloved by annual reports rather than have a flash constantly going off which can distract the subjects.  When it has the octobox diffuser panel attached  for portraits the output isn’t great but it emits a soft light that enhances the natural light in the room without overpowering the background. The result is similar as with a flash/softbox, but I can shoot with a more open aperture to seperate the subject from the backdrop to, hopefully, create a clean, natural looking and flattering lighting. Both the octobox light and light from the window is also bounced by a couple of large 48″ Lastolite sunfire reflectors. Clicking on the portrait below should start a slideshow of some images from this shoot.

Shot on a Hasselblad 503CW, Fuji Neopan film.   More images at www.martinbeddall.com

Shot on Hasselblad 503cw, Fuji Neopan film           More images at www.martinbeddall.com

Canon 1DS MKIII, 45mm TSE lens, ISO 100, 1/80th @ f4.5  Profoto 7b with two heads + grids

Canon 1DS MKIII, 16-35/2.8 mm lens, ISO 100, 1/200th @ f11  Profoto 7b with two heads + grids

Canon 1DS MKIII, 16-35/2.8mm lens, ISO 100, 1/200th @ f13 Profoto AcuteB 600 with one head

I aim to post tearsheets from time to time, so to start, three from the old blog, all shot for the prestigious US Business title Barron’s, two from 2008 and one from 2009.

Canon 1DS MKIII, 50/1.2mm lens, ISO100, 1/250th @ f11. profoto 7b battery pack with single head. Plus Canon 580EXII speedlite handheld by the assistant to light the dog.

Canon 1DS MKIII, 50/1.2mm lens, ISO100, 1/200th @ f7.1. Profoto 7b with a single head.

Canon 1DS MKIII, 85/1.2mm lens, ISO200, 1/250th @ f2.0 Available light.