Tom Brokaw – November 3rd 2011

The Gear

Lens: Nikon 50mm f/1.2

Camera: Nikon D3s

Technique: Drastic Falloff

Light Sources: 2 Einstein 640 WS by Paul C. Buff

Light Modifiers: Key light is gridded 22″ silver beauty dish - camera left. Rim light is a gridded 10″ x 36″ Stripbox - far camera right.

The Goal

Create drastic subject isolation by utilizing sharply gridded lights to provide light falloff.

The Vision

Create a portrait that touches on Mr. Brokaw’s attitude and seriousness that he relates throughout his new book which is essentially a hard look and serious discussion about America’s current state and future.

The Story

Tom Brokaw recently released a book titled The Time of Our Lives and was making media appearances all over the place. You probably saw him on a talk show or two (including one of my favs… the daily show) but one of the stops along the way was the National Press Club for a luncheon. When I learned that he’d be attending I immediately picked up his book and started reading through it. I wanted to get an idea about what he was promoting and what he had to say.

The lighting was my usual approach, but I did position the lights in a way that would basically allow the background to be completely black. I was in a bigger room so I had space to setup far from any wall. The beauty dish is gridded so virtually no light spilled behind him and the side light is also a gridded soft box. The ambient light in the room was dark enough (combined with my 10x ND Filter) that I could make it pitch black without any flash. I wanted Mr. Brokaw totally isolated with no distraction so his eyes intensely pull you into the portrait… much like his book was a hard look at America and such.

As Mr. Brokaw stepped in front of my camera he instinctively knew to take off his glasses off. It was obvious he’d done this hundreds if not thousands of times. He looked at me with little expectation and immediately gave me a forced smile. I got in pretty close with the 50mm lens and I noticed him starting to lean a bit away from me. I could tell it made him a tad uncomfortable, so I lowered my camera and told him I liked his chapter about journalism in the internet age and the need for more partnerships in the industry. I wanted to get his mind off the giant camera in his face and let him instantly know I wasn’t someone that was there to get paid and leave. Clearly I cared about the photo if i had taken the time to research his book.

Before clicking the last frame it I asked him to think about one thought or emotion he feels his book most represents. He immediately relaxed. Looked serious into the center of my lens and I snapped the last frame.

The Lesson

This was the only frame from the 6 or 7 that I made that I was happy with. I’m incredibly happy with it, but it’s the only one. I’ve now learned that photographing somebody that’s been in front of the camera most of his life can be a very difficult thing. This was actually the very last frame i made, and it’s got the x-factor I look for in all of my work. That variable that turns a photo from cheesy and boring to interesting and thoughtful.

With many of my portraits in this series I’ve been told that framing things as a vertical crop instead of a horizontal would “vastly improve the image.” I would tend to agree if these were going to be pretty head shots for a press release or personal biography, but they’re not. These images are my interpretation of  these individuals as I see them – and I see this world horizontally. The only exception so far has been ron paul’s portrait… and there is a reason for that. He’s a unique candidate and individual. His campaign defies a lot of “historical rules” and I wanted his image to stand out in that way from the others in the series.

Thinking back now I feel like I should have attempted one set of images with is glasses on. I’m guessing few – if any – portraits of him exist with his specks on, and it would have been great to capture him with a unique look.

i also had a few photos chosen for honorable mention in their 2011 Best of Wedding Photography competition!

among 10 other photos this one was chosen for the Engagement Photo category:

and this was chosen for Phenomenal Wedding Portraits category:

i also realized that i haven’t really blogged a few images I shot while working with some other photographers in 2011. Here are some of my favorites.

i took this one working with Erin Lassahn at an incredible delaware wedding.

annnnd these few i took while working with Sarah Der at a wedding in richmond virginia. yes, all those expressions from one wedding :-0

and finally… i wanted to share this portrait I made of a chef that opened a new restaurant called Torintino’s in the heart of DC. i’m sure you’ll hear/see more about this restaurant soon. after i made the portrait he made me one of the best dinners i’ve ever had.

so, that is what’s been goin on in my little world the past month or so. i’m currently sitting in an airport waiting to board my flight to Auckland New Zealand. i’m shooting a wedding there this weekend and as i’m typically a dc wedding photographer i cannot wait to travel a bit. i also went there in october 2010 and you can see my massive blog post about that here. but, here are two incase you’re too busy to click that link…

Herman Cain – October 31st 2011

The Gear

Lens: Nikon 50mm f/1.2

Camera: Nikon D3s

Technique: Composite

Light Sources: 2 Einstein 640 WS by Paul C. Buff

Light Modifiers: Key light and side lights are 22″ silver beauty dish – camera left. Rim light is a gridded 10″ x 36″ Stripbox – far camera right.

The Goal

Use a composite technique to create a portrait that would normally require 4 light sources.

The Vision

It had been a month since my previous portrait of Ron Paul. I had a lot of time to think about some concepts for future portraits but I found that many of them required more lights then I currently have. No problem! Using three different shots I was able to make one composite shot exactly how I envisioned it. I wanted a very tight spotlight effect because (especially that day) the media was focused like a laser beam on Herman Cain. I also wanted a subtle red vs blue effect to represent republicans vs democrats.

The Story

So, I had the chance to photograph Herman Cain on the exact day that the story broke from Politico about some questionable incidents at the National Restaurant Association. Needless to say, it was a crazy busy day. News and media people everywhere, but I had a few minutes alone with him to create a portrait I had thought out specifically for him.

Given Mr. Cain’s recent surge in the polls at the time I felt a spotlight effect would be appropriate. The media was focusing a lot of attention on him at the time – even before the Politico story broke. So, I decided to use a gridded beauty dish to create a very narrow spotlight looking effect. Worked really well, however after a few test frames I decided I wanted a wide horizontal shot, and not a vertical portrait. So, I took one frame with two of my Einsteins lighting the far left and far right (no strip box) and then another frame with Herman Cain in the center (with the strip box). Composited them together and created my final image.

The subtle colors of blue on the left and red on the right are symbolic of Democrats vs Republicans.

The Lesson

No matter how I feel about the candidate himself I think this is an awesome photo. I  structured the concept well and executed my plan quickly with time to spare!

I honestly don’t know what I’d change about the image so it’s hard to relate a “lesson.” I suppose that’s good and bad. Good, because I’m becoming very comfortable with the entire process, and bad because there’s not much I am able to learn from this particular experience.

I will say that as I’m doing more and more of these portraits I’m finding that I really love the work. I feel more like an artist with his paint and brushes (lights and lenses) and I hope to continue using crazy techniques like composites, freelensing, and the brenizer method to create unique portraits.

It’s not very often that the subjects of my work will usually see the final result, but I had a chance to talk with Mr. Cain exactly a week later at another event I was photographing. He was waiting back stage before going to address the audience and he remembered me when I shook his hand. I mentioned I had his portrait on my iPhone and showed him. He was incredibly excited about it and said he’d be in touch about usage. Don’t think that I’ll be hearing from him since he’s withdrawn from the 2012 Presidential race, but it’s always nice to get some positive feedback.