Cleveland Photographic Society-Creative Portrait ShutterCraze Style!
Jan.17,2013 Filed in: Behind-the-Scenes
Being put on the spot and thinking outside the box. That’s what exactly happen on my return trip to the Cleveland Photographic Society January 2013. I returned to CPS as a guest speaker and educator, lecturing on my creative workflow and how I come up with personal work that I do. The premise was to “stump” the photographer and throw me all kinds of unknowns but for me to produce something that was creative and unique.
So the class provided me with a unique location, a model that I’ve never worked with before, wardrobe that I didn’t get to see or plan for, lighting equipment that I’ve never worked with before, grip equipment that I never worked with before, two back drops with seamless paper to work with, and so on. The idea was given what I was provided to me I had to go make something creative quickly right in front of the class. In a nutshell I had my concept of what I wanted to shoot in 5 minutes and then all my lighting gear dialed in and ready to shoot in another 10 minutes.
I choose to shoot a projection against the projection screen that I used for my lecture presentation on the overhead. I have never done this type of shot/concept before but I just had to try it. I brought up my portfolio in a slideshow with images changing every four seconds. I posed the model in front of the projection screen (about 6-8 feet) away in from the projection screen. I used a one Key light setup, beauty dish with grid and gelled. I dragged my exposure time so that I could get the projection screen exposed somewhat and then metered my model’s key light around f8. The class was interested with what I could pull off before I started, in the end they were shocked with what kind of imagery I pulled off with my limited amount of time and unfamiliarity with all the gear. I think I proved to the class that imagery was not about gear obsession but rather obsession to creative the unordinary.
Below are some setup shots and a few resulting shots from the shoot. Although these are not my best work from that 15 minutes of chaos, I will revisit this concept and I’m sure I can dail it in to create something awesome.
So the class provided me with a unique location, a model that I’ve never worked with before, wardrobe that I didn’t get to see or plan for, lighting equipment that I’ve never worked with before, grip equipment that I never worked with before, two back drops with seamless paper to work with, and so on. The idea was given what I was provided to me I had to go make something creative quickly right in front of the class. In a nutshell I had my concept of what I wanted to shoot in 5 minutes and then all my lighting gear dialed in and ready to shoot in another 10 minutes.
I choose to shoot a projection against the projection screen that I used for my lecture presentation on the overhead. I have never done this type of shot/concept before but I just had to try it. I brought up my portfolio in a slideshow with images changing every four seconds. I posed the model in front of the projection screen (about 6-8 feet) away in from the projection screen. I used a one Key light setup, beauty dish with grid and gelled. I dragged my exposure time so that I could get the projection screen exposed somewhat and then metered my model’s key light around f8. The class was interested with what I could pull off before I started, in the end they were shocked with what kind of imagery I pulled off with my limited amount of time and unfamiliarity with all the gear. I think I proved to the class that imagery was not about gear obsession but rather obsession to creative the unordinary.
Below are some setup shots and a few resulting shots from the shoot. Although these are not my best work from that 15 minutes of chaos, I will revisit this concept and I’m sure I can dail it in to create something awesome.
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