Time for Tea
Simeon Rosset is a freelance butler - the real kind, not the strippergram, although he says he periodically gets inquiries about it. He served his time as head ...
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Simeon Rosset is a freelance butler - the real kind, not the strippergram, although he says he periodically gets inquiries about it. He served his time as head butler at Leeds Castle and now hires out his services for events such as exclusive gatherings, weddings, and shooting parties, and can be found butlering anywhere from Scottish castles to European palaces to Super yachts. When we met it wasn't long before we started talking about creating a butler-in-action shot.
And so a couple of months later I found myself out at Craufurdland Castle near Kilmarnock. Although this castle was built in the 18th century, the land has been in the family for nearly 800 years. We decided to do the shoot in the library, as a wall full of books would make a timeless backdrop. Many of those tomes dated back hundreds of years.
Simeon also runs a Butler School service, training potential butlers to the high standards required. On this day he was completing the training of Alistair, which gave us a 2nd butler to include in the shots. The shoot went well. Everyone adopted their roles and got into the part, and it wasn't long before I managed to get a couple of photos I was really pleased with.
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And so a couple of months later I found myself out at Craufurdland Castle near Kilmarnock. Although this castle was built in the 18th century, the land has been in the family for nearly 800 years. We decided to do the shoot in the library, as a wall full of books would make a timeless backdrop. Many of those tomes dated back hundreds of years.
Simeon also runs a Butler School service, training potential butlers to the high standards required. On this day he was completing the training of Alistair, which gave us a 2nd butler to include in the shots. The shoot went well. Everyone adopted their roles and got into the part, and it wasn't long before I managed to get a couple of photos I was really pleased with.
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Jan, 2017Views
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Awards
Chatter Award
Zenith Award
Contest Finalist in Interesting People Photo Contest
People's Choice in Family Portaits Photo Challenge
Contest Finalist in Friendly Pets Photo Contest
Contest Finalist in Cultures of the World Photo Contest
Contest Finalist in Once Upon A Time Photo Contest
Peer Choice Award
Featured
Peer Award
Outstanding Creativity
Superb Composition
Absolute Masterpiece
Top Choice
All Star
Magnificent Capture
Virtuoso
Superior Skill
Genius
Emotions
Impressed
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Platinum
acglock
January 10, 2017
Wonderful! And a big Thank You for taking a moment to tell us the story behind the shot!
Platinum
geophotos
April 09, 2019
Superb composition and lighting - and books!!! Not an electronic doodad in sight! Pictures telling stories, people reading them. Your description tops off a Masterpiece!
Same photographer See allBehind The Lens
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Behind The Lens
Location
This photo shoot took place at Craufurdland Castle near Kilmarnock. Although this castle was built in the 18th century, the land has been in the family for nearly 800 years. We decided to do the shoot in the library, as a wall full of books would make a timeless backdrop. Many of those tomes dated back hundreds of years.Time
Although the shoot happened late in the afternoon, it made no difference where the lighting was concerned.Lighting
There was not enough ambient light for the shot without the risk of going too slow for the shutter speed or too high with the ISO setting to compensate, so the use of off-camera speedlites was always intended. The key light is off to the right - follow the shadows of the table legs back to see the angle of it - and the speedlite was diffused through an umbrella. However, if I had only used a single light source, the butler on the left would have merged into the shadows on the bookcase. So I set up a 2nd speedlite, diffused through a softbox, to the left of him - note the light falling on the side of his face and his upper arm.Equipment
For the shoot I used a Canon 7D MkII with a Canon 24-70mm L lens, a Canon 600EX-RT speedlite and a Canon 430EX II speedlite.Inspiration
This was part of a promotional shoot for Simeon Rosset (far left as we look at the photo) who is a freelance butler - the real kind, not the strippergram, although he says he periodically gets inquiries about it. He served his time as head butler at Leeds Castle and now hires out his services for events such as exclusive gatherings, weddings, and shooting parties, and can be found butlering anywhere from Scottish castles to European palaces to Super yachts. Simeon also runs a Butler School service, training potential butlers to the high standards required. On this day he was completing the training of Alistair, which gave us a 2nd butler to include in the shot.Editing
Post processing was mostly about increasing the luminosity, clarity and vignetting in Adobe RAW, to give it a slightly painterly effect. This was to enhance the "old masters" style of composition. The idea was to make this look as traditional as possible, to tie in with the marketing of the freelance butler.In my camera bag
My main camera these days is a Canon R5, which I love, although this photo was taken with my previous camera, a Canon 7D mkii. The 3 lenses I use most are my Canon f/2.8 24-70mm, which is pretty much my workhorse lens; a Canon f/2.8 70-200mm which is fantastic for shooting live performances - getting in close in low light conditions; and finally a wide angle Canon 10-22mm for when I need to take in a lot in a small space. I also usually have 2 or 3 Canon speedlites to hand and an assortment of softboxes and modifiers.Feedback
Of course we should all be studying the work of other photographers we respect, but it's also worth studying the old masters - the painters from centuries past who had a deep understanding of light, shadow, composition and story. Think how you would recreate some of these paintings today using camera and lighting techniques.
