Time To Reset
Christian, a nice guy that had fallen on hard times. He had just returned from a difficult trip to America where his life was turned upside down. Whilst out t...
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Christian, a nice guy that had fallen on hard times. He had just returned from a difficult trip to America where his life was turned upside down. Whilst out there his relationship broke down, his life was threatened and all of his assets stolen. Not the best story I've heard from a trip to the US. Even so, he was determined to get back on his feet and start to rebuild his life and career back here at home. The issue he was having was that he need some simple head-shots for his portfolio and had no way of paying for them. He sent us an email describing his situation and after a short chat on the phone and a space in our diary, we decided that we wanted to help. He came to the studio not quite as prepared as we had expected, but in his situation we shouldn't have really made any presumptions. We had enough time to sort things out, with a couple of "different outfit changes", not only getting the headshots for him but having a really good shoot and helping him learn from the experience.
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Jan, 2017Views
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Awards
Peer Choice Award
Featured
Contest Finalist in Black and White Portraits Photo Contest
Peer Award
Absolute Masterpiece
Superb Composition
Top Choice
Outstanding Creativity
Magnificent Capture
All Star
Superior Skill
Emotions
Impressed
Top Ranks
Top 10 rankTop 10 rank week 1
Top 10 rank
Top 10 rankTop 10 rank week 1
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Same photographer See allBehind The Lens
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Behind The Lens
Location
This photo was captured in our St Helens studio. Christian had just returned from a torrid time abroad and was trying to get back on his feet. He asked for a cheeky few free headshots, hoping for some acting work down the line. Seeing as Christmas was literally just round the corner, we were more than happy to help him out.Time
We had just finished a morning family session and had a spare hour ( lunch never seems that high on our agenda, ha ha) so we invited Christian in, ruffled up his hair and got to work.Lighting
The lighting was very simple. We had one overhead 80cm Octobox about 8 inches above Christian and stood him right below the back edge so that the light caught his forehead and facial features but barely lit anything more.Equipment
Taken on a Canon 7D using Canon 17-55mm 2.8 lens. The flash was a Yongnuo-560 IV speed light ( triggered) inside a 80cm octoboxInspiration
When we listened to what Christian told us about his recent setback, that was enough to inspire the whole shoot. The aim was to capture his emotion and experience in a few simple shots.Editing
There is some post processing on the image but nothing extensive. Some brightening to the eyes and some darkening to the jacket where it caught and distracted the eyes away from the focal point in the image.In my camera bag
Ill keep this quick and simple. Canon 7d, 17-55mm 2.8 lens and usually either 50mm or 85mm prime lens depending on the day. tripod, external flash, remote trigger, lots of spare batteries and a video light (or a torch)Feedback
Remember that you can control the light with BOTH the flash and the f stop. If there is too much light and you want a black background, you can take photos of the subject without the flash until you find the f stop that produces a black image then dial in the flash until you are happy with the balance of light.
