BTS: Michael

This is Michael. He is in the process of ramping up his soft tissue therapy business and required some portraits for his website. His web designer sent me a brief and these are a couple of pics from the shoot.

Canon 5DmkIII 1/200th ISO 100 Sigma Art 50mm @ f3.5

It's a pretty basic portrait with a couple of subtle "tweaks".

The main light (A) is a Jinbei HD 600 in a Jinbei 1.5m collapsible octagonal softbox (these function like an umbrella which make them easily transportable for when I am working outside the confines of my tiny studio). The subject is positioned in a plane with the back edge of the softbox to give a wrap-around quality to the light. A reflector (C) bounces some fill light back onto the unlit side of the face. This one light+reflector setup would have produced an acceptable result but I decided to add a little tweak.

As per the brief, Michael was to have a dark shirt and dark background. To give a little separation between subject and background I added a couple of gridded speedlights (D and E). These were aimed at Michael's shoulders with the power set to add just a "touch" of edgelight (the grids preventing unwanted light spill).

To add a slightly more edgy look to this shot, a grid was added to the softbox to make the light more directional...reducing the "wrap". Canon 5DmkIII 1/200th ISO 100 70-200mm@75 f2.8

Both images are shot on my Canon 5DmkIII (B) at 1/200th sec. ISO 100. (These settings were chosen to kill any ambient light in the room.) Pic one is with the Sigma Art 50mm at f3.5. the second was taken with the Canon 70-200mm at f2.8.

The speedlights (D and E) are Godox TT685's fitted with Magmod holders and grids... triggered and power output controlled by the Godox X1  radio transmitter.

The backdrop is a Westcott crease resistant neutral grey material (approx. 18% grey).

Happy shooting...Catch you next week.