Another shoot, in my series of photos of people, in front of the great green doors in my studio. Lisa is a very talented graphic designer with whom I have the pleasure of working from time to time. She was one of my first subjects after having moved into my new space. It was shortly after this shoot that I started to collaborate with my doors! They always come through!
Headshot
Basic
I have started a new series. It's a personal project in which I am inviting people into my studio for a very specific portrait. The project is called "Basic", mostly because I am shooting them all utilizing a very minimal setup: one light, white background, prime lense, and all shot almost exactly the same way, and all rendered in black and white. The idea is to try to capture something about my subject's personality that has revealed itself to me in my interactions with them, and that I want to try to convey, visually, to the viewer. I want to tell a story in one frame.
Here are the first five, of many to come, in no particular order.
The Big Door Portraits
My studio has, among other nice attributes, a set of really large green barn doors. I am on the 4th floor, so if they opened, it would be quite a drop. Fortunately, they don't. I imagine that in the days in which this Western Avenue Studios building was a textile mill, this was a kind of loading dock door for raw materials in and goods out. Today, it's just dark green awesomeness.
I feel a portrait series coming over me! Here is my latest shoot with sports photographer, Liz Cardoso, who specializes in photographing runners.
There will be more to come!
The New Studio
It has taken me a while to get my new photography studio into shape, but after having moved in a little over a month ago, and having done a number of shoots here already, I am finally able to show it off. Thanksgiving week is always a reliably slow week and therefore makes a great time to catch up on things that had been impossible for months. I needed to move in to the studio over a weekend because the following Monday I had two shoots, back to back, but I never had the chance to really organize it or hang work on the wall. I am almost there!
Western Avenue Studios, Suite A405
So there won't be any misunderstanding, I am still at Western Avenue Studios, in Lowell, Massachusetts! I have simply moved to a larger, brighter space, two floors up. The new space is on the 4th floor in what is known as the A-Mill; studio A405. This floor itself is much brighter and more welcoming even as you come off the elevator. Restrooms conveniently located just to your left as you get off the elevator, and my studio only several doors down the hall.
The Green Doors - I have mentioned the green doors before, but most people are not aware of their size until they actually enter the studio. These are what must have been loading dock doors years ago through which raw materials and finish products were moved. Today they are sealed, and make a really cool background. Here are some shots done in front of the doors. In fact, these are from my first author portrait photo shoot in the studio; the one done that Monday morning after moving in.
Nadia and the Green Doors
I haven't made much noise about my new studio space yet, mostly because I haven't had an opportunity to make it presentable. I have a big blank wall and a stack of prints that are waiting to be hung. I will definitely get to it! But, along with more space and better window light, I have these great (in both senses of the word) green doors at one end of the studio. The old mill building apparently used to have a mechanism to load or unload large items to or from the upper floors through large, wooden barn doors. They are currently a rich dark green and are closed for good. I am holding out hope that the landlord refrains from covering them from the inside as they are a real feature in my space.
I recently photographed Nadia Clifford (http://www.nadiaclifford.com), a local writer, in front of the doors. She and I are pretty happy with the results.
Goals and a Vision for your Head-Shot
A potential client contacted me a few weeks ago inquiring about having an actor's head-shot done. She was very specific about what she wanted and seemed to like what she had seen of my work. I forwarded her some information about the way that I work, the fee and my deliverables. We then set up an appointment and she asked if I would mind if she sent me her ideas about the shoot. I love when a client is personally invested in this process, so I naturally said, yes, please do! She then sent along a Word document listing her goals for the shoot, what she thought the head-shot should be or entail, as well as a list of questions.
To a portrait photographer, this is what a great shoot looks like. That isn't to say that everyone needs to do this! In fact, most subjects are actually rather unsure of what is going to happen when they arrive at my studio or I at their location. When possible, I prefer to have a pre-shoot conference, either in a separate sit-down, or if that's not possible, immediately before the shoot. My objective is to explain the process, answer any questions and to solicit any input that the subject would like to contribute. I cannot speak for other head-shot photographers, but I really appreciate input from my client. The great thing about the actress to whom I was referring was that once we started, she wasn't into micro-managing the session. She had shared her vision with me before we met and my job was to make her vision reality. I hope the work speaks for itself.
I work with all kinds of clients, creating actor head-shots as well as corporate head-shots, although I prefer to call the latter, corporate portraits. Irrespective of the client though, having a vision and goals in mind before the shoot begins is key.