Wardrobe by Nicholas Jermyn, Styling by Lou Hall-Strutt, everything else by yours truly.

Hello there, and welcome to the latest installment of the blog. Last week I had the joy of shooting 2 well known personalities from the box in the corner of the lounge. I was commissioned to shoot a 10 page article which would feature these 2 gents, the wardrobe would be handled by Nicholas Jermyn and the shoot was at their new premises somewhere near Great North Rd in Auckland… Scanlan Street maybe?

When shooting busy people you get hardly any time to do anything, it’s pretty much a shake of the hand, a quick “how are you?” and then they’re off to do the rounds, shake more hands, get dressed and prepped before the shoot. This is the time when you can actually scope out the place for backgrounds or shooting locations because not only do you need something in the background but space enough for a couple of lights too. This shoot was wrapped up in 45 minutes front to back, with 2 or 3 outfit changes, different locations and lighting looks, and left with plenty of time for the guys to go and do an interview for the piece. Preparation goes a long way.

The way I worked this shoot was to shoot one of the guys while the other was being fitted and styled, then when he was ready, the first guy would go and get fitted out in a different outfit and we’d repeat this swapping over until we were done and I’d tell the guys that the next shoot, we’re gonna be outside by the big metal roller door, or upstairs near the pool table, just something so they’re not walking around looking for me and everyone knows where they need to be when they’re ready. Again this goes back to the time spent walking around beforehand, scoping out areas you want to use and basically trusting your instincts and your eye that you can make it look cool even though not every single detail is nailed down because, on shoots like this that happen this quick, they’re simply isn’t enough time.

The photographer’s input to the fitting and styling is occasionally substantial but often minimal – it’s the stylist’s job to pick the outfits yet they might hopefully consult with you about choice of background or what colours are present in a scene which gives them a slight palate to work with and/or avoid.

Anyway, this is apparently a photography blog. Pics.

 

This was just a single softbox a little up and in front of Paul and slightly pointed down. I like the hawkish profile and I just asked Paul to sit there and steeple his fingers, looks Presidential to me, or something from a book cover. For the finished article I removed the frame from the back in post, like this:

 

Move around slightly to the front and you get:

Pretty moody so needed to lift it a bit for the next set of Paul. Good ol’ white background (which was whited out for the mag)

 

Stick a big light in the background, soft light around the front and you’re good to go. Here’s Jeremy playing pool.

Lit with a massive octabox camera right which is handily big enough to cast light back behind him and light the whole space.

Corbett’s time in front of the light which was whited out completely in post.

Next we took a little stroll outside for a different feel, something cool but a bit gritty around the edges. You work with what you have.

 

 

All in all, 45 minutes of time, 10 pages blocked off in a magazine and a variety of looks and moods to augment the story and the layout. Not bad! Lighting again was just a big octabox and lenses used were between 24mm and 135mm.