Archive for the ‘group’ tag
black & white corporate photography part two
It is not very often that I photograph corporate event, though I do get asked a lot, among other types of events.
(If any band ever asks me to shoot a live gig again, my rate is £800 per gig plus expenses. I will ONLY shoot Delta 3200 black&white film on Mamiya RZ67, I own all the image rights but I will license them to you for an additional fee) now, that’s out of my chest ….
I guess the idea of “documenting” is quite different from “creating”, especially when you are no longer in the driving seat and you have to be aware of hosts and guests’ mood swings … some times.
However, putting oneself in such an uncomfortable position isn’t necessarily all bad. You become an observer, a listener; you start notice body language and sense people’s feeling from their behaviours; you make friends with waiters, bartenders, DJ’s and other entertainers; and you get experiment camera/lighting tricks you always wanted on abundant subjects, without them ever notice a thing! You would go home with all the required shots plus “creative” work. A pleasant surprise for the client, who on the other hand, may not agree on such “risky” approach if you ask them for permission in the first place.
It is not to say that I would shoot more conference or event in the future, that will entirely depend on the event and potential benefit other than my fee.
I’d jump on a portrait assignment any time over an event.
But, never say never, right?
corporate conference in black & white part one
lately I’m feeling black and white … a lot! especially when I photograph corporate lawyers for some strange reason.
Special Olympic Games Media Team
It has been quite a while since I spent a week in Leicester, working alongside the Special Olympic Games for my personal portrait project.
During which time, I have befriended with a wonderful group of talented and hard working guys. On the last day of the week-long games, I was thrilled when I was asked by Gurdeep, who was in charge of the media team, to do a group portrait of volunteer photographers and film crew.
The closing ceremony was held in Abbey Park, a rather big area with lots of “green” in sight. My first thought was a hill, to elevate my subjects and give them almost heroic statue. But the park was almost flat, and hills were hidden inside the woods, it was impossible to include the sky, which I wanted for extra drama to add to the frame. Since “flatness” is abundant, it would be silly not to use it.
Given the windy weather and increasing number of spectators showing up in the background, I ditched the idea of using any light modifier and opted for the hard light (can’t afford sand bags yet …).
One Elinchrom camera left, high up in the air, angled down for the main light with a reflector to control spill; another Elinchrom was set up as backlight, bare bulb to maximise the spread. Both were powered up pretty much to the max so I can underexpose the sky a little.
Those guys were so easy to work with and everyone was great at posing, needless to say, I had a great ten minutes of fun to bag this shot. Click on the image to see a large version.
special olympic games media team
