This is the third shoot that took part on that day. Best part about this shoot is that it was for a good friend of mine who I had not seen for years Dan. So I was in the studio making photographs and catching up with an old (not in literal terms mate :) ) friend/meeting his family… nothing I would've rather of been doing.
I grew up with Dan and went through high school and college with him, hell he was the guy who got me into Martial Arts training. We must have thrown a good number of kicks and punches each others way over those years, but no kicking and punching this time.
After college when we all went our separate ways we drifted apart, it happens to many people... Life happens/moves on, gets in the way a little… makes us busy. Anyway it was dam good to see him and to finally meet Megan and Laura. Dan’s son Elliot was not present at this shoot but we will schedule another shoot with them all together (Dan ring me about that).
We chatted and caught up which gave Megan time to get use to a busy studio with lights and gear around. Both myself and Dan said neither of us had changed much… funny that.
One thing that was a nice surprise was Dan’s interest in the photo taking process, lights camera and all that... Ended up handing him the camera which you will see coming up
Shot mostly on the white seamless, nice, clean and simple and looked 10x better than grey or black paper unlit when shooting family images full length. Grey works for fashion.. Not so much for family on full length. Anyway during the shoot its important to get your clients or children involved, just happens that sometimes the client becomes the child… sorry Dan.
One of the many wig props the studio has to hand. Suites you Dan.
We started with a few images of Laura, Megan and Dan together. Sometimes you can let them just be and interact, sometimes you pose.. other times you ask Megan if Dad is ticklish.
Turns out he was. :)
We then grabbed a few frame with Megan and Laura in before Megan was comfortable enough to have some of just her.
Now I don’t normally include images of people picking noses but it so reminds me of Dan.
At this point Megan was starting to relax in to the shoot.
I love both of these images of Megan; in fact they are both in my portfolio galleries.
You can’t beat simple black and white and a moment between mother and daughter, Of course followed by an upside down moment with Dad.
Usually during a shoot we take a break and get everyone off the set. But I always stay aware of the available light in the studio be it window, fluorescent or a mix of the two. This means I set the camera to the available light and shoot some frames in between sets. These are black and white due to the mixed and not so great light, but remember its not always about light.. the moments matter as well and are just as if not more important.
Whilst I was making the above images Dan was shooting with My X100 and catching me at work.
Well done Dan, the last one is my favourite.
We also took a break during a lighting set up change over, and Dan wanted to take some images of me with Megan so I dialled in exposure and handed him the 5D and 85mm lens. Nicely done Dan.. Maybe I should of let him shoot all of them.
Yeah don't ask.
I also shot some images with a simple one light set up using a white wall to give another option for prints. Used the 7’ Parabolic umbrella with diffusion cover, great big soft light source.
We ended the shoot with talking about photography and some of the gear, Dan asked me to make a dramatic portraits of him, something moody for facebook. Ok no problem.
I rigged up a speedlite with a Grid spot and boomed it over head. Explained to Dan if you move your out of the light and shot this frame.. well after a few others where he cracked up smiling or laughing.
Dan also wanted a dramatic side lit half face shot, sure thing. This was lit by the 28” Westcott Apollo allowing more light on to the background to prevent all his dark hair going black against a dark background. Moody, Serious and dramatic images. Which could not be further from Dan as a person.. He’s not at all moody.
Dan,
Thank you for booking me to photograph your and your family. And thank you to Laura and of course the little star Megan.
Lets not leave it so long to catch up again Dan, had a blast. We are long over due a few pints and a curry my friend.
Also thanks to my local studio Ians Studio for the studio space.
Thank you for reading.
Rick
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