The Baker, Flour and Dough
This is one of my favorite photos. It was shot in the studio to look like it was natural light however I used strobes*. It was originally done as a portfolio image but has always sold well as a stock photo.
You can license it as a stock photo at Getty Images HERE
*For those of you interested in the technical details: This was shot with a 6x6 silk(diffusion panel) to the left and a white foamcore flat for fill on the right. For several shots in this series I used two Speedotron heads positioned to shoot through the silk and changed their position depending on the look I was after. I sometimes gelled the head in front warmer and the one in back cooler. Where the light overlapped they in effect canceled each other out but added depth of color to my eye. I think it also gives the effect of the mixed lighting you might encounter on a location with warmer interior lights and cooler window light (just the thing we try to eliminate on location). The effect can be very subtle as in the above shot or can be more pronounced depending on the subject and how you position the lights (and of course how much you gel the lights).
Portrait: Should I take off my glasses?
Many times people ask me if they should take off their glasses for a photo. I always tell them no — if you're wearing glasses during the photo session, you most likely wear them all the time. When people take them off they feel exposed, they squint, and they're generally less comfortable. Glasses become a part of your persona. When I'm taking a portrait I want to capture everything that makes you, you. I also personally feel glasses can add interest to the photo. I really like the reflection on Jared's glasses in the portrait below. Because we had mixed lighting in the room the reflection from the windows is very blue while the rest of the image is made up of warmer tones. His eyes are also not obscured by the reflection — if they were, it just wouldn't work. As for taking the lenses out of the frames, that just looks strange to me.
Photo: Bennet Hall exterior
A talented landscape photographer once told me the only difference between his photos and the average person is that he got up at 3 a.m. -- slight oversimplification however point well taken. For the architectural exterior photo below I did need to get up about 4:30 a.m. to set up before the sun rose a little before 6 a.m. (need time for coffee to take effect).
