I’ve been feeling a bit direction-less with my photography lately, so I thought that it might be fun and challenging to get involved with this summer’s Strobist Boot Camp II. There are regular assignments designed to push my skills and my creativity with off-camera lighting. There are prizes (although the competition is really stiff). And, really, there’s no pressure to get it done other than for my own learning and enjoyment. I’ve got nothing to lose.
The theme for the first assignment was “the headshot”. Nothing terribly fancy, but there was an added twist. After I got my shot, I needed to turn things around and have my subject shoot a headshot of me.
I had been looking at the portrait work of Timothy Greenfield-Sanders lately and felt inspired to try something similar. I wanted something clean and simple. No fancy lighting setups, no crazy background elements. Just focus on the portrait.
Margaret was kind enough to help me out with this assignment. The challenge for me wasn’t the lighting technique or even photographing Margaret (I do take a lot of pictures of her) but directing her and looking for just the right expression on her face. Sure I would’ve been challenged more if I had shot someone else, but I really wanted to create a nice portrait of Margaret.
I wanted a little bit of attitude but nothing confrontational or abbrasive. I didn’t want a standard corporate headshot, but I also didn’t want anything wild and crazy. I think I found the right balance in the final shot.
Since Margaret is familiar with Greenfield-Sanders’ work, she knew exactly what I was trying to achieve with these headshots. I handed her my camera and let her direct me, and I’m very happy with the final shot. I’m not making a cheesy smile or some goofy expression. It’s not forced. I’m relaxed. It feels like me.
Overall I’m very happy with the final results. Yes, I can nitpick the tiniest little things, but both images achieve what I set out to do. Not a bad start to Strobist Boot Camp II. :)
You can see more excellent examples from this assignment in the Strobist Flickr group.
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