April, 2011

I was asked to shoot “specials” for a modern-styled rendition of Julius Caesar. Specials are promotional photographs to be used in marketing materials before the production starts. The big difference with the specials is that usually, I will do the lighting in a studio space instead of using the stage lights. I’ve always been a big fan of of promo photographs because I feel that a prospective audience member is more likely to want to see a play when they can see, and connect with, actors in the production.

Take a look Broadway.com and you’ll see that the website is filled with photos that entice someone to buy a ticket to see a show. Another great example are movie posters–they almost always feature a photograph of the lead players to establish a connection for someone who is trying to decide which play or movie to see.

A special thanks to the director, cast, and crew of this show–this shoot was a lot of fun.

On a technical note, the battery in my ST-E2 wireless flash trigger went dead, and I didn’t have a spare. Luckily, we were in a small space and I just used the 7D’s built-in wireless flash control. Whew. I promptly bought spare batteries for the ST-E2.

I used some pretty simple tools to light these: One 430EX Speedlite on a light stand as a main light, One 420EX Speedlite as a backlight. I did not have umbrellas for this shoot–not because I forgot them, but because I didn’t own any. To diffuse and soften the main light, I used a fold-out reflector that has a removable cover that turns it into a giant diffuser, set up on its own stand. If I didn’t have something to diffuse the light, I would have bounced the light off of something–theatres always have prop doors or partitions laying around, so there’s a lot of ways to get creative to soften the light.