Leonard who is on the far left side of the creative sphere, be his own person and is smooth with the ladies walked right into his 29th birthday on the 23rd of June.
Today was also the first time I was using the new Sony A9 with the 24-70mm 2.8 G Master. You can get an idea for how I liked it at the end.
I did prep him to come in wearing something nice so I could snap a few shots of him. He walked in with a gray tshirt. This is what I came up with.
I saw this bench with full sun exposure and I wanted something against the frosted windows and these desert plants. I also wanted a prop that gave the image some dimension. This shot was setup with a Flashpoint strobe on camera right and a diffuser over Leonard on the camera left. I am pretty happy with the image. It is a moment of peace and contemplation.
Next we followed up with a simple headshot. There were 14ft cactus plants behind Leonard. I used them to create some texture. The sun was camera left and behind Leonard's head and filled in with a gold reflector.
Our 3rd location ended up being a failure because I was still not use to the functions of the Sony A9 and the images were out of focus. I was going to cut out the windows and replace with a more desertscape but I guess I will use that for the future.
The final location was in between a bunch of desert plants. It created the type of textures I was seeking. This one was shot with the Flashpoint strobe camera left with a white reflection on the camera right. I like the energy in this shot cause you can see the emphasis on his eyes. The apple is also subtle but loud enough to warranty your attention.
Although I had two assistants on this shoot, I wasn't able to get much BTS as they were all holding lights and reflectors and also mainly because I forgot to ask. However I did get some of Rob and I when we were location scouting.
I will do better to create a more inclusive Behind the Scene blog posts for you guys. Until then, I keep shooting and be well!
Just a quick note on the Sony A9... this camera is packed with tons of features however in the short time I had to use it, I was just frustrated as I coudn't get things under my control. However since I am such an oldschool shooter, sometimes I feel that mirrorless cameras are over featured... but maybe I won't feel that way with more use. Time will tell.
Andrew Manley
Portrait Photographer