my 30 percent: Master of Disaster

the magazine group has been a great client for me recently. i have shot for three of their publications, edtech, statetech, and biztech, and the editors of each have always really easy to work with as well as willing to listen to my ideas.

a few weeks ago i got a call from the folks at biztech and was asked to shoot a portrait of greg taffert for a story on computer disaster recovery. the editor and myself chatted for a while about what the story was about and what i could do to visually contribute to the package. after a few moments we both realized that we had our work cut out for us. the publishers of the magazine did not want any technology in the image, nor did they want the image to focus on "bad things, like broken computers, chaos and things like that. so it was my goal to shoot something up beat and "happy" while still saying something about disaster. so the brain storming session started. we (the editor and myself) chatted for a bit longer, and then we decided that i would sleep on it and come up with some more ideas to run past them. the next mooring i decided that i would try and make this guy look like a hero. that way i would steer clear of the "bad things" and still be able to show something that fit with "disaster recovery".

i called the editor and explained that i thought we could make this guy look like a business superhero. my vision was put superman into a suit and have his cape and tie blow in the wind. she loved the idea, but said we should forgo the cape.

in the end i think i accomplished the image that i wanted to make, even with out the cape, and made the editors at biztech really happy. that a great day of shooting in my book.

so here is my set up.....

i used a total of six lights to accomplish the desired effect. one main, and one fill on the subject (both with grid spots). two edge lights, one snooted light for the tie, and a background light with an amber gel.