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Rolling with the BIG Dog - Learning - part 3 of 1 2 3

by Damian McGillicuddy Published 01/12/2015

LEARNING LIVE ON STAGE
These headshots were shot on stage at the annual London Camera Exchange show in Lincoln - and teaching live lessons in front of a crowd like this is a major part of my personal continuous professional development! The first image, with the pearls and the ruffled shirt, was shot with a parabolic umbrella as the key, boomed out straight in front of the model for a butterfly pattern. We then had a pair of 3x1 foot strip boxes accent lighting her from behind at about 40 degrees, which we reverse-feathered to dump the excess light out of frame. This was simply because we were in such a small space and didn't want to light the white background, so it turned a dull grey.

For the second set-up we made the strip boxes our key, setting them up to the left and right of the lens with the light equidistant in power to create a soft, sumptuous, sexy, Vogue-esque light that falls off and highlights cheekbones and the shape of the face. Our second light replaced the brolly on the boom, but this time was behind the subject with barn doors on it, which acted as both an accent and a hair light, giving shape and form to the textures we put into the picture with the foam neckpiece. Our last light is just out of frame behind the model, literally being handheld from the small of her back, pointing at the white screen to give a sumptuous high-key fashion feel. Of course as is my way and to give our lovely editor reproduction issues (sorry Mike) I had a little 'fiddle' with the white balance to demonstrate the potential power that simple tool holds creatively.

Now, bear in mind this was all shot in a space of less than 10 square feet, on a stage in front of a crowd, having never seen the stage and never seen the facilities. So what is it that enables me to be able to knock out a picture like this? The answer is simple: my own continuous professional development. My own quest to know more and be better tomorrow than I am today. And it's not an ego-centric thing, it's a comfort and capability thing; the more I know, the calmer I am, the more I realise I can produce a picture under any given circumstance (so far, anyway!).

As a professional in what I still deem to be a profession, it's this ongoing quest to get better that motivates me to keep learning and keep trying - and that's what enables me to do the things I can do with a camera. As I've said before, if you accept that lighting is a language, it's the extension of the vocabulary and the eloquence with which you can speak it.

If you think that your business or your photography - or better yet, both - would benefit from what is arguably the most successful continuous professional development programme in the industry today, send an email to contact@damianmcgillicuddy.com about Mentor Me On Steroids. We only take on new people once a year and that time is coming up, so now is the time if you want to excel as the other professional photographers under our guidance have done! 'Till next time, McGillicuddy

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Contact Damian McGillicuddy

1st Published 01/12/2015
last update 09/12/2022 14:51:43

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