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Rolling with the Big Dog June 2016 - part 2 of 1 2 3

by Damian McGillicuddy Published 01/07/2016

CAKEWALK
Knowing that we'd be almost certainly be facing both time and space constraints, we needed to bring kit that gave great portability as well as premium performance. So I relied on my faithful Elinchrom ELB400s, because the light quality is fantastic and they run off compact battery packs - when you're working in an unfamiliar location you don't want power cables to trip over, and you can't even assume that there will be anywhere to plug them in!

Knowing that I would be shooting men for the individual portraits, I used the Elinchrom Large 105cm Silver Umbrella for my key light as it offers more specularity and contrast - perfect for male faces. And by creating a short loop light, it meant that the guys would have the ability to move around a bit more (or even fiddle with their instruments) than they would be able if I was shooting a conventional portrait. Again, havingnot seen most of the band members before, I had to stack the odds in my favour by making the light as flexible as possible.

The main issue with the solo portraits was the accent light positioned behind them; due to the cramped space we were shooting in, it was right on the cusp of sneaking into shot. I experimented with making it a point of compositional interest, but in the end decided against it. So it was literally a case of inch-perfect positioning, placing the light behind an architectural column, so that it provided the accent required (with the column acting as a useful barn door) while not creeping into frame.

Everything set up, we then grabbed each band member on their own for about five minutes. This is where a photographer's interpersonal skills come to the fore; unlike working with professional models, whether you're shooting members of the public or celebrities (particularly musicians, who are used to expressing themselves aurally rather than visually), you need to bring that person's personality out by chatting to them. This led to some great giggles, as I noticed a lot of the band drinking green tea so I got some fab reactions out of them by asking, 'Call yourselves rock stars? What would Keith Richards say if he saw you drinking green tea?!?'

SMILING MAKES THE DAY GO QUICKER
Just as with the individual shots, we were only going to get the whole band for a few minutes for the group shot after they'd finished sound checking. So again I had to get the lights positioned and in the most accommodating set-up possible, because there would be no time to change everything once the guys were sitting down.

Here we used an ELB with a standard grid and diffuser, bouncing the light up off the ceiling to create a very simple hair light and add separation. By dragging the shutter I was able to incorporate some of the existing architectural light in the venue, such as the blue that's leaching down the blackboard behind them.

The most critical tool, though, was the Rotalux Strip 130x50cm soft-box. We rotated it horizontally, shifted it to camera-left and then feathered it back across the group - which is why I asked the saxophonist on the far right to look back towards the guys, because the light fall off wouldn't very be attractive if the mask of his face wasn't turned inward. So knowing how to pose the subject is every bit as important as knowing how to position the lighting.

Because we chose to go for a shot reminiscent of the 'Friends couch look', I used the 7-14mm lens on my PEN-F to exaggerate the feel - and, by asking a couple of the guys to put their feet up, I could distort the image in the same way that Tankus the Henge distorts musical convention. That was my way of echoing their eclecticism photographically. And you can see how the chat and banter we'd established made the image develop organically, as the green tea I was teasing the band about has made its way as a prominent part of the picture!

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Contact Damian McGillicuddy

1st Published 01/07/2016
last update 09/12/2022 14:51:43

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