My first proper photo job. Actor portrait. REVEALED, PAGE 7.

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KayJay

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OK, I've amazingly managed to land me a portrait job at short notice tomorrow. The gentleman in question is pretty well known in the film industry. I have a 5 minute slot to take a portrait of him. This means I can't take any lights softboxes etc so I'll need to shoot in natural light.

It'll be a relaxed shot with no smiling given the purpose of the shot. I have two flash guns a 580EX2 and a 430EX2.

So. I'll need to take a custom white balance reading before taking the shot, but am looking for any other advice. I'm actually crapping myself. I'll be practicing tonight with my wife.
 
KayJay said:
am looking for any other advice...... I'll be practicing tonight with my wife.
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That's the best idea. Keep your mind off of photography all together tonight and then hit the ground running tomorrow. ;)

OK, if there's no time for lights or setup, try shooting outside in the shade if you can. Even light, no need to fill in or worry about harsh contrast and hopefully, the victim won't be squinting.
 
No, I have tiny one built into the 580EX2, I might be able to get my hand on one before hand. I found out about the job today and the job is tomorrow :'(
 
I can't say unfortunately. Talk about being thrown in the deep end.
 
Ask him just before you fire whether or not he's (gay) or (straight) (whichever he's more famous/reknowned for). The expression you'll get will be worth the amount you lose.
 
I'm sure you'll be fine... If it goes well, you know you can work under pressure, if not, you know photography is probably not for you :D:exit:

Let us in on who it is, go on....:thumbs:
 
Right, you need to buy / borrow make a reflector - the one in the 580EX is not sufficient.

You can use polystyrene sheet or thick card / thin plywood and cover it with silver foil or paper. Can use this to bounce natural light into shadow areas.
 
Give us a clue.

under 40 or over 40.

by the way how did you get the job?
 
andrewc, thanks for the advice. I'll get hunting.
 
Judging by what he did the last time you tried to take his pic you might be better using one of your older cameras.....

baloo.jpg


:lol:
 
Harrison Ford, Tommy lee Jones,:thinking:
 
:schtum:

Sorry :(

I'm pretty relaxed when it comes down to the nitty gritty. I'll be fine, just want to make sure I get the shot.
 
dazzajl said:
That's the best idea. Keep your mind off of photography all together tonight and then hit the ground running tomorrow. ;)

OK, if there's no time for lights or setup, try shooting outside in the shade if you can. Even light, no need to fill in or worry about harsh contrast and hopefully, the victim won't be squinting.
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Just noticed that comment. lol.

Outside would be good. I'll be going early to scope out the location.
 
I've got an 85mm f1.8 also, bought specifically for portraiture.
 
KayJay said:
I have a 5 minute slot to take a portrait of him......

It'll be a relaxed shot with no smiling given the purpose of the shot.
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You say you only have five minutes, but do you have any set-up time beforehand? As long as you have the lights etc all set up and working before your subject arrives then 5 minutes is loads of time. If you've got 5 minutes total time, including setting up then you're going to be anything but relaxed.....
 
Flash In The Pan said:
You say you only have five minutes, but do you have any set-up time beforehand? As long as you have the lights etc all set up and working before your subject arrives then 5 minutes is loads of time. If you've got 5 minutes total time, including setting up then you're going to be anything but relaxed.....
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5 minutes is all, he's filming on location, I may get to use the lighting setup that is on the set fingers crossed, otherwise it's a quite 5 minutes for a campaign type portrait and out. I'm hoping to get to spend a little bit of time with him though.
 
You may get less than 5 mins to be honest.

If I were you I'd take both flash units. Set one to master, the other to slave. Try and place the other on a table or something near your subject. Or use a tripod stand. I would use the master as fill flash so set to minus 1 ev and the other as main light.

You may also need to consider the final use of the picture, so check (if you can) other picture in the publication if that is the case. Get a good one liner (joke) prepared to try and crack a smile. I would also shot RAW, so you cam adjust the white balance after.
 
Forget the white balance and shoot in RAW ,just concentrate on the composition for the time you have and don't forget to get a picture of yourself with this star otherwise no one will believe you !:D
 
If you have someone you can take with you, use them as a stunt double. Get there early and perfect your shot/light with the double - you may have to guestimate height etc, and then you'll know where you are when the subject arrives.

Good luck
 
This is great advice. Thanks. Didn't even think to use the stunt double, despite reading about Annie Leibovitz using them for some of her Presidential group shots. I have shots from the other photographer from the publication as reference. It's made me feel a little bit more at ease because his/her shots are not that good to be honest.
 
:D I may not sleep tonight. I'll take my two flashes and tripods as well as the reflector.
 
Good luck with this KayJay, hope all goes well for you.

Alison :)
 
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