Composing better light

Tues/Wed: I traveled with Mitzi Lutz, the editor of the Northwest Alumni Magazine, to Indianapolis to photograph mid-80s alum Greg Gilpin, who is a choral music composer and professional singer. Gilpin toured with Gospel artist Sandy Patty for more nearly five years and is one of the most prominent composers of choral music for junior and senior high choirs.

I photographed Gilpin in his home with a sweet-looking baby grand piano for the magazine's cover. The room was big enough for the piano and seating, it presented a real challenge to light for an environmental photo.

While Mitzi was conducting a large part of her interview, I experimented with how to light the room.

The right side light was the first light I had to figure out. I wanted to light Gilpin's face, but I didn't want it to have the look of direct flash. I tried to light this part of the room with an umbrella. I needed the light to be small so I could photograph the room without it showing.

I ended up using my Gary Fong photojournalist with the far side masked off with cinefoil to keep the spill off the the far wall. This gave me the edge lighting on his face, which I prefer.

The second light I set up was supposed to provide fill light to provide detail to his backside and help illuminate the room. At first I put a light in the room and aimed it at the wall. However the light's placement wouldn't allow for an environmental shot I had planned to take. After playing with the shutters, I realized that I could put the light on the porch and shoot it through the window. This created the pattern on the wall, which I think is cool.

The photo below shows one of the images taken while he site read a piece of music.

Trapeze background system

I recorded this video in my studio at work to show how our trapeze background system works. This system allows him to quickly change background fabrics. For me, it was a way to change backgrounds quickly and stay off a ladder.

This short video shows an inexpensive studio background system any photographer can create from hardware supplies bought at a local lumber yard.

A couple design notes:

1. I wouldn't put heavy eye bolt on the tubing if I had to do it again. As profiled, my own won't allow me to slip a seemless onto this tube. Instead, drill a hole in the end of the tube for the d-ring. This allows a photographer to remove the pulley rope temporarily and easily slip on a seemless paper background when needed.

2. The cam cleats cost about $50 to buy from a sail boat supply store in Kansas City. That was the most expensive component for us.

Props to Bill Bateman Photography for showing me his trapeze, which was the first I ever saw. Bill shoots seniors and families.