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The Shadow Knows Today is the day I run some film through the camera 
and learn how to eliminate the shadows that a single flash will throw on the
wall when you're shooting a portrait. I've been talking about doing this for
over a year. A year is enough. It doesn't require more equipment
(tripods, cables, cute little ribbons for the strobes). I have equipment.
I have equipment out the ears, eyes, nose and throat. I even know how
to do it, just shoot the pictures and prove it. OK? Sole Prop?
I took some head shots of one of the company's senior managers for an
annual report last Wednesday. I don't think it was our annual report, billion
People said, well, you're not a professional, they called you in at the last minute, they can't expect too much, you're a techie after all, not a photographer. Which is true. They can't expect miracles. Why not? I'm a snapshot shooter. No pretensions of art, but snapshot shooters, this snapshot shooter has a code: Snapshots. Competent snapshots. In focus snapshots without shadows, no blurred weird out of focus subjects unless I want weird out of focus subjects in which case they will be technically competent weird out of focus subjects. Not great. Competent. This implies practice, of course, even if you don't always like to practice. Like the Sole Prop.
The film was underexposed one stop (Except for a couple I shot
So I jury rig some strobes, hanging them off chair backs, do
Doesn't this sound like one of those things you put out there into the world
to force yourself to do something you've been putting off for a long time? Go
on a diet? Run around the lake? No? How politic. How nice.
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dollar companies spend real bucks on photographs for their own annual reports,
but it was for an annual report and they asked me to shoot them and
I in my own humble opinion, fucked up. This is about the photographer,
not the subject. I had a roll of Kodak Kodachrome 25 in the camera, a film I
don't use all that much and one I normally wouldn't use for portraits, but
that's what I had in the camera and that's what I shot.
(Professional Kodachrome 25 is a great film with a spectacular professional
history. It was probably used in most of the color photographs printed in
the last 50 years, it is the original quality color film for slides, it just
isn't used by the Sole Proprietor very much.)
opening up
the lens just in case this very thing happened.) and the two that were
useable had a shadow behind the head and a reflection on the glasses.
Pissed me off. I know better. I knew at the time. I talked it over with
the subject. At parties I usually shoot people far enough from the wall
that all you see behind the subject is a darkened room going toward black.
They look a bit dramatic and everybody's happy, although black is not
what you want for an annual report. Annual reports are, after all, annual
reports. (The glare off the glasses I didn't think about. Got to take
care of the glare off the glasses with something like different angles
or a polarizing filter. Shit! Practice.)
whatever is
needed, hook up the expensive exotic state of the art infrared strobe
triggers and the even more zootie infrared broadcast unit and shoot. Then I
use cables and shoot some more. Then I try the polarizing filter. Then
I try some other stuff, get the film processed and the pictures in hand
Monday so I can start all over again on Monday night if none of them
turn out so I can shoot and check them on Tuesday so I'll be
ready for Wednesday morning when the manager returns. And the Sole
Proprietor will know how to shoot a portait without shadows in the back.
And that will be good. And the Sole Proprietor will calm down. And relax.
And play with his computers at work like a good Sole Proprietor should.
Without shadows. (And perhaps sense.)