Got a call to shoot a college student, the vice president of the student government, for the college magazine. Usually when I get these calls, the setting and concept for the picture is all left to me. After reading a draft of the article, I decided to place her in their SG meeting room. I decided to use three lights, two to light the room and one on the subject, placed in a softbox. Met the subject yesterday, and she suggested holding her gavel, something she used in all her meetings. We spent about an hour all together, lighting and shooting the picture.
I was pleased with the lighting especially. The key to a good photo is almost always in the lighting. I could've taken an easy route and just shot her in front of one of the campus buildings in natural light, but that wouldn't provide any context to what she's all about, and what the article says about her, as well as being a pretty dull picture. We had a good rapport and shot over sixty pictures in several different poses.
