For the first time ever, almost all the professional sound designers in Minneapolis gathered together in one place—at my studio! I decided to spotlight them all, literally. You can view the full set on Minnesota Playlist.

Lighting info: The main light was an Elinchrom monolight with a 20-degree grid. The back light was a Canon 580EX II with a Honl 1/4″ grid, which I intentionally left visible in the background.

The setup for this shot was simple, just two fluorescent work lights hanging from light stands.

I know I’m not the first to do this and the catch lights in the eyes remind me of what Martin Schoeller has done with his Close Up series and what Eric Schwabel is doing. Even so, it’s a fun setup that gives a unique look.

I’ve used this setup with a few people in the past and sometimes the intensity of the lights can be an issue. I had one model who simply could not tolerate it and her eyes were watering so uncontrollably when looking toward the light that we had to abandon the idea.

Check out Pearson on Facebook for cool behind the scenes stuff from New York Fashion Week.

The week before doing this shoot I watched Zack Arias’ One Light dvd and thought this was the perfect excuse to do most of my shooting with a single strobe.

The first two shots were done with a Canon 580 EX II, bounced into a silver umbrella. I tried an Elinchrom strobe, but it was just way too powerful for what I wanted.

The following two shots were done with a Ray Flash, which I bought specifically for this shoot because the local rental place didn’t have a ring flash available. Wish I would’ve thought to call Flashlight. I’m sure they could have hooked me up.

Let me know what you think. I’m pretty happy with the results.

© Craig VanDerSchaegen

For you photographers, the lighting setup was really simple: Two fluorescent work lights in front and one strobe behind her, camera right. I also used a couple of foamcore boards to keep light from hitting the background, but that was about it.

Over the last couple of weeks I started shooting with some models to build up a new portfolio. While my website represents me fairly well, I want to expand it to show that my studio work consists of more than simple headshots.

This shot came from a session I did with a model named Kari. She was great and I hope to work with her again.

The lighting was simple: An Elinchrom 600RX with a 17″ reflector/”beauty dish” and a couple of 8′ x 4′ pieces of black foam core to keep light from spilling onto the background.

Stay tuned for more model photos. I’ve got a few in the retouching queue and have more shoots lined up over the next couple of weeks.

(Photos of the setup are below)

Shooting with Nick was a lot of fun. He was really laid back and up to try anything. I spent about a half day with him before he was heading back to New York to finish up at NYU. He just got a part in an off Broadway play, so he was really excited to go back to NYC with new headshots.

After doing all of my usual natural light setups with reflectors and such, I busted out my new ring light (some people call it a ring flash, but it doesn’t flash, so I’m sticking with ring light). My dad and uncle are both talented woodworkers and electricians. I showed them a ring light someone else made and they gave it their all. The result is amazing. Such a clean design. All wires are hidden, it has two dimmer switches, and sturdy mounts that work on standard light stands.

The setup for this shot was pretty easy. I positioned Nick so that he was between two windows, about 8 feet from the wall. I knew that this would create a bluish (cold) background and frame his face. The next step was figuring out how close to have him stand to the light. After some experimentation, I had him pretty close to the bulbs so I could see the lights in his eyes very clearly, while not interfering with his pupils.

The most difficult part of this shot was getting the white balance just right. The warm light from the bulbs was hard to mix with the cold light from the windows. I spent about 30 minutes in Adobe Lightroom before settling on something that I liked.

Here are some shots of the setup: