Through the fence







A few months ago I had the privilege of shooting in the studio all day for Ila Handbags, a Minneapolis company whose products are all handmade, using new and vintage fabrics.

This weekend we’re doing another shoot and I remembered that I never blogged any of the photos from the last one, so here they are!
More photos and some behind the scenes shots after the jump.

I had the pleasure of doing headshots for Traci when she was in Minneapolis on a break from her show. She’s currently touring with The Color Purple and having a great time.
We did some simple shots in the studio, which is how I usually like to start. It helps us select the right wardrobe and lets us get comfortable on our respective sides of the camera. After picking out a couple of shirts that would work, we found some great natural light and got started.

For photographers:
When shooting natural light headshots, I almost always use a reflector to fill in shadows and put some black foam core on the floor to cut the glare, which can throw off the color balance on the skin.
Here’s the setup for these shots:

Camera, lens and settings:
Canon 5D MkII, 85mm, ISO 320, 1/200 sec., f/3.5
I went to the IVEY Awards last night to take a few photos for Minnesota Playlist and was pretty much limited to the red carpet. There were already several photographers shooting posed portraits, so I tried to get some different stuff. Here are a few of my favorites.

The scene outside the State Theater.

About to walk the red carpet.

Lifetime Achievement award winner, Dudley Riggs, hams it up for a photographer before the IVEY Awards.
A couple of months ago I did an all day shoot for local singer Sally J and today she stopped by my studio with a copy of her new CD! I dig what her designer did with my photos and think her recording sounds great.
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.