Oliver visited the Exeter headshot studio recently looking for some initial images to present as part of a modelling portfolio.
Digitals-Polaroids
One of the initial requirements is a set of what is known as digitals or Polaroids. Basically these are incredibly neutral un-retouched images that agents can use to understand the ‘raw material.’ In a world where we are used to consuming very retouched or filtered images these can look quite stark.
Headshots
For the red background photograph Oliver was lit with a silver beauty dish, I was aiming for a simple dark lighting look but I used the Translum backdrop as a reflective surface to bounce a red gelled light off, normally it’s used as a shoot through (as in the digitals).
This look for the dark background was inspired by a 1640s painting that I’d photographed a couple of weeks earlier. The background separation on the painting is so subtle. When photographing it’s always tempting to introduce an rim-light on the dark side of the subject but on this occasion I was happy not to.
For this portrait Ollie was lit with the old Bowens Wafer and was photographed in front of the Oliphant Studio backdrop. The Wafer gives a fantastic classical look to a face and it’s complimented by the canvas backdrop.
Full-length portraits
Oliver wanted to do a full-length shot and The Crescent seemed appropriate to capture him suited and booted.
I brought a strobe up and fired some light from the entrance hall of the studio building through a large strip softbox.
As we shot the rain developed but Ollie really delivered!
We covered a lot of ground in this headshot-portrait session.
I love the way they’ve turned out – Oliver
