Photo Notes - 2009

When Ben and I conceived this project we decided to take away much of the technical decision-making by limiting the kit available to us and the camera settings used. What this allowed us to do was concentrate on getting to know our subject and location in the limited time available to us. By limited time, we mean 20 minutes on average from entering the premises to finishing the shoot. Quite a tall order when you consider we had not met the majority of the people until the day of the shoot and were unfamiliar with many of the venues.

To further complicate matters we had to show a background that said something about the business the person represents and had to shoot everything in landscape format without cropping in post-production. By limiting our choice of glass and aperture, we ensured a consistent shallow DoF look and picked up a fair bit of local available light.

The Kit
  • Canon EOS 5D Mk II
  • Canon 50 mm f1.4 using aperture of f2.8 only
  • Canon 100 mm f2.8 using aperture of f4 only
  • Canon 580 EX II Speedlite with 10 foot eTTL lead
  • Litepanels LP Micro LED battery continuous light
  • Silver 40 inch reflective brolly
  • 24 inch collapsible speedlite soft box
  • Manfrotto carbon fibre tripod
Camera Settings
  • White Balance - Daylight
  • Aperture Value AV or M Manual
  • Auto Focus
  • ISO 400 in most cases
With few exceptions all the images were created within the boundaries set at the beginning. There were shots that took a little longer than anticipated or one case where we used a second Speedlite - see if you can work out which shot.

This project also helps to raise our profile within the local business community; we only approached the Managing Director or CEO of the businesses featured so a little groundwork was required. We were rejected by some and some we rejected - those who told us they wanted a team shot. We politely suggested to those wanting a team photo that we could make a separate arrangement, Faces of Business is about individuals and the sometimes unsung heroes who lead businesses to success.
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