Portrait: The Cellar...

Shot a portrait on assignment today...it's for a new bar that is opening up in Long Beach called The Cellar. I shot the 3 principals at the location, which is this neat underground area beneath a historic building. Lots of brick. The interior was really rough. They just got the leather seating but not the boards that go behind it.

I decided to try shooting them on the seat first. Two lights with two umbrellas on either side. One set to 1/4 power as the main light and the other to 1/16 as the fill. Lighting was ok. I wish the board behind the seats was anything but white because it robbed the photo of some contrast.


Next set up I tried was a verticle shot low to get some of the work lamps in the photo to give it an under construction feel. One main light to the left on an umbrella. Not my fave of the three, but I just want to show what goes through my head on a shoot.


The final shot, we did in the brick stairwell going down to the club. I wanted to break up the composition so had one of the guys in the foreground and the other two in the back. I'm using two key lights here, both on umbrellas. I have an umbrella on the guy on the foreground and another one on the left of the two in the background (just behind the door frame so you can't see it). I like this one best. The composition feels dynamic and light is nice and directional.