Location Portraiture - A Small Room, One Window and One Light

I recently shot a portrait of Maureen Lanigan, the Director of the Rogers Center, at Merrimack College in North Andover, Massachusetts, for another magazine piece. The editor was really interested in getting a shot of Maureen in her office, which was nicely decorated, but very small. If you've ever tried to light someone in a small room like this, you know that it can be a challenge, especially if the walls are light. Fortunately, her office has a window, but on the day that we had scheduled for the shoot, the sky was cloudy and overcast; a typical Massachusetts day in early May. What to do?

I decided to set up a speedlight outside that window, with a shoot through umbrella. The good news was that there wasn't much wind, which was important because I was working alone, but I did have sand bags so I wasn't too worried. The bad news was that once I had the umbrella in place, it started to rain. Perfect! Unfortunately, a shoot through umbrella is not the right sort for keeping rain off the light. So I improvised with some cinefoil, making a little tent for the light. Another problem solved!

The result was a very natural, soft light coming from the side. I used a warming gel in order to give the light of the overcast day a little life, and I placed a disk reflector to the left, to bounce that window light back at Maureen. One light, a little available light, and a very natural look.


Maureen Lanigan, the Director of the Rogers Center, at Merrimack College in North Andover, Massachusetts

Comments

[Cindy]

I love the technique and enjoyed the explanation.

[Adrien Bisson]

Thanks for this and your other comments Cindy! I really appreciate it.
Adrien