Basic Portrait with Starlite Small Digital Kit

Cherie is part of the Photoflex Pro Showcase.

Cherie’s professional websites:
www.cheriefoto.com
www.edgygirl.com --Digital frames to make your photos stand out! Customize your images.


This lesson is structured as a Question and Answer Interview between Photoflex Lighting School editor Kate and Guest Contributor Cherie Steinberg Cote.

Kate: What was your assignment?

Cherie: My client Donna wanted to have a portrait taken of her, as well as with her dog. The dog is getting older, and Donna wanted to have a keepsake to remember her beloved pet by.

Kate: What is your planning process before the client arrives?

Cherie: For this special occasion—and I deem every portrait session as special occasion—I instructed Donna prior to the shoot to come wearing something fabulous! I always want my clients to wear something that they love, something out of the ordinary, don’t just show up in jeans and a T-shirt. Most people rarely have their portraits taken, so I’m an advocate for making it truly special.

For example, I always have a makeup artist help make my clients look beautiful for their shoot. Donna has some Hollywood industry experience and wanted to do her own makeup. [figures 1 and 2]

Donna chose to wear her beautiful fur wrap, a special piece from her wardrobe. Not a street outfit.

Kate: What location did you choose?

Cherie: We were in our studio for this shoot. [figure 3]

Kate: What was your lighting setup?

Cherie: We used a Starlite setup in an small SilverDome as a fill light and a Starlite in a medium SilverDome as the main light. I view lighting as an organic process. I don’t necessarily have a master plan before starting a shoot. [figures 4 and 5]

Kate: What mood were you going for, or did your client desire?

Cherie: Oftentimes, the client doesn’t know what they want—they just want something amazing. It’s my job to be the creative director. One advantage here was that Donna had acting experience, so she was comfortable in front of the camera and could easily change her look upon receiving direction. So this helped to get a variety of shots and looks.

Additionally, as with most pet owners, once her dog was in the picture, she eased up and starting interacting with the dog as she naturally would do. Test shots [figures 6 and 7]

Kate: What lighting changes did you make through the process of the shoot?

Cherie: During the shoot there are subtle tweaks to the positioning of the lights, for example getting the right light on the nose, the side of the face.

Also, Donna is a mature woman—this impacted my decision in using a continuous light so that before snapping the shots, I could see how the light was falling on her face and body. It’s my job to make every client look like a million bucks. Sometimes strobe flashes can produce an unintended result, too harsh of a look on mature skin. So with the continuous lighting, I knew what I was getting and made adjustments prior to shooting. I also didn’t shoot straight on. Rather, above or under the height of her neck to help put her “best face forward”. Little things like that can really mask trouble spots. [figure 8 – 10]

Cherie: After we took a few shots of Donna alone, we brought her dog on to the set. So adorable! With pets you have to be prepared to take a lot of shots because their attention span is so different. Donna interacted with the dog to help get the right expression. Here are a few more setup shots of that. [figures 11 – 14]

Kate: Cute pup! These will make great memories for Donna. What were the final results?

Cherie: Here are the two that Donna loved the most, which are probably hanging on a wall by now! [figures 15 and 16]