Big Portrait Gig
I somehow landed a gig shooting the CEO and Board of one of Australias’ largest companies. Interesting seeing as I am not pushing myself on any format other than word of mouth at the moment. Never underestimate the value of networking and referrals. There is a form of legitimacy that comes from a face to face recommendation, that no amount of web page glamour can replace and lets face it, most of us would take the easy road if given one from a trusted guide.
A month of pondering and now a week of testing (nothing too frantic, just conscientious and relentless).
I was after that “special something”, but am also mindful that these images just need to be functional and acceptable for a multiple of uses. No Chiaroscuro or split light, no risky business, just good flexible files with that “something” that makes them stand out a little and room to supply a variety of stylised, processed files.
The Oly files were nice enough, just lacking some “pop”, which I put down to lighting. So what was wrong? I have had some recent success with school ball photos, using only a pair of basic 42” brollies, but in more controlled circumstances, I just seem to be coming up………flat.
A dozen lighting tests later, it dawned on me. I always use my “lucky” EM10 mk2 at balls, a camera that has a warmer base tone than the EM1’s. It struggles in bright light, bad light and ugly light, it has less dynamic range and it is not built for heavy use (which it still gets), but with flash, it seems to sing.
This made two lines of thought collide. What about trying the G9?
Panasonic sensors are known for their skin tones, the G9 is as capable a camera as the EM1 series and I have already been impressed by its performance after just one day of messing around with it.
A little post added (as with the one above), but pretty much pre-set level. There seems to be a more vibrant, three dimensional feel (also the same lens). The blue was added with a mild white balance shift, but the skin tones held on nicely, almost Canon like.
This is the “Film Extra Shadow” base setting in C1.
Seems to be plenty of flexibility in there also.
Clean white, warm skin and a cool background. Worth looking into.