I have played around with studio lights before, but it has always been strictly out of curiosity, never anything official. So I decided to challenge myself to learn something new and hold an event where I would use studio lights and capture business style headshots for potential clients!
This was an idea that came to me when thinking of a way to utilize the fact that my parents own a successful hair salon with a decent amount of space that could be used for a little studio. So I ran the idea by them and they thought it would be a great cross promotion!
So I got to work learning as much as could while I was travelling about studio lighting setups and how to position the lights and backdrop so that when I got home I could put my newfound knowledge to practice for a week on my lovely girl friend before I have real, paying clients in front of my lens.
So I made a poster to promote the event, my parents would do the hair, get the clients looking their best, then I would have a mini photo shoot with them and capture a new profile picture/ business card image to use to promote themselves.
After many, many hour of adjusting lights and reflectors and power outputs, I had the settings dialled in to my liking and had my dad capture this shot of me.
I figure, if I can look at an image of myself and approve of it, it must be looking pretty good, because I am more critical of myself than of anyone else.
The big day came and the clients started arriving. It was here! People liked my idea and actually came out to have me take their photo! This was the first even of the sort that I have ever held, never mind created from concept to fruition. Here are a few of the shots that I sent out to clients after the shoot was done.
This was a great experience for me and turned out to be something I thoroughly enjoyed. I plan on holding one more of these days at the salon before heading back on tour, so if you find yourself in the London area and would like a new portrait taken, please feel free to contact me!