Mixing a Photoshoot in Deep Grooves

Every time I come back to my home town, I become more and more aware of it’s locality. Koszalin isn’t big but there are plenty of people who want to make cool things, either for creative reasons or just for fun.

I recently guested DJ Pyteck, a co-founder of a “Baltic Waves” project which aims to promote good club music in the area. He plays deep, tech house and more of electronic genres.

We met at my home where I prepared a quick photo set. A backdrop plus some stands is all you really need to make clean, studio photos. A few strobes come in handy too.

Set-up

For our main shots I used a simple, 3-strobe set-up, with two lighting the background. I used silver reflective umbrellas to even out the light and get a bit smoother shadows on the talent. They are cheap and easy to transport—a good choice when you want to travel light. Transparent ones are also great, especially when you want very soft light, but they are a pain to control in tight spaces.

The key light was high over the talent and I moved it from frame to frame to try different moods.

Even creating a custom desk for the session is not a big deal. You can make one out of a keyboard stand, a long plank and some white material. If you don’t have a keyboard stand around, you can also use desk trestles.

Getting into the club

While the pure white can give an ethereal feel that is very cool on it’s own, I decided to try a few club-like photos as well. Theatrical color gels can change the mood of a photograph instantly.

First I used almost the same 3-light set as with the black and white shots. I took off the umbrella from the left back strobe and aimed it at the talent. Then I put a red gel on it, and dark blue ones on other strobes. I didn’t even need to move them much.

You can see well here that so small change as 3 gels and turning around a strobe can change things dramatically.

For the last shot I used a single strobe from the right. I wanted to get harsh shadows and so I pointed it directly at the talent without an umbrella. This made the mood even more club.

It’s cool to work with people who are passionate about the thing they do. It’s also a breeze to let them do what they love and photograph them in the process. A really fun experience.