Shooting a package

This is the bread-and-butter assignment for the editorial/photojournalist. You get a call from an editor who has a story about a person and wants some photos to accompany it.

While hanging out with a person for a week and picking the best images would be great, the budget is not there for those coverages. It is typical to talk with a subject about everything they are doing and stay focused on the story.

A health club’s national office contacted me and wanted me to show how their health club was helping people in the community live healthier lives since becoming involved with the club.

The environmental portrait

I photographed this engineering professor at Georgia Tech. We wanted to show that their clients have significant leadership positions in the community. I knew I needed something that read “Georgia Tech” quickly. Having the sign behind the professor was the thing to work.

I also photographed him at one of the icons for the campus, a steam engine located in the center of campus.

I also wanted to show you that I shot some available light, like this vertical shot. I also wanted you to see why using off-camera flash is so important, as I did in the first two photos. The off-camera flash separates my work from many GWCs [Guy With Camera].

At Work

I took several photos of the subject at work. Here, he is in a team meeting with colleagues. Others are also included in the slide show.

At the Gym

I photographed the subject working out and turned in photos of each activity he did at the gym. Mind you, I shot hundreds of pictures and then had to go through them and eliminate all the ones where his face expressions were just not good or where something blocked a good view of his face.

By the way, to be sure these images were the best color, I used strobes in the gym to help with color, but also freeze him and get the sharpest images I could of him working out. Notice the detail in the instructor’s clothing, which is all black. That is the clue this was not available light.

Click on this to see larger.

I turned in the client 391 images in two folders: 1) Edits & 2) All the photos. They will probably only use three images: 1) portrait, 2) at-work shot, and 3) workout photo.  By shooting as many photos and narrowing them down to capture the best expressions and moments, I can give the art director choices, and they feel like they can have some variety to show in the end to their audience.

The contact sheet above shows just a minimal number of photos that I turned in. After eliminating all the blinks and funny expressions, I wanted you to see this. Hopefully, this will let you know how important it is to shoot enough photos to have a selection that shows off the subject in the best way possible.