Grey - Cheap Tricks: Ingenious Lighting And Shooting Ideas For Studio Photography

Copyright 2016 by Christopher Grey.

All rights reserved.

All photographs by the author unless otherwise noted.

Published by:

Amherst Media, Inc.

P.O. Box 586

Buffalo, N.Y. 14226

Fax: 716-874-4508

www.AmherstMedia.com

Publisher: Craig Alesse

Senior Editor/Production Manager: Michelle Perkins

Editors: Barbara A. Lynch-Johnt, Harvey Goldstein, Beth Alesse

Associate Publisher: Kate Neaverth

Editorial Assistance from: Carey A. Miller, Sally Jarzab, John S. Loder

Business Manager: Adam Richards

Warehouse and Fulfillment Manager: Roger Singo

ISBN-13: 978-1-68203-014-1

Library of Congress Control Number: 2015953688

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopied, recorded or otherwise, without prior written consent from the publisher.

Notice of Disclaimer: The information contained in this book is based on the authors experience and opinions. The author and publisher will not be held liable for the use or misuse of the information in this book.

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Table of Contents

CONTENTS

What Are We?

We are photographers, certainly. We create images of people, places, and things, frozen in time and pixels. We learn our craft and do our best to perfect it. We spend money on gadgets we think well use but never do. We spend money on gadgets that we do use. We may have a physical studio that we rent from someone else, one or two rooms in the house we share with our partner and/or kids, or possibly a converted garage that we can call our own.

But we are so much more than just photographers. We are part psychologist because we have to find a way to connect with everyone who sits or stands in front of us and make them comfortable before we direct them to move and smile on command, and enjoy doing it, while we stand in relative comfort, out of the hot seat and in the shadows. We are expert listeners and potential trivia experts, able to add to strings of thought uttered by our clients while moving or adjusting equipment. We are expert talkers as well, able to add to other random, client-voiced ideas. We sometimes must be the Master Sergeant who orders the troopsour clientsinto formation, where they stand at parade rest until given orders to do otherwise. We are part editors because we must critique our own worth and eliminate those images we feel the client will not relate to. Its a tough job, but were the only ones to do it. Sometimes, were the cheerleaders who let the client know, in no uncertain terms, that he or she is Number One.

Were also the secretaries, carpenters, messengers, and janitors of our respective businesses. We wear many hats, but one of the most important is that of problem solver. This is one of the reasons why I wrote this book.

As a commercial, advertising, and portrait photographer, Ive often had to think on my feet to get a job done by the deadline. Clients have a habit of throwing things into the mix, either at the initial conference or at the last minute, that you might not typically be prepared for. Throughout the fifteen photography books Ive written, Ive always maintained that you cannot have a bag of tricks too deep for your job. Consequently, Ive totally enjoyed the challenge when a client throws me a hanging curve ball. And yes, Im happy to bill for the extra time it takes to hit that ball out of the park.

For example, I was presented with this job some years ago in the middle of a hot August. A semi tractor-trailer had to be photographed bogged down in a snowdrift because its battery didnt put out enough CCA, Cold Cranking Amps, to start the thing in below-zero temperatures.

At the time, the nearest destination with ongoing major snowfall was Peru. With only the budget to go to Wisconsin, we had to come up with a solution. We silently thanked George Lucas and the staff of Cinefex magazine for their behind-the-scenes story of the making of The Empire Strikes Back, especially the part where the AT-ATs (All Terrain Armored Transports) fought in the battle against the Rebellion on the frozen world of Hoth. The huge, lumbering, stop-motion animated machines were walking on baking soda.

I started by buying, building, and painting a scale model of a semi tractor-trailer. I didnt bother with anything other than the shell because anything that couldnt be seen just wouldnt matter.