Ok, a little break from wedding photography, here is one of my favorite environmental portraits I shot last year for my neighborhood mechanic who happens to live across the street from me.  The lighting setup here is quite simple.  I prepared this shot using two bare strobes which are directed towards the background to illuminate the environment details (car engines, engine parts, hoses, etc) and a soft-boxed key light, placed on a boom stand, to create a dramatic light on the subject’s face (notice the “Rembrandt triangle” on Ricky’s cheek).  Ricky is a fantastic guy and perhaps the most honest mechanic I’ve met, but he was tired after a long back-breaking day.  So the onus was on us to do this shot as quickly as possible and get the shot I wanted.  We were done in under ten minutes.

———————————–

Equipment:

Camera Body:  Nikon D700

Lens:  Zeiss Distagon T* 21mm  f/2.8

Lights:  SB-26 (x2), SB-600